Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

15 May 2019

Post No. 91

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Support Sustainable Initiatives in Congo-Brazzaville, Mali and Togo

• All Year Round Projects, In Focus this Spring 2019: The Economies of Running, Gaming and Voting

• All in Development Story (AiDS) Telling Series, In Focus between 15 and 21 May 2019: Serial No. 3 – Recovery Stories

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ Support Sustainable Initiatives in Congo-Brazzaville, Mali and Togo

As part of working in association with local people to develop sustainable initiatives, we have the following initiatives in the following three countries:

1/ Project of Social Welfare for Raped Women during Civilian Wars in Congo-Brazzaville

2/ Projects of Safe Drinking Water Supply for Needy Children and Vulnerable Population in Togo

3/ Social and Economic Promotion of Young Deaf Persons out of Schooling in Mali

As we all know, projects like these ones in developing countries like of Africa need support.  Support can be of various kinds including funding. 

Our African initiators of these projects and CENFACS would be more than happier if potential supporters considered them for support or any recommendation for support is provided.

Under the Main Developments section of this post, you will find some basic information about them. 

The full details or proposals for the above three projects are available on request.  However, CENFACS welcomes any enquiries or discussions related to them. 

 

 

 

 

~ All Year Round Projects, In Focus for this Spring 2019: The Economies of Running, Gaming and Voting

All the three components (Run, Play and Vote) of our All Year Round Projects are still running this Spring since they started in January 2019.  For this Spring and the rest of Spring 2019, our focus regarding these projects will be on their economies.

The focus will be to tackle the two twin problems of scarcity (limitation of economic resources to be allocated to these projects) and choice (a wide range of wants and needs that are required to be met to deliver them)

Organising and or taking part in projects like running, playing and voting or any other venture involve costs.  There are costs whether one does it alone or as a group or even as part of an organisation. 

To enable those who are already and would like to join these projects to meet project aims and goals, we are working on the basic economies (system of activities) of running, playing and voting to reduce poverty.  This is a support in terms of the economic aspects of running, gaming and voting projects; support for those who are experiencing some difficulties and those who want to find out the basic economic fundamentals before and while engaging with these projects. 

Under the Main Development section of this post, you will find further explanations about these basic economies.

 

 

 

 

~ All in Development Story Telling Series, In Focus between 15 and 21 May 2019: Serial No. 3 – Recovery Stories

The next sequential step in telling your renewal stories will focus in building interest in the data, facts and evidence collected in order to transform needs assessed into implementation or recovery.  It is the step of Recovery Stories.

Recovery Stories are the tales of solution design, construction, operations and maintenance.  They are as well of the process of putting needs assessed or plan into effect, execution to get recovery.

Recovery Stories are indeed those of regaining composure in the process of renewing or rebuilding lives, of regaining a former and better condition or shape after for example destruction, flood disaster, illness, economic downturn, armed conflicts, an earthquake etc.  They are or could be the tales of helping poor and vulnerable people and communities in getting back control over their lives. 

Briefly, they are the stories of

√ Conserving forest resources by reversing or stopping the continuing decline of endangered and threatened species and of renewing and ensuring the survival of wild

√ Helping disaster-affected communities to renew and reconstruct their infrastructures and livelihoods

√ Supporting disaster-stricken people to restore their economic, social, environmental and emotional well-being

√ Renewing lives through recycling of waste and goods

√ Recovery human lives and capacities from destructive wars and natural disasters

√ Helping the climate victims to gain compensation from damages caused by environmental events

√ Supporting the innocent victims of civil attacks fleeing from their attackers

√ Helping raped women during the civil wars like in the case of the project we have in the Congo-Brazzaville

Etc.

 

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ “Quadranscentenniality” and Recovery

 

Recovery should not be a short or medium term business only.  It should be a lasting process so that those who recover from let say destruction do not go back again to the same issue.  In other words, we can attempt to “quadranscentennialise” recovery by making it a process that lasts 25 years and /or more.  This way we can be sure that the problem experienced or poverty cannot repeat itself. 

For example, if one looks at the historical cycles (trends) of some of the crisis in some parts of Africa like the conflicts in Rwanda in the 1960s and 1990s, the droughts in the African Sahel with foods and water shortages, the Ebola cycles in the Democratic Republic of Congo etc; they repeat themselves after some times.  This could suggest that these parts of the world have never fully recovered from these problems.  Therefore, having a quadranscentennial recipe or view on the recovery process can help to a certain extent in nullifying the forces of return to the conflicting or destructive situation.

To support and or enquire about the Quadranscentennial Year and Project, please contact CENFACS.

~ Sustainable Nature Trajectories Advocacy: a New CENFACS Initiative

The Sustainable Nature Trajectories (SNT) is CENFACS’ new initiative to advocate for the conservation and sustainable use of the nature in order to achieve sustainability.

Indeed, many reports including the last Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Nature Report, from the IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) converge to argue that many of the goals and targets for nature may be off track by 2020 if the world continues to move in the same direction or trajectory as far as climate change is concerned.  There is a greater need to take bold steps at all levels, however small it may be, to reverse this trend or change the trajectories. 

So, the SNT initiative will be part of CENFACS’ a la une (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) campaign in the next Autumn.  There will be further details about this new advocacy when we re-launch our a la une campaign in Autumn.

To join and or enquire about SNT advocacy, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

 

Main Developments

 

• Support Sustainable Initiatives in Congo-Brazzaville, Mali and Togo

 

• • Project regarding Social Welfare of Raped Women during Civilian Wars in Congo-Brazzaville

This is a great and valuable initiative to empower women and protect women’s rights by providing by them with humanitarian and professional assistance in order to advance the status of women.   As part of this project, there is the building of rehabilitation centres for victims of rapes and tortures.

This project is run by Association Coeur Africain (ACA) of Congo-Brazzaville.  So far, this organisation has managed to secure a sum of US$8,500 coming mainly from individual contributions.  To achieve this humanitarian project the organization needs additional aid of US$65,000, but they would not mind any support given to make up a partial aid, that is to say US$25,000.

For monitoring purpose, ACA will provide an evaluation report each semester evaluating their activities for healing the wounds of raped women and daughters.  They will be additional monitor via CENFACS.

Anyone who is interested in supporting this project, they can contact CENFACS.

• • Projects of Safe Drinking Water Supply; of Needy Children and Vulnerable Population in Togo

These projects, which are from a Togolese NGO called CETAAD (Centre of Technical Studies for Development Actions) working in the south of Togo, are to be developed in association with CENFACS. 

These initiatives seek to help children and people who are still suffering from water-borne diseases. .Some children don’t have access to school because they are orphan or their parents cannot pay their school materials.  The projects, which will have a strong positive impact, will support these needy children and vulnerable population in Togo.

Anyone who is interested in supporting these projects, they can contact CENFACS with their support.  Thank you!

• • Support to the Social and Economic Promotion of Young Deaf Persons out of Schooling in Mali

This is another deserving cause to be rolled out by AREM (Association pour la Réhabilitation de l’Environnement du Mali), which is  a non governmental organisation, in association with CENFACS.

The project aims at contributing to the efforts of the Malian association of deaf (ANASOURD) in permanent search to improve the life conditions of its members.

It is the project for social and professional integration of young people with hearing impairment or deficiency.  The beneficiary will be the leavers of AMASOUDS school (Malian association of deaf people) 

Anyone who is interested in supporting this project, they need to contact CENFACS with their support.  Many thanks!.

The details or proposals for the above three projects are available on request.  CENFACS welcomes any enquiry or discussion related to them.  We also appreciate if this message can be passed onto somebody who may be willing to consider them for support.  Thank you!  .

 

• All Year Round Projects, In Focus this Spring 2019: The Economies of Running, Gaming and Voting

 

• • The economies of running, playing and voting

 

For those engaged or will be engaged with the above mentioned projects, they will achieve more and better if they take into account the following elements for each sub-project making All Year Round projects.

 

a) The economy of Running or organising a Run Event to Reduce Poverty in 2019

 

The elements to consider for this economy include: market for runners, reading runners’ literature (such as runners’ magazines and newspapers), parity between male and female runners for a group of runners, digitalisation (if you do digital running), new forms of race to reduce poverty and raise awareness of good causes, what motives you running (for example help reduce poverty, raise awareness of climate change etc.).

 

b) The economy of playing the CENFACS League for Poverty Relief

 

For those who are playing CENFACS League for Poverty Relief, they can consider the following:  their basic budget, equipment or resources, information they need for each African country (making the CENFACS’ League) in the process of reducing poverty, records of their fixtures, scores and results as the project progresses.

 

c) The economy of Voting the 2019 African Poverty Relief and Development Manager

 

For those who are casting their 2019 vote, there are as well elements to consider such as the cost of voting, computerisation or mobile vote, research costs to find the manager of the year, results presentation costs etc.

 

Briefly, whether you run or play or vote, there are economic data one needs to work out before and sometimes after they start as the following examples show.

 

If you want to run; you may need a short or track suit, a t-shirt, a pair of trainers, a watch to time yourself and a bottle of water.  

 

If you want to play the CENFACS’ League; you need data and statistics about each country of the league, information about their performance on poverty reduction league tables, the current definition of poverty and hardships or the definition of poverty reduction you are using.

 

If you would like to vote the 2019 manager; you need to know their poverty relief work and outcomes, their achievements, the organisation they worked with, if they have or had criminal records or convictions especially if they are working with children and vulnerable adults, if they can be vetted and pass the baring criteria etc.  It is not only about their professionalism but also their social behaviour in order to be considered as role models in the poverty relief and development fields.

 

With the above supporting economic information, one can engage with the 2019 Edition of All-year Round Projects.

 

• • The 2019 Edition of All-year Round Projects

 

You can Run or Organise a Run Activity to Reduce Poverty in 2019 

 

You can Play the CENFACS League for Poverty Relief

You can Vote your 2019 African Poverty Relief Manager.

After running or organising a run activity, playing the CENFACS’ League and voting your Manager of the Year 2019; we would like you to share with us and others your experiences, stories and reports regarding these projects.  Your share will be a kind of Action-Results report 2019.

Remember!

If you are Playing the CENFACS Poverty Relief League and its sub-project Le Dernier Carrẻ, there are 16 team countries in this Poverty Relief and Development League playing each 32 matches/games each against the other. 

If you are Running for Poverty Relief and Development, you can do it alone or as a group. 

If you are casting your Vote for an International Development and Poverty Relief Manager of 2019, you can only vote yourself. 

Whether you are Gaming or Running or even Voting for Poverty Relief and Development, please keep a track record (including the facts, data, videos, audio tapes, reviews and images) of your activities to make and share your story with us and others by the end of the year.

To keep at track record, you do not need sophisticated technologies or a third party.  With your mobile phone only –  if you have one  – you can text, record voices, make a video, take pictures, phone, and make a short film  to capture and communicate the impacts of any event or activity you did, are doing or taking part by the end of this year. 

We would be more than happier to hear your Action and Results to feature and include in this year’s results and record.  Don’t forget to tell it!

 

What we would like to hear the three Bests of 2019

We would like to hear from you about

 

√ The Best African Countries of 2019 which best reduce poverty

√ The Best African Global Games Runners of 2019

√ The Best African Development Managers of 2019

The deadline to tell us your bests is 23 December 2019.

 

 

For more information about these projects, please contact CENFACS.

 

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

08 May 2019

Post No. 90

 

 

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• “Quadranscentennial” (Q) Year and Project – In Focus on 09 May 2019: Act No. 2, Volunteering Story of CENFACS since 1994

• All in Development Story (AiDS) Telling Series – In Focus between 08 and 14 May 2019: Serial No. 2, Needs Assessment Stories

• Afforestation Stories: Making your Story Top Headline of our May Stories Chart

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ Q Year and Project – In Focus on 09 May 2019: Act No. 2, Volunteering Story of CENFACS since 1994

 

This week, we are keeping you engaged with the second Act of the “Quadranscentennial” Year and Project – the Volunteering Act – by telling you our voluntary story since CENFACS began.

This story has never been told or written before.  It is a non-fictional story as it is about what actually happened.  The story, which is about the experience of CENFACS in volunteering, is not a brand story.  It is not written in inverted pyramid technique as we are trying to remember what happened in a chronological order rather than in order of importance.

After reading this historical account, there could be hope that readers will realise that volunteering is deeply rooted in the purpose of CENFACS of relieving poverty and hardships.  Although the story itself is not a brand story, volunteering is one of CENFACS’ brand assets as we could not have been able to harness the change of what was and is needed unless we included volunteering.  In this respect, volunteering became part of our brand story.

To get the full extent of this story, read under the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

~ AiDS Telling Series – In Focus between 08 and 14 May 2019: Serial No. 2, Needs Assessment Stories

 

Our AiDS Telling Series continue this week with needs assessment stories.

In our first serial of stories, we dealt with accounts related to the discovery of the problem of for example destruction of lives.  The second serial, which starts today, will cover the needs assessment stories.

Knowing what decimates lives, one can now assess the needs and volunteer for those assessed needs.  The stories that we are expecting for this second serial are those of voluntary work done in the area of needs assessment, of determining and addressing needs and gaps between destroyed conditions of life and the wanted conditions to renew lives.  It is about volunteering in need identification.

To donate your story, please contact CENFACS.

 

~ Afforestation Stories: Making your Story Top Headline of our May Stories Chart

 

You can donate stories of forestation and reforestation.  The tales could be a personal experience of growing or renewing forests and forest life again.  Additionally, they can be of renewing habitats for wildlife and of help to reduce global warming for example.

If one has such personal story to donate and help renew lives and is willing to share with CENFACS, please let us know.  You can submit your story to make the top headline story of our May Stories chart.

To donate or share your forestation or reforestation story, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ The IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) Global Assessment Report as a great example of May Stories

 

Two days ago, the United Nations published the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Nature Report, highlighting the needs for restoration and protection of nature with species threatened with extinction.  It is an account of the consequences of mankind on the nature.

Nature report is a great example of an assessment story about the needs that should be met to the up keep of the nature in unshakable existence.  There are areas of this report that speak about forest and deforestation; topics which are in tune with CENFACS’ May Story telling theme. 

So, the UN Nature report is a perfect story that tells us what is happening with the nature as a result of human behaviour and how grave the situation is.  This is as well another wake-up call so that we can do something to help renew or rebuild the nature before it is too late.  The report has shown that there is an increasing need, better urgency to do something to save the nature from extinguishing.

For further information about the IPBES report, go to:

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/

 

 

 

~ Q Year and May Stories Month

 

We are in CENFACS’ Quadranscentennial (Q) Year (2019) and May Stories Month.  We can try to “quadranscentennialise” our poverty relief and life renewing stories.  In other words, we can ask ourselves the stories we are telling today about for example climate change or nature, how they can be relevant in 25 years.  Likewise, we can question the telling stories of renewing lives of today, how sustainable, learning and helpful in changing lives so that 25 years later the same issue of poverty does not reappear or disappear forever.

In the contrary, we can look back the stories that we were told let say in 1994 (25 years ago) about for example the impacts of climate change and how we can relate to them to our life today.  “Quadranscentennialise” our stories in this way before telling them helps us to give our stories their real historical values, weight, context, meaning and robustness.     

To enquire and or bring your input to the relationships between our life renewing stories and times, contact CENFACS. 

 

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Volunteering Story of CENFACS since 1994: the Volunteering Act or Act 2

 

To make an idea that works, it requires that the creator(s) of this idea does (do) some work for it to work or put it more specifically deliver the aim and outcomes of the creation.  Work can be paid and or unpaid (voluntary) or even both.  This is what happened with the idea of CENFACS.

In the case of CENFACS, as it was not set up for financial gain, the first way of working was to volunteer for it in order to help it achieve its aim and objectives.  This is how our voluntary work started.  This altruistic philosophy or way of working in our journey in trying to make helpful difference in the lives of others has continued until today. 

In that volunteering journey, there were episodes that led to various models of volunteering and made us to donate our time for other good and deserving causes.  There were some factors that came into play in our altruistic journey, just as we could not achieve anything (for example doing fundraising or running an event) if we did not have some players or figures as the following will reveal.

 

• • Volunteering episodes

There are three episodes in the Volunteering Story of CENFACS which are as follows:

The first episode, which is between 1994 and 2002, is the volunteering story of CENFACS as an informal organisation but a forum for discussion on economic issues faced by Francophone Africa. 

The second episode, which is between 2002 and 2012, is the volunteering story of CENFACS as a formal organisation in the first growth decade of CENFACS.

The third episode, which is between 2013 and 2018, is the volunteering story of CENFACS as an international advocate for poverty relief and sustainable development.

The above episodes are linked to the phases of development of CENFACS as a voluntary organisation.  Indeed, CENFACS moved from an informal organisation (forum for discussion) to a formal charity and to an international advocate.

However, if one takes volunteering alone as a department or function within CENFACS it has experienced eight successive developments in its volunteering scheme, All in Development Volunteers, as the following shows.

 

• • Volunteering developments and models

They were different evolving trends in the way people and organisations volunteered within and or CENFACS which included: the single-handed volunteer, two-volunteer model, board members volunteer structure, CENFACS’ membership volunteer, recruited UK-based volunteers, overseas volunteers, Africa-based Sister Organisations volunteers and permanent volunteers.

1/ Single-handed volunteer (Sole volunteer)

This is the first way of volunteer characterised by the founder of CENFACS voluntarily working from home on CENFACS and Francophone African issues at the start of CENFACS.

2/ Two-volunteer model

As two hands may never be enough to work on this kind of project, one volunteer joined in 1995 to deal with the complexity of the Francophone African matter. 

3/ Members as volunteers

As we were and are still working on poverty relief, we wanted those who were the most concerned with the issues we were dealing with to get involved.  So, we expanded our volunteering scheme to bring more our members into our volunteering arm. 

4/ Board members as volunteers

In 2001, CENFACS elected its board members who fully volunteered in the running of CENFACS.  In 2002, All in Development Volunteers (AiDV) scheme was created as a way for volunteering for better lives. 

AiDV aimed at helping CENFACS to work in association with local people to develop sustainable initiatives.  It had the following goals: providing volunteers to enhance the work of CENFACS and to support board members’ work, to help promote CENFACS’ vision, mission and values; as well as to meet the needs of all our stakeholders (including users, funders and development associates). The aim and goals of AiDV continue until today.

There was a time when we were to hire venues to meet work and run general meetings at sporadic places and locations.  This was the time all the board members realised how challenging was to volunteer for a charity which tried to punch over its weight, a charity with very limited resources and which tried to achieve something beyond imagination.

We all were jugglers as we were juggling between making our respective families’ ends meet and helping our communities to meet their needs; juggling to get the balance right between voluntary (unpaid) work and family life; juggling between voluntary (unpaid) work and paid work for some for us

5/ UK-based recruited volunteers

Running advice and training projects in the UK has meant for us to recruit more volunteers not only to work alongside advisers and trainers, but also to support us in administration, fundraising, research, advocacy, events and other areas of office management.

6/ Overseas volunteers

Although we set up some basic projects and programmes in the UK (to deal with the needs of the community living in the UK) as we were and are registered in the UK, our area of operation was and remains Africa, in particular but not exclusively Francophone Africa. 

As we were and are still working on Francophone Africa on poverty reduction, our volunteer scheme became popular.  It was at the time CENFACS was member of BOND (British Overseas Network for Development), the UK network for organisations working in international development.  A part from UK volunteers, we had overseas volunteers from African countries and other countries (like Poland, France, Spain, Canada etc.)  

Many of them mentioned how happier they were to volunteer for CENFACS as we made them get involved with the real development work and files rather than asking them to make tea and coffee only.   We could remember for example how we got involved in 2005 in the Make Poverty History campaign and in exhibiting on the day of this event under the BOND umbrella.

At time, we were using Mavis Beacon (an application software programme that teaches touch typing) to help volunteers build on their typing skills in order to complete their administration tasks within a reasonable amount of time. 

7/ Africa-based organisations volunteers

To know how life looked like in Africa where we worked, our Africa-based sister organisations and their local people had to volunteer to inform us and provide inputs for projects and programmes in the process of planning and developing projects and programmes.  They volunteered and continue to volunteer in working in alliance with CENFACS to develop sustainable initiatives.

8/ Permanent volunteers

Like in any organisation people come and go.  However, there are those who sometimes choose to stay longer.  These are the permanent volunteers who keep CENFACS running as it was difficult for people to get paid for whatever they do in the charitable context.  The permanent volunteers are the backbone of CENFACS.

 

• • Volunteering experience of CENFACS to other organisations

We did not only recruit volunteers for ourselves.  We also volunteered outside CENFACS.  The following are the examples of CENFACS’ outside volunteering experience.

a/ CENFACS (through its Chair) volunteered as a founding member amongst other founding members of the current Croydon Black and Minority Ethnic Forum (Croydon BME Forum).

b/ CENFACS (through its Chair) volunteered as a board member of the African Diaspora Voices for Africa’s Development (ADVAD)

c/ CENFACS (through its Chair) volunteered as a member of the London Safeguarding Children Board

The above are just amongst the milestones in the volunteering experience of CENFACS to donate our time for good and deserving causes.  This giving has helped for the creation and the development of these organisations or structures aiming at improving lives.

 

• • Volunteering in fundraising applications

Most of fundraising applications and campaigns were run by AiDVs.  Sometimes they succeeded, sometimes they failed to secure the funding we need for the good causes we were and are applying for. 

We could remember once we failed in our funding application.  We met the grant-making trust’s staff dealing with our failed application and got a feedback from them explaining us that the reason CENFACS did not get the funding requested is because we were not specific in our application about our users. 

We thought that saying in the application that we work with Francophone Africans, this would go against us.   We only said we work with Africans.  The grant maker told us that working with Africans was vague.  We should have been a bit more specific and why we did not say we work with Francophone Africans.  We learnt from this past mistake.

There were factors that influence this volunteering development especially in the last ten years.

 

• • External and internal factors or influencers

They included the following: location, service, economic, technology, climate change and the EU exit discussions.  Let us see how these factors impacted the volunteering development within CENFACS.

a/ Locational factor

Being located in the UK, CENFACS expanded its volunteering function to provide some basic services in the UK for the tiny community of Francophone Africans leaving in the UK and minority ethnic people.  This led us to recruit volunteers and organise our All in Development Volunteers scheme to cope with this demand, these users.  We did it while retaining our primarily area of operation, the Francophone Africa.

b/ Training service

This was about the various training courses we ran which resulted in us recruiting additional volunteers to cope with the needs of providing training.  These courses included:

√ Free Employability Training (3W) in 2004 to help French-speaking African unemployed refugee women living in Croydon with job searching skills

√ Basic Skills Development (deBASICS) in 2005

√ Project for Sustainable Skills for Employment (PROSSE) in Croydon to support unemployed multi-deprived women in 2007

√ Basic Skills in Health and Social Care (BSHSC) project in Croydon in 2008

c/ Economic recession

The 2008/9 global economic recession pushed us to rethink the way in which we volunteered as CENFACS was forced to curtail some of its services including its place to work.  The recession put enormous pressure on CENFACS and its volunteering ability and scheme.  We had to down size the number our projects and programmes as well as rethink another way of volunteering without losing grip on the business of poverty relief. 

d/ Digital technology

The digital technology has changed the way we work and volunteer by making us to use less paper.  This affected the way we volunteered as well as it pushed us to find a new and innovative way of volunteering such as using mobile phone devices, social networking etc. 

For example, between 2014 and 2015, we added our voice to the global conversation about the transition from the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals by using digital means or doing what we called smart volunteering.

e/ Climate change

Being an organisation working on the development of sustainable initiatives, CENFACS strived and continues to make sure that in whatever we did or do we leave less carbon print or legacy.  This included in the way we volunteer and the themes we choose to volunteer for.  This was and is still reflected in some of the campaigns we ran such as our Climate Talks Follow-up project.

f/ EU exit discussions

Since (2016) the discussions about the possible exit of the UK from the EU started, these discussions have affected some of the plans within our volunteering scheme.  CENFACS’ All in Development Volunteers scheme had to adapt with economic transition which has already started since 2016 and managed this scheme with the uncertainty of the last two and half years. 

 

• • Volunteering story makers or players

The story makers of volunteering story are all the AiDVs.  However, like in any organisation, especially organisations run by volunteers, there are always people who would make sure that the interests of the organisation are protected and are above all both in bad and good times.  Amongst these persons in CENFACS is the founder, Celestin Tshilenge.

In every story, there are characters or players.  The main character in CENFACS’ volunteering story is the founder of CENFACS, Celestin Tshilenge.  The playmakers were and are volunteers.  Despite naming these figures, we should not forget our users, funders and other stakeholders without their contribution we would not be able to develop CENFACS’ AiDV scheme.

Without specifically talking about all the makers, we would reminisce about the Volunteer Centre Croydon, especially as it is about volunteers matter in this communication.  We could remember some of the volunteering sessions and meetings we attended in the mid-development of AiDV scheme at the Volunteer Centre Croydon.  We could also acknowledge the information, guidance and advice as well as supporting resources handed to us.  We should not forget the opportunity they gave to us to exhibit in one of their high profile events in the Croydon Whitgift Centre.   All this enabled us to develop our volunteer policy, programme and projects. 

By the way let us precise this.  All in Development Volunteers (AiDV) scheme at CENFACS is in-house service.  We did not and do not provide volunteers to other organisations, but we recruit volunteers for our own needs.  On the contrary, the Volunteer Centre Croydon provides volunteers to organisations looking for volunteers.

 

• • AiDV legacies

Volunteering at CENFACS is an opportunity to enhance one’s capacity and skills, network, discover new ideas, explore new terrains, and gain new insights into life by sharing skills, experiences’ and knowledge with others.  It is also about reaching out to the needy communities.

We had a volunteer with a Bachelor of Arts in Law who really was good to such an extent that she had a typing speed of 45 words per minute.  Before she came to volunteer for CENFACS, she struggled to find a job.  Everywhere she volunteered in big organisations, they could not let her put into practice her graduate skills.  They only confined her to boring tasks like checking mails, making tea and coffee etc.

During the time she was with CENFACS, we got her involved in writing policies, procedures and processes; while also doing other routine office work.  She got an interview with an American law firm in the City of London and we supplied her reference.  She got the job and left us with a big thank you.  She was over the moon how she could achieve with CENFACS something which was almost impossible for her to achieve with others.  

We had another case of a person who volunteered in administration and development for CENFACS.  This is what she said:

“Thank you CENFACS for helping me by giving me an opportunity to empower myself through an administration and development voluntary position.”

 

• • What the volunteering story of CENFACS tells us in the end

Although the volunteering story of CENFACS does not say everything  about volunteering within CENFACS, it does however provide to readers and supporters some understanding on the volunteering episodes, models of volunteering, volunteering legacies of AiDV so far, volunteering influencers and volunteering makers of CENFACS. 

Volunteering was central and continues to be a key function in what CENFACS did and does.  This is for various reasons which include the following.

As Yunus and Weber (1) put

“… human beings are driven by selfless motivations as well.  The existence of countless charitable institutions supported by personal generosity demonstrates this…An altruistic motivation is still required to make charity possible”. (p.XVI)

So, selfless or voluntary support can help not only to address poverty and hardships issues, but can also help tackle the flaw in theoretical arguments what paid or unpaid work can or cannot do.

The volunteering story of CENFACS has shown that it is possible to deal with the issues of poverty and hardships as well as reconstruct our theoretical structures in resolving the problems of poverty and hardships.

Beyond the problem of theoretical construct or mindset, there is this practical argument which is as follows.

It was and is not just possible in our history and development to conceive to pay for the labour for everything we did and do to help reduce poverty.  One can think of the impacts of Rwanda genocide in 1994, the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa this year.  It is not just possible to pay for everything to fix those issues.  Someone should voluntarily offer themselves to do something for not-taking money to help for example the victims of genocide, Ebola virus and flood disaster.  

The above is the volunteering story of CENFACS since 1994, the “Quadranscentennial” aspect of CENFACS’ Volunteering since it began, which we have tried to tell the essential of it.  However, if there is anything does need clarification or further development, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS. 

 

Before you leave, please read the following notice.

For the purpose of the new general data protection and protection of the AiD volunteers, we would like to inform you the following:

⇒ Some dates related to this story have not been revealed

⇒ Names and details of people who volunteered for CENFACS have not been revealed as well.

⇒ Places and times they volunteered for CENFACS have not been disclosed.

We have made this precaution to protect the integrity of AiDV scheme and our volunteers.  Also, like any organisations people come and go at CENFACS.  To reveal any information related to them, we need to seek their permission.  However, if anybody wants to enquire about any of the pieces of this story, they are free to make their enquiry. 

We trust and hope we would understand our position on protection matter.

Thank you for your readership!

 

(1) Muhammad Yunus and Karl Weber (2010), Building Social Business – The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs, PublicAffairs, New York

 

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

01 May 2019

Post No. 89

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• May Stories – All in Development Stories: Life Renewing Stories

• All in Development Story Telling Series

• Rebuilding Forest Protection in the Democratic Republic of Congo

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ May Stories – All in Development Stories: Life Renewing Stories

 

Story telling is our main content for the month of May.  It is the month and time of the year we dedicate ourselves to telling and sharing poverty relief and sustainable development stories.  Why? 

This is because in whatever we do to help reduce poverty and appeal for support to development process, there is always a story to tell and share from various places we intervene and from different individuals and communities or organisations involving in our work.

How do we tell and share these stories?  We do it through All in Development Stories project.  This year, AiD Stories project will be on Life Renewal.

For more on AiDS project and this year’s storytelling focus, read under the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

~ All in Development Story Telling Series

 

A new series of AiDS Telling will start from the 1^st of May 2019, every Wednesday afterwards and will last until the end of May 2019.  These series, which are part of May stories, are a set of notes arranged in line to tell stories of Life Renewal.

There are many process models of life renewal.  However, for the simplicity of storytelling series, we are going to consider stories related to the following four sequences: the discovery or identification problem that cause for example destruction for life to be renewed; the assessment of the renewal of needs; the recovery or curative process when moving from bad situation to a good one; and the monitoring and tracking of the renewal outcomes.  

For further details about these sequences, please continue to read under the Main Development section of this post.

   

~ Rebuilding Forest Protection in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

 

Can the new democratically-transited State in DRC rebuild its forest protection?

Many observers asked what the new governance in DRC bring back this country where it was some 50 years ago.  This month, the problem of loss of biodiversity and deforestation resurface again about the DRC’s performance.  The question came back as Global Forest Watch refreshed the world’s deforestation data.   In these data, it appeared that DRC is the second country in the world with the greatest primary forest loss in 2018.  In 2018, the DRC forest reduction was at around 481,000 hectares after Brazil.  In the last 15 years, DRC has lost 6% of forest cover.

In the view of these refreshed data and other available information about deforestation in DRC, there is a forest protection challenge that the new State may need to address.  It is the challenge of rebuilding protection against over-exploitation and illegal trade of forest products and resources.  One can hope the new DRC governance will raise to this challenge.

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Reflection Day (27/04/2019): Thank you!

 

It is a great pleasure and gesture to spend only ONE DAY OUT OF THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE DAYS (1 out of 365 days) in a year to think of poor families, and among them are particularly but not exclusively poor women and children. 

It was marvellous to reflect on the conditions and protection of women and children in places of war and natural disasters.  None underestimates the pain and sufferings that people, and amongst them women and children, living in places like the above ones may have.  Taking times and making some thoughts for their defence against harm, danger and loss; is worthwhile.  Many thanks to all our Reflection Day supporters!

 

~ Protection against Floods (April 2019): Extra Takeaway

 

Our month of protection has just ended.  It takes sometimes to analyse and digest protection findings, draw the necessary conclusion and learn lessons, if any, as we are still working on the data and information we have collected so far.   However, this does not stop us to provide you with the key thoughts from last month’s hard work.

What one can take away now is: whether it is about protection against floods for the areas or people or building or even livelihoods; the stake of protection is still getting higher than ever before.  Measures can be taken to prevent floods to happen.  Not all the floods are preventable as the impacts of climate change are still with us.  Courses of action should also be undertaken to protect people when there is a flood disaster or just a flood.  Protective actions are needed especially for places where the locals do not have the capacity to deal with the flood disaster of certain magnitude and scale like the one we saw in Southern Africa with Cyclone Idai.

We would like take this opportunity for thank all those who supported our last month of protection.  Many thanks!  

 

~ Peaceful Poverty Relief Movements in Africa: Failure and Success Stories

 

Our analytical comparison between the two waves of poverty relief movements (PRMs) in North Africa continues this week as we are trying to find out why some PRMs succeed and others fail. 

As we are in the May month of Stories at CENFACS, we are as well extending to our May Stories the stories of success and failure regarding peaceful poverty relief movements in Africa (PPRMAs).

We are looking at how instrumental peace is in the PRMs in achieving their aims and goals of poverty relief and sustainable development.  We are additionally looking at other conditions and factors that can play in the success and failure of the stories of PRMAs.

If anyone is interested on the PRMs or working on the similar issue, CENFACS would appreciate to hear from them.

 

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• May Stories: Life Renewing Stories

 

••  What is ALL in DEVELOPMENT STORIES project?

 

All in Development STORIES (AiDS) is a life story developing, telling, sharing and learning project set up by CENFACS in 2009 in order to give opportunities to volunteers, interns and other development supporters to inspire others and spread the good news and will of better change to the community.  The project, which is run during the month of May, has three dimensions as follows:

1/ AiDS is a telling and sharing story

It is about telling and sharing with us your experience and achievements made in the fields of local (UK) and International (Africa) developments.

2/ AiDS is a learning and development process

It is also about learning from volunteers and interns how they improved their own life, changed deprived lives and reached out to the needy communities.  After learning, one can try to develop strengths and better practices to solve problems.

3/ AiDS is an inspirational and motivational support network

After all, the project seeks to inspire and motivate others on the road of change for change, especially for those who might prepare and use their summer break or any other occasions to take up volunteering and or internship roles and positions.

 Finally, AiDS is a state-of-the-art project as it enables us to get up-to-date information, knowledge and thinking in the fields of poverty reduction and sustainable development from those who went on the grounds to learn and experience real-life development works.  They return with volunteering stories to tell and share.

This year’s storytelling and sharing will be about Renewing Lives. 

We have chosen to continue our theme of renewing lives this Spring.  Getting and exchanging stories on life renewal with people is a great way of sharing the fruits of sustainable development work and change, and of supporting one another.

This year, we have added to our usual May menu afforestation (forest and deforestation) stories. 

 

• • May Stories Addition: FOREST and DEFORESTATION STORIES

 

The Forest and Deforestation stories are the stories of protection of forests and prevention of the extension of forests including threatened animal and plant species in forests.  For the need of our May Stories, we are going to focus on African forests and deforestations.  These are the stories or examples of the accounts of protection and safeguard of the world’s cultural and natural heritage as well.

 

• •  May 2019 STORIES: Life Renewal Stories

 

Springtime is a season of life renewal, of beginning again.  To renew life (whether it is about self-renewal or assisted renewal), there is or should be a process.  There are many processes just as there are many theories of life renewal. 

As far as CENFACS is concerned, life renewal can happen through any of our programmes.  And the renewing-life process can takes place in any of our programmes.  Likewise, voluntary work can be undertaken at the level of any of these processes.  

So, to continue the theme of Life-renewing season, we are running 4 series of AiD Story Telling during this month of May.

For those who want to tell their stories of renewing lives, they can choose among the following sequences to tell their stories. 

 

• •  Types of 2019 Stories and Story Telling Series

 

AiD Story Telling Series: Starting 01/05/2019 and after every Wednesday until the end of May 2019.

The following series have been planned from our chosen renewal process model for this month of storytelling (May Stories).

⇒ Wednesday 01/05/2019 to Tuesday 07/05/2019: Problem discovery stories

These are the stories of voluntary work done in discovery the problem of life self-renewal and or for those who need renewal.

⇒ Wednesday 08/05/2019 to Tuesday 14/05/2019: Assessment stories

These are accounts of voluntary work related to need assessment to deal with life renewal.

⇒ Wednesday 15/05/2019 to Tuesday 21/05/2019: Recovery stories

They include tales of voluntary work carried out in the recovery process for those in need of renewal

⇒ Wednesday 22/05/2019 to Tuesday 28/05/2019: Monitoring and tracking stories

They are the experiences of voluntary work undertaken to systematically collect data and information as well as to follow the trajectory of the outcomes expected.

 

• • 2019 Story Areas of Interest

 

We take stories that cover any areas of poverty reduction and local and international sustainable developments.

 

• • Contexts of Stories

 

Stories could come from any level of project/programme cycle (i.e. planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and review) as long as it is to do with poverty reduction and sustainable development.  They could also be a result of research and field work activities or studies.  They could finally be an experience of everyday life. 

  

• • Call for 2019 Entries 

 

The 2019 Edition of AiDS has now kicked off.  For those who want to enter their stories of life renewal, please note you are welcome to do so.  Just read below the annotated time frame for story submission and CENFACS‘ storytelling  terms and conditions.

We await your responses to our call.

 

• • Annotated Time Frame for Story Submission in 2019

 

<> Start of online (e-mail) and paper-based submission (01/05/2019)

<> Story submission deadline (31/05/2019)

<> Notification of receipt/acceptance (by 17/06/2019)

<> Submission of revised stories (01/05/2019 to 31/05/2019)

<> Closing date of submission (31/05/2019)

 

• • CENFACS Story Telling & Sharing Terms

 

To tell and/or share your life-renewing story, please let us know who you are, where and when your experience took place and of course the story itself.  You could also text, twit and send some forms of supporting materials/resources to back up your story.  Should you wish not to be named, please let us know.  Please see below our story telling, sharing and learning terms.

1/ We welcome both told and untold stories

2/ Inside, witness, news, behind the scenes & case stories are eligible

3/ We only take real life stories, not fiction stories or fake news

4/ Tell true and evidence-based stories only, not lies

5/ If possible, back up your stories with facts and data (numbers or words)

6/ Mention location, dates and names of events in the story

7/ We accept photos, images, pictures, videos, infographics, audios and other forms of resources (e.g. digital or e- technologies) to support, capture and communicate the impact of your story 

8/ Plagiarism, prohibited, offensive, violation of copyrights and unlawful/illegal materials are not accepted

9/ Hacking, flaming, spamming, ransom ware, phishing and trolling practices are not accepted as well.

For further clarification, contact CENFACS

 

Tell and share your story of change for change by communicating the impact you make!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

24 April 2019

Post No. 88

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Reflection Day (27/04/2019) – In Focus: Protection of Women and Children in War-torn Zones and Natural Disaster-stricken Areas

• Protection of Sustainable Livelihoods: Week Beginning 22/04/2019

• Rebuilding Shattered Lives for Future Generations

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ Reflection Day (27/04/2019) on Protection of Women and Children in War-torn Zones and Natural Disaster-stricken Areas

To stay in tune with the theme of renewing lives in the Spring Relief season, this year’s Reflection Day, which will be held on 27 April 2019, has been planned to take into account the conditions and needs of women and children victims of and/or living in war-torn zones and natural disaster-stricken areas, particularly but not exclusively in Africa. 

Events like destructive wars and natural disasters can affect everybody who gets caught by them.  However, because our Reflection Day is about women and children, we need to pay a particular attention to them when it comes to dealing with these events.

To get the full extent of the first key message, please continue to read under the Main Developments section of this post.

 

 

~ Protection of Sustainable Livelihoods

The last of note about the theme of protection for this month is the Protection of Sustainable Livelihoods and other local lives from floods. 

As part of this note, we are examining the linkages between sustainable livelihoods and the need for floods protection, between sustainable livelihood systems and protection systems related to a flood situation.

Through this concluding note, we will go beyond the narrow satisfaction of protection of basic needs by embracing sustainable livelihoods.

More on this second key message can be found under the Main Developments section of this post.

 

 

~ Rebuilding Shattered Lives for Future Generations: “Quadranscentennialisation” of Rebuilding

Our appeal for rebuilding lives (which you can find one specific example of rebuilding lives on our support page of this website) continues this week with a focus on rebuilding shattered lives for generations to come. 

Rebuilding for Generations is about integrating inter-temporal and inter-space dimensions in our rebuilding projects or activities.  We want to help rebuild current destroyed lives.   If we want a lasting impact of our rebuilding help or work, then we need to think of temporal dimension (a t-dimension) or to integrate future generations in our model, plan, programme and project of rebuilding lives.  In other words, we want our rebuilding work tackles inter-generational poverty.   We don’t want to see the people we are helping to day in our rebuilding efforts, their children fall into the same poverty trap in the future.

As we are in CENFACS’ Q Year, we could even “quadranscentennialise” our rebuilding efforts by either going back 25 years from 2019 and integrate the time element of minus 25 years. Then, we could look at our rebuilding efforts backwards (minus 25) and what they have produced. 

If, on the contrary we look at our model of rebuilding in the next 25 years (that is adding 25 years), we can integrate 25 years to the same model of rebuilding lives.  Then, it will become Rebuilding plus 25.  Rebuilding plus 25 can tell us what we are trying to rebuild today will it help the generations to come in 25 years?  Our t-dimensional model can tell if what we are doing today in 2019 in terms of rebuilding will be relevant for the next generations after 25 years.

For further details on the “quadranscentennialisation” of rebuilding lives, please contact CENFACS.   

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Q Project – Act No. 1: Thanks

Thank you for those who supported the first Act, the Protection Act, of the Q Project and Year.  The Protection Act was about the Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work.  It has emerged from this Act that a great deal of history making at CENFACS was done through protection work.  Protection was central in what was done and continue to be a pivotal piece in CENFACS’ work today.  Sustainable protection supports CENFACS’ aims and objectives of working with local people to develop sustainable initiatives. 

Many thanks!

 

 

~ Q Protection questionnaire

As we told you last week, there was a basic questionnaire to complete after 19 April 2019 in order to support the historical survey about CENFACS’ protection work.  This questionnaire, which is just a research instrument of the survey, is related to the six trends or dimensions of protection as shown in the Table no. 1.    

The purpose of this survey is to collect information to assist CENFACS to improve its protection work as well as to research on the “quadranscentennial” legacies of CENFACS’ protection work.

So, our research frame of collecting information from stakeholders, users and other supporters through a questionnaire (online and in print) continues this week.  At the end of this collection process, we shall look at the data collected and analysed them for learning and development purpose.

To participate and or support our historical survey of CENFACS’ protection work, contact CENFACS.

~ Easter Break ad Holidays Moments & Experiences to Remember, Share and Report

Now, some of you are back from Easter Break and Holidays, it could be a good idea to think of sharing and or reporting about your experience regarding life-renewal or just about Easter Break.

Sharing your experience in this way helps to build a collection of memories and experiences about life-renewal which everybody can draw from and improve learning and development.  Furthermore, it helps empower others (those who need life-renewal examples) on the road to reducing poverty linked to the lack of life-renewing models.

As we said it in our previous communication, you can add photos, videos, audio materials, graphics  and any evidence you think is useful to your life-renewing messages.

To share and or report on your life-renewal experiences or moments, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Developments

 

• Reflection Day, 27 April: Protection of Women and Children in War-torn Zones and Natural Disaster-stricken Areas

 

Floods, droughts, storms and other natural disasters can cause a lot of damages, deaths and injuries as well as enormous financial costs.  They can create climate refugees.  They can cause all kinds of victims (humans, animals, buildings, assets etc.).

Amongst these victims are women and children.  Women and children have to be moved, relocated and supported to rebuild their lives sometimes in the new locations or environments.

Likewise, wars especially destructive ones create victims as well.  Amongst these victims are humans, animals, buildings, infrastructures and so on.  Focusing on two particular victims from parties in armed conflicts are women and children. 

Women and children victims of or living in war zones can greatly suffer from access to safe drinking water, medical care, shelter, education, protection etc.  They can be displaced and their human rights can be derided or violated just as they can be exploited in many forms.

They have been a lot of truly documented stories of women harm and child causalities; stories reported in places of wars like in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in places of natural disasters like in Haiti.  

Women and Children living in places of wars and natural disasters face an incredible amount of challenge for their life survival, let one their security to be alive.

This is why we need to think again the way in which women and children, especially the vulnerable ones, are protected in places of wars and natural disasters.  This is because in the places like these ones, the fences of protection could have been destroyed by the events.  Besides the urgency of meeting for example the basic needs of food, water, shelter and education; the need of protection could even challenge the possibility of meeting the other needs. 

The Reflection Day will be about thoughts on how women and children can be best protected in places of war and natural disasters; places where there is a great challenge for protection as most of the safety and security nets have been destroyed or damaged.

Our Reflection Day will go in depth not only to explore life-saving strategies, fixes and enhancements to tighten the fences of protection; but also to engineer ideas for solutions to the root causes of the lacks of protection and security.

To proceed with our Reflection Day, we are going to have three areas of reflection:

1/ Thoughts on Women and Children protection rights and practices in places of war

2/ Thoughts on Women and Children protection rights and practices in areas of natural disaster

3/ How women and children can protect themselves rather than how somebody else protects them, in the two places.  In this respect, one can  think of self-protection and self-empowerment for protection.

Although our Reflection Day will be on women and children victims of war and natural disasters, we shall also extend our thoughts on women in combat mission, female soldiers, women and children detainees, women journalists and reporters in places of wars and natural disasters, child soldiers etc. 

   

To support or join the Reflection Day on Protection of Women and Children, please contact CENFACS.   

Below we have provided a timeline about CENFACS’ Reflection Day for reference.

• • Reflection Day Timeline

The Reflection Day is a day of thoughts by bringing together the two pillars of our network and protection programme, which are 3W and PPS.  Although they started in 2003, we only introduced a Reflection Day (RD) in them in 2011. 

In 2016, we amalgamated 3W and PPS to become Women and Children projects as we noticed in some situations it was difficult to separate women’s and children’s needs.  Where their needs are separable or differentiated one to the other, we run either of the two brands (that is 3W and PPS) individually.  This is why these two brands of our network and protection are still alive despite their amalgamation.

The Reflection Day is a day of introspection to think in depth the ways forward for our systems of support network and protection for poverty relief and sustainable development in face of the current, new and emerging challenges ahead as well as the changing development landscape. 

Since its inception, the following is the timeline of 3W and PPS

2011: Making Networking and Protection Even Better in 2011

2012: Raising Standards in Poverty Reduction for Improving Lives

2013: Place of Women and Children in the Post-2015 Development World (Part I)

2014: Women and Children in the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda  (Part II) – A Stock Taking Reflection Event

2015: Doing Business to Lift Women and Children out of Poverty

2016: Improving Digital Protection for the Extremely Digitally Poor Women and Children

2017: Reducing Information and Communication Poverty for Multi-dimensionally Poor Women and Children

2018: Making Transitional Economy Work for Poor Families  

For your information,

3W & PPS = Support Network and Protection for Poverty Relief and Development

Women and Children projects = amalgamation of 3W and PPS in 2016

3W (What Women Want) = a CENFACS support network scheme to enhance the lives of multi-dimensionally deprived women and families.

PPS (Peace, Protection & Sustainability) = a CENFACS child and environmental protection programme to support multi-dimensionally vulnerable children, young people and families

KNA (Keep the Net Alive) = a motto that helps to keep our networking for protection running.

For more information on 3W and PPS or Women and Children projects, please contact CENFACS.

 

• Protection of Sustainable Livelihoods: Week beginning 22/04/2019

Sustainable livelihoods can be defined as factors and processes that enhance poor people’s ability to make a living in an environmentally, economically and socially way.  When there are floods or flood disaster (like the Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa), sustainable livelihoods can be destroyed. 

There are linkages between sustainable livelihoods and the need for floods protection.  Flood disaster can lead to loss or destruction of livelihoods as assets are destroyed and displaced by floods.  In addition, there could be restricted access to a means of production and of securing the necessities of life.

In this respect, protection of livelihoods will imply two approaches as follows.

1/ Protection strategies to preserve livelihoods (strategy approach): these are kinds of survival and copying strategies to make ends meet again.

2/ Relief programmes to ensure protection (programme approach): these are like a set of projects undertaken in the form of humanitarian aid and relief

Depending on the circumstances and the impacts of floods or flood disaster, one or the other strategy can be used or both.

In the context of our last note of the theme about protection against floods, we are going to deal with the following to protect sustainable livelihoods:

√ Security of water and food

√ Provision of medical support

√ Giving of shelter

√ Donation of clothing

√ Developing capacity to meet again the lost necessities

√ Restoration of dignity to people and communities affected by floods

Etc.

In brief, all the above activities are meant to enable the flood-affected people and communities to meet their daily requirements of living in a sustainable way.

To support and or enquire about the Month of Protection as well as this week’s note on the matter, please contact CENFACS.

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

                                                                         

 

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

17 April 2019

Post No. 87

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work (19/04/2019)

• Protection of Infrastructures, Homes and Buildings (Week beginning: 15/04/2019)

• Protection of the Hungry and Insecure People in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

 

… and much more!

 

Key Messages

 

~ Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work (on 19/04/2019)

Our first Act of the Quadranscentennial (Q) project is the Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work which will be held on the 19^th of April 2019.  This is a mapping activity and investigation about protection work since CENFACS was established in 1994 and since we are in the April month of protection at CENFACS.

Protection work began at that year.  It was once about what was happening in the region of Great Lakes of Africa in terms of protection need there.  Then, our protection work expanded to include other parts of Africa and other aspects of life. 

Under the Main Developments section of this post, you will find the highlights of this survey about the work of CENFACS on protection since 1994. 

~ Protection of Infrastructures, Homes and Buildings (Week beginning: 15/04/2019)

This week, we are dealing with the 3^rd note of the theme of protection against floods.  The focus is on how to protect infrastructures, people’s homes, public buildings and other basic amenities against floods or flood disaster.

In developing countries of Africa for example,  the challenge that can be brought by floods could be beyond local people’s capacity and ability, like in the case of Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa recently.   In particular, where infrastructures, homes and buildings have been destroyed, this challenge is even greater. 

So, this week’s work on protection against floods is about looking at the limits and budget constraints of places affected by floods and how they can be matched with the demands of protection.

More on this week’s protection work can be found under the Main Developments section of this post.

 

 

~ Protection of the Hungry, Insecure and Needy People in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

Although this week’s protection is about infrastructures, homes and buildings; we would like to extend our protection work of the last week, which was on protection of people, to include the needy people of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. 

We are including them as they are experiencing hunger, insecurity and scarcity of natural resources, especially water.  As it is known that the region of Sahel (in which these countries belong to) has a history of water shortage and drought which are a disadvantage for them, particularly for those living in poverty there. 

Added to this natural feature of these places, recently there have been killings in the region (in Mali against the Peul populations), inter-community strives, insecurity for farmers and stock breeders, general poverty, irrigation problems, drying of land, deforestation, desertification etc.  This has been coupled with extremism, inter-community conflicts, the lack of water drilling and decline of natural resources

As the brief picture of the situation in these countries has shown, this raises the question of protection of hungry, insecure and water resource-deprived people.  However, the injection of what is happening in these countries is not only about raising awareness concerning these people’s protection needs, but it is also about motivating those who can to do something about it.

Those who would like to help protect the peoples of these three countries who are desperate in need of food, security and safe drinking water; they can work with CENFACS on this matter.

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Easter Break with Life-renewing Experience Sharing and Reporting…

At home, on the move, away and on the field

To feature the renewal season at CENFACS, you can save the experiences about life-renewing you are having over this Easter break.  You can share and or report to CENFACS your experience of life-renewing initiative you are having or witnessing or even heard.  You can share it the time it is happening or when you return after Easter.

Life-renewing experiences are anything that has been done to help or support people in most needs to recompose, restructure and reconstruct themselves over this easterly time.

This experience can happen at any place (home and away) of Easter break.  You could even post your experience to CENFACS with photos, pictures, texts, videos or any supporting materials that better convey your life-renewing messages.

 

~ Comparative Analysis on Poverty Relief Movements in North Africa

Also, on the agenda this week is our reading of Poverty Relief Movements in Africa (PRMA).  As the young Algerians continue to demand an end to poverty linked to a lack of true, open and transparent democratic transition; what this does tell us about our model of peaceful PRMA.  Additionally, we are trying to make sense in the current PRM in North Sudan.    

We are trying to compare the two waves of PRM in North Africa: the first wave of PRM in 2010 (of Tunisia and Egypt) and the second wave of PRM in 2019 of Algeria and Sudan.  We are looking at the similarities and dissimilarities as well as what they are telling us about a model of peaceful PRMs.  In our model, we continue to argue that it is possible to achieve better change through peaceful PRMs or means.  It may take time but change will materialise one day or another.

In the 31^st Issue of FACS published in Spring 2011, CENFACS (1) simply defined PRM as

“a series of actions and a group of peaceful protestors with a common need and a common goal of advancing the cause of poverty relief in their respective countries” (p.4).

It is poor people’s revolution against poverty or poor people’s voices against poverty.  Their ways of expressing their voices can find accommodation in the streets and or anywhere else.

To comparatively analyse PRMA with CENFACS, contact CENFACS.   

(1) CENFACS, The Street Claimants of Poverty Relief in the North Africa: Case of the Youth Peaceful Poverty Relief Movements in Tunisia and Egypt, FACS Issue No. 31, Spring 2011 (pp. 3 & 4)

 

 

 

 

Main Developments

 

• Act One of Q Project: Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work (19/04/2019)

The historical survey of CENFACS protection work will be carried out through three elements: the background to CENFACS’ protection work, the identified areas of protection within CENFACS and a basic questionnaire to complete our survey.

 

~ The Background to CENFACS’ Protection Work

CENFACS’ protection story and work all began in 1994 when we saw the mass exodus of population leaving Rwanda and entering the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zaire) running away from their attackers, and human bodies thrown in the Tanganyika Lake.

It is not by chance if CENFACS’ Q Year coincided with the 25^th anniversary (07/04/2019) of Rwanda’s tragic event of mass murder, the genocide.  At that time, we had a choice to write a book to express our view or set up an organisation to advocate about the protection challenge that the Great Lakes of Africa faced.  The idea of setting up an organisation (a forum for discussion) overweighed that of a book. 

This is when our work on protection started, although our idea was an economic one.  We thought about protection of those people fleeing their lands to seek refuge in Zaire (today DRC), protection for the Congolese who were forced to welcome these Rwandan refugees while paying a heavy price for doing it, and protection of natural resources (like the Lake Tanganyika, farming lands, conflict materials etc.).

We wondered whether or not the international development community could not see what was happening and why these defenseless poor people were left to migrate and die in this way.  Why the genocide could not be prevented.  Why action was not taken.

The situation escalated to create two waves of war in DRC: the first Congo war between 1996 and 1997 characterised by a foreign invasion of Zaire led by Rwanda; the second Congo War in 1998 which became the deadliest conflict worldwide since the World War II with a toll of 5.4 million deaths by 2008.  This raised again the stake of protection to its highest level. 

This is CENFACS’ protection work and how it began.  This protection work took various shapes and forms as CENFACS develops as identified below.

 

~ Identification of the trends in protection work by CENFACS

Our investigative work found that there were and continue to be six trends or dimensions of protection which are as follows:

1/ Protection of the victims of destructive wars and natural disasters (like in the case of DRC) run under ReLives Programme

2/ Protection of the forgotten children of developments (children victims of the rivalries from the world system of exploitation)

3/ Protection of the ethnic minority people and communities

4/ Protection of the environment and nature conducted via a la une (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) campaign

5/ Protection of women and children (via Women and Children projects) that makes CENFACS’ What Women Want (3W) initiative and Peace, Protection and Sustainability (PPS) Programme

6/ Protection of children against the impacts and effects of climate change, which is conducted through our advocacy initiative known as Climate Protection and Stake for African Children 

These six dimensions provide the cartography of CENFACS protection work.

Without anticipating the results of the first Act of the Q Project, we can argue that this first Act will deal with these dimensions in trying to find out the outcomes, lessons and development we can learn from our 25 years experience of working on these six types of protection. 

To support and or enquire about CENFACS’ first Act of the Q Year and Project, contact CENFACS.

~ Q Protection questionnaire

To support the historical survey about CENFACS’ protection work, there will be a basic questionnaire to complete after 19 April 2019.  This questionnaire will be related to the six trends or dimensions of protection.

Further details about this questionnaire will follow in due course.  

 

• Protection of Infrastructures, Homes and Buildings (Week beginning: 15/04/2019)

 

~ What this week’s protection work is also about

This week’s third note of protection against floods is about looking at the financial limits and budgetary constraints of flood affected countries and organisations working there as well as how they can be matched with the demands of potential flood hazards or disasters in the future. 

~ What needs protection: destroyed infrastructures, homes and buildings

Often when there are wars, basic infrastructures, homes and other buildings are targeted for attack.  They get destroyed or vandalised.  This happened in many wars like in Rwanda, the DRC, the Central African Republic etc.  The places of refuge for those fleeing wars and atrocities are targeted as well. 

Conflicting fighters, sometimes both regular and irregular armies, destroy bridges, roads, airports, water infrastructures, transport systems, places of worship, local markets etc.  State and private buildings are not exempted.

This destruction can happen despite there are some laws of war (or the law of armed conflict) or conventions regarding the conduct of and during the war.  For example, there is a Geneva Convention (of 12 August 1949) relative to the protection of civilian persons in the war.   

When a major natural disaster strikes like the Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa; infrastructures, houses, dwellings, buildings, edifices and any construction are not exempt from destruction or collapse.  The infrastructures that get destroyed include water, sanitation, transportation, electricity, irrigation, and flood protection.

Yet, these basic infrastructures are the ones poor people and the rest of the population depend on for their daily life.  Likewise, homes and buildings are needed by the same people to live and work in or just function as human beings.

~ Providing protection to the affected infrastructures, homes and buildings

Generally, poor people and communities do not have the capacity to handle floods of certain level of impact like the one we saw with the Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa.  Where their capacity falls short, they can appeal to cover the difference or shortfall.  Obviously, in the case of these kinds people and communities this difference will be often covered by international humanitarian assistance.    

To support this third note and the protection month, contact CENFACS.

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

 

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

10 April 2019

Post No. 86

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Rebuilding Africa

• Protection of People affected by Floods

• Renewal Season over Easter and Quadranscentennial (Q) Year 

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ Rebuilding Africa

As we argued in our previous communication, CENFACS does not only work in bringing and lighting a Blaze of Hope for the Victims of Destructive Wars and Natural Disasters.  CENFACS takes the process of working with them further in helping them  to overcome underlying poverty and hardships. 

CENFACS work with them and or their representative organisations to alleviate poverty and hardships as the lack of hopes and expectations.  In the process of relieving poverty as the lack of hopes and expectations, the next step or phase of our advocacy is Rebuilding or Renewing Lives.  We call it Rebuilding Africa. 

Rebuilding Africa can take place in countries for example that are experiencing embryonic democratic transition (like the Democratic Republic of Congo) or countries that came out of destructive natural disasters (for instance Madagascar) or countries that experiencing peace transition after destructive wars (similar to the current process in the Central African Republic) or even countries searching for a truly democratic transition (such as Algeria at the moment).

For further details about the work on Rebuilding Africa, read under the Main Developments section of this post.

 

 

~ Protection of People affected by Floods

The second note of our theme on protection is the Protection of People affected by Floods.  This week, we are looking at what types of protection they need as we are dealing with the all sections of the population who could be affected.

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have provided the contents making this second note of our protection theme.

 

 

~ Renewal Season over Easter and Quadranscentennial (Q) Year

Our Q Year and Project continue over this Easter season with the topic of renewing lives as we are trying to factorise “quadranscentenniality” into our renewal work this Easter.  It is about looking at what the Q factor can play within the season of renewing lives. 

As the Q Project is about recalling the last 25 years of CENFACS, we can try to increase renewal by a factor of 25.  So, the Q factor is an element that can contribute to the renewal of lives as it explains the outcomes that could have been achieved in working to reduce poverty and helping to renew lives over this time frame.

Apart from this factorisation of “Quadranscentenniality”, we are looking back some of the works we did (our quadranscentennial legacy) in order to help renew lives here in the UK and in Africa for the people and communities affected by wars and natural disasters.

For more information about the Q factor and the relationship between the Q Year and Season of Renewing Lives, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Holiday with Relief at Easter Time

The Individual Capacity Development Programme (ICDP) resource entitled Holiday with Relief continue to be our source of reference this Easter holiday, together with its focus on Life Sustenance and Climate. 

For those who are looking for advice, tips and hints including fixers for their Easter holiday; our ICDP resource is a handy basic companion to consider for Holiday with Relief.  It contains useful pieces of information for holiday with relief whether holiday makers stay at home or go away to pass their holiday.

Its handiness and usefulness are as good for this year’s edition as for the previous issues.

To request a copy of the ICDP resources, please contact CENFACS.

Whether you pass your Easter holiday at home or away, CENFACS wishes you a Very Relaxing Easter Break!

 

 

~ Easter Shopping and Donations at CENFACS Charity e-Store

Do something little this Easter at CENFACS Charity e-Store, the store built for you to help reduce poverty!

We need QUALITY GOODS.

We always need goods that people do not want or need or even want to recycle.

We need SHOPPING as well.

You can shop at CENFACS Charity e-Store this Easter.

With your generous SHOPPING and or GOODS donations, these can be turned into cash and help to create an amazing experience of reducing poverty and hardships over this Easter and beyond for those in most pressing needs.

Because CENFACS Charity e-Store is a digital one, you can shop or donate wherever you are, even if you are on Easter holiday, and at any time.  The shop is opened 24 hours, 7 days a week.

To shop and or donate goods, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/

 

 

Main Developments

 

We have two exciting developments for you this week: Rebuilding Africa and Protection of People Affected by Floods.

 

• Rebuilding Africa

As argued above, Rebuilding is the next step in our process of helping in reducing the impacts and effects of war and natural disaster events.  Saying that we are going to rebuild Africa, it does not mean that we are going to remake all the sectors of Africa from scratch.

Rebuilding in the context of our poverty relief work has to be placed in the perspective of helping poor people and their organisations to overcome the ill effects of wars and natural disasters.  It is down to Africans to rebuild Africa, not CENFACS.  CENFACS as a charity just gives a helpful hand to them to reduce or better end poverty.

 

• • What rebuilding is about 

Rebuilding Africa addresses the legacies left by destructive wars and natural disaster events.  Every year, many human and wild lives as well as other ways of life have been destroyed as a result of wars, armed conflicts and environmental disasters.  These events often lead to humanitarian catastrophes, emergencies, contingencies, crises and responses. 

What’s more, where there is destructive war, there is always a destruction of the environmental life.  Examples of these Destroyed Lives are what happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Chad, in the Central African Republic etc.

Rebuilding Africa initiative tries to respond to these events by undertaking projects planning and development activity within CENFACS and in association with our Africa-based sister organisations.

This Projects Planning and Development activity enables us to improve our way of doing development work, to rethink and exchange new ideas, avenues, approaches and projects to better respond to the following:

√ New economic pressures and influences that can lead to the destruction of human and wild lives as well as other ways of life

√ New emerging threats and risks

√ New types of needs to rebuild destroyed lives (including infrastructures) in Africa

 

This planning and development process is within the context of enhancing our African Rebuilding and Sustaining Infrastructures and Lives programme.

 

•• What are those projects or responses?

Projects planning and development for responses could deal with environmental and war events.

 

Project developments linked to environmental events may respond to the following

≈ Short-term environmental strikes

≈ Disasters linked to climate change cycles

≈ Long-term environmental storms and catastrophes

 

Project developments linked to war events may try to deal with the following

≈ Short-term crisis and armed conflicts and disputes

≈ Wars linked to economic trends and business cycles

≈ Long-running and permanent wars and structural warfare

 

Project developments linked to both environmental and war events will be a process of projects planning and development that has a double response to environmental and war events for short, medium and long running crises.

To be more specific, let takes the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

 

•• Project development in the Case of New democratically-transited Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country that has recently transited to political democracy and that experienced wars for almost three decades and environmental impacts.  With this transition, one can assume that DRC requires rebuilding. 

After CENFACS’ continuing appeals to light a blaze of hope for the victims of unfinished business of political democratisation processes, it is now the time for us to start advocating for rebuilding the DRC.  The country managed against all the odds to peacefully transit to political democratisation with this year’s presidential election.  There could be a need to talk about and think of short, medium and long term project developments that meet the basic needs in the new context of this country. 

One can hope that our Congolese Sister Organisations will seize the new opportunity and momentum provided by the newly elected governance to start a new process of rebuilding DRC from the legacies of wars and environmental events, so that the needs and ends of the ordinary Congolese can be met again like three decades ago.  

 

• Protection of People Affected by Floods

All the people affected by a flood event need to be protected from this event.  This protection includes the protection of those who are victims of floods and those who help them.  However, like in any situation or catastrophic event, there are always those who are weak, sick, vulnerable and defenseless.  For those ones, perhaps a much needed attention has to be deployed.  So, this week’s protection work will focus on the people affected by floods.

 

•• Who are those people who need protection from floods?

 

There are many types of victims who include the following:

 

√ Those who lost almost everything (including their homes, relative and friends)

√ Those who suffer from trauma and psychological effect of the floods

√ Homeless

√ Farmers and fishermen

√ Foreign visitors and tourists

√ Those who are separate from their community and family members

√ Ill-people from stress-related symptoms

√ Evacuees

√ Displaced persons

Etc.

 

•• How do they get cover from the damage, loss and harm from floods?

Our Appeal for Renewing Lives in flood-affected African countries (Burundi, Madagascar and Niger) which was published last week in the context of our ReLive Issue No. 11 of this Spring provides answer to the above question.  The answer may not be complete, but it indicates what needs to be done.

In this Issue No.11 of ReLive, we have run a poverty relief model of 14 Gifts in 20 Reliefs as our way of responding to the people affected by floods in these African countries.  The propositions made for flood relief in this Issue No. 11 and in our model are applicable to many flood cases, although one should be cautious in generalising them. 

The model is restrictive and applicable to the above case of these African countries.  We are not sure if it is replicable or extendable to others cases in other regions of the world.  Every flood situation needs to be treated on its own merit while customising solutions.

For a full coverage of this appeal and a further understanding of protection for the people affected by floods as well as to support them, go to: http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

 

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

03 April 2019

Post No. 85

 

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• April Month of Protection: Flood Protection

• ReLive Issue No. 11: 14 Gifts in 20 Reliefs

• Climate Protection and Stake for African Children – Phase 3

 

… and much more!

 

Key Messages

 

~ April Month of Protection: Flood Protection

Our April month of Protection will focus on Flood Protection for this year.  This topic is chosen in the light of the flood disaster, which has happened in Southern Africa.  It is also chosen to highlight the theme of our Spring campaign, which is centred this year on Rebuilding and Renewing Lives in flood-affected African countries.

We have selected four key notes to compose this Spring theme, which will last four weeks with one note every week, starting from the 1^st of April 2019.  These key notes are as follows:

 

⇒ Protection of flood-affected areas (week beginning 01/04/2019)

⇒ Protection of people affected by floods (week beginning 08/04/2019)

⇒ Protection of infrastructures, homes and buildings (week beginning 15/04/2019)

⇒ Protection of livelihoods and local lives (week beginning 22/04/2019)

 

In brief, these key notes about protection will deal with four elements: Areas, People, Infrastructures and Lives.

~~ Week beginning 01/04/2019: Protection of flood-affected areas 

Within this key note, we would deal with the following

 

√ Flood safety tips

√ Flood warning system

√ Action plan against flood

√ Flood evacuation

√ Health

√ Electricals

√ Insurance etc

For details about Protection Month and Flood Protection, contact CENFACS.

~ ReLive Issue No. 11: 14 Gifts in 20 Reliefs

The 11^th Issue of ReLive, of Rebuilding and Renewing Lives will focus on African countries affected by floods, particularly but not exclusively on the three African countries which are Burundi, Madagascar and Niger.

In the last week’s post, we said that we would continue to sympathise and support the flooding cause in Southern Africa (in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi).  However, the magnitude, scale and effects of their flood disaster are beyond our scope and capacity.  They are already prominent charitable, non-governmental as well as multilateral organisations which have been already and heavily involved in this flood disaster.

Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided more information about ReLive and some highlights about the Issue no. 11 of this campaign.

To support and or enquire about ReLive Issue No. 11, please contact CENFACS.     

~ Climate Protection and Stake for African children (CPSAC) – Phase 3

 

~~ Santiago Makes It Work

Our climate advocacy work about CPSAC – P.3 with Santiago Makes It Work, continues this week as well.  This week, we are working in the preparation of our next Climate Talks Follow-up.  We will be following the Santiago Climate Conference, which will feature the 25^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to the UNFCCC and meetings of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies; conference expected to take place from 2 to 13 December 2019.  The pre-COP will be on from 26 November to 1 December 2019. 

While our preparation is in progress, we are as well working on the lessons that can be drawn from what happened in Southern Africa with the flood disaster there.

 

~~ Lessons and experiences from the flood disaster in Southern Africa

We are working on the lessons that can be learnt from the recent flood disaster in Southern African Countries (namely Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe) in terms of protecting African children from the effects and impacts of climate change, here flood disaster.  In particular, what can be done to ensure that African children are protected and are eligible to emergency payments?  How the climate insurance world can provide a cover to those who cannot afford to pay for it, but they need it as humans, as flood disaster victims?  These are the kinds of questions we are trying to ask ourselves and trying to respond as well; although it may be too earlier to do so.

To support CENFACS’ Climate Talks Follow-up project and to bring your input to the protection case of children in Southern Africa, contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Last Month’s Climate Action: Thanks!

We would like to thank all those who supported our Climate Action Month.  We hope they will continue to support it in the future.  Many thanks!

~ Quadranscentennial (Q) Year (2019) and Protection Month (April)

We are in CENFACS’ Quadranscentennial (Q) Year (2019) in a Month (April) of Protection. 

To highlight the Q Year in the month of Protection, we are working on lasting or sustainable protection.  As such, we are going to “quadranscentennialise” protection by making it sustainable and lasting for a period of 25 years at least.  This is our way of linking “quadranscentenniality” and protection. 

The verb “quadranscentennialise” and the word “quadranscentenniality” do not exist in English dictionary.  So, we would like to ask to our readers not to waste their time searching them in the paper or online dictionary.   This is why we put them in double inverted commas. 

“Quadranscentennialisation” of protection is a process of making protection to sustain or last 25 years or more for the future generations.  Protection looked at in this way is all encompassing concept of defense against harm, loss and damage.  Here these harm, loss and damage are caused by floods.

To support the process of making protection last to a trend of 25 years or more, contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• ReLive Issue No. 11: 14 Gifts in 20 Reliefs

What is ReLive?

ReLive is one of CENFACS’ Spring campaigns and a bridge between CENFACS’ Winter Lights and Spring Relief seasons. 

As ReLive advocacy is designed to advocate help the peoples and communities whose lives and livelihoods have been destroyed to rebuild themselves, our appeal will try to achieve this for the above selected African countries in this Spring 2019. 

Although this appeal is a seasonal appeal related to Spring, it is also a consolidated one following our Winter Light appeals on countries such as Central African Republic, and a joint one as we have added three African countries (notably Burundi, Madagascar and Niger).

What is the focus for ReLive in 2019?

The 11th issue of CENFACS’ Annual Spring Appeal for Renewing Lives (ReLive) will focus on advocating for the support of the flood victims in Africa.   For the purpose of this year’s Spring Renewing Life Appeal, we are going to limit to the above stated three countries:  Burundi, Madagascar and Niger. 

Because of the similarities of flood events and humanitarian issues in these countries, we are launching a unified appeal to cater for the three countries.  We are doing it through what we call Gifts of Renewing Lives or Life-Renewing Projects.

There are other countries in Africa which have been affected by major flood disasters.  These countries are Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.  As already said, we would like as well to show our sympathy and support.  However, their cases, which are beyond our scope and scale, have been dealt by other major humanitarian relief organisations.  Also, the underlying principle of ReLive campaign is to help rebuild or renew lives rather than to respond to emergency and contingency needs.  Therefore, this appeal does not apply to them.

What are Gifts of Renewing Lives or Life-renewing Projects (LRPS)?

Life-renewing projects (LRPs) are poverty relief and Spring like gifts designed to materialise ReLive advocacy by helping people to set free from multi-dimensional deprivations and hardships so that they can start up again, renew and rebuild their lives with hope.

LRPs are part of CENFACS’ African Rebuilding and Sustaining Infrastructures and Lives Programme. Spring Gifts of Renewing Lives are about bringing renewal, joy and hope to needy people.  These Spring 2019 Gifts will be about bringing the same benefits to the peoples of these three African countries.

 

What are these ways or gifts of renewing lives?

This Spring, we are running 14 Gifts in a world of 20 Reliefs or Helpful Differences.  What this means.

It means donors or funders have 14 Gifts of Renewing Lives to choose from and 20 Reliefs to select from to make helpful differences to the flood victims.

In total, our Spring Relief campaign is providing to potential supporters 14 GIFTS of rebuilding lives in the three African Countries in 20 RELIEFS to make this happen.

 

For this renewal to happen, support is needed towards LRPs.

To support, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

 

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

27 March 2019

Post No. 84

 

The Week’s Contents and Trends

 

• FACS Issue No. 63: Abstract and Contents

• Climate Action Month, Week Four (Starting 25/03/2019) – In focus: Resilience, Adaptation and Mitigation

• ICDP (Individual Capacity Development Programme) Resource, Holiday with Relief – In focus for Spring 2019 Issue: Life-Sustenance and Climate

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ FACS Issue No. 63: Economic Value Chains in Africa – What they can reveal for those in need.

The next issue of FACS (CENFACS’ bilingual) will be entitled as follows:

Economic Value Chains in Africa – What they can reveal for those in need.

The issue deals with interlinked economic activities that contribute in bringing a product or a service from conception to final disposal after use.  This set of interlinked economic activities contributes to pro-poor initiatives and facilitates better linkages between market players.  The 63^rd Issue aims at looking at what these interlinked economic activities or economic value chains can reveal for the life- sustaining needs of those in most pressing needs.

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have provided the abstract of the 63^rd Issue and the various elements making its contents.

~ Climate Action Month, Week Four (Starting 25/03/2019) – In focus: Resilience, Adaptation and Mitigation

Our Climate Action Month and Weeks continue this week, which is the last one.  The focus for this week’s action will be on three elements: resilience, adaptation and mitigation.

Resilience will be about regaining structure and function after disruption from adverse climate change

 Adaptation will deal with change in the structure or habit to adjust or enhance one’s ability to survive in the environment

Mitigation will treat avoiding or minimising negative environmental impacts.

Further details about actions related to each of them are given under the Main Developments section of this post.

~ ICDP (Individual Capacity development Programme) Resource – In focus for Spring 2019 Issue: Life-Sustenance and Climate

Grasping the Nettle of Holiday with Climate Relief and Skills

The 2019 Spring Edition of ICDP speaks about climate (i.e. the average atmospheric conditions prevailing in a region) and Life-sustenance.  It looks at nine basic life-sustaining goods (that is food, environment, health, protection, education, housing, clothing, water/drink and energy) in relation to each of them with climate.

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have given the key highlights on advice, tips and hints regarding the links between climate and life sustenance.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa

We have followed what happened and we are continuing to watch what is happening in Africa about the magnitude and scale of Cyclone Idai together with the damage it has caused so far. 

We are supporting other charitable organisations and non-governmental organisations as well as civil societies and all those who have engaged in helping to alleviate this environmental crisis and its victims.

We hope that every effort will be deployed to scale down the impact of this cyclone and every victim will get the assistance they need and get back to their normal life.  It is worth thanking all forms of help given to the Cyclone Idai Victims.

~ Rebuilding Africa

In parallel to this support to the cause of the Cyclone Idai Victims, we are carrying on our work on rebuilding Africa as the Spring Relief season is featured and themed as of Rebuilding and Renewing Lives.  We shall let you know of any project or activity regarding Rebuilding Africa initiative.

~ African Children, Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (ACCSDGs) – In search of new forms of data for the African Children Victims of Flood Disaster

Our search for new forms of data that show how African Children are or are not meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is still on course.  This week, we are including in our pilot research project the African Children victims of flood disaster.  As a sample, we are considering cyclone victims like children victims of cyclone Idai in Southern Africa.

We shall consider data related to life-sustaining needs such safe drinking water, sanitation, shelter, protection, environment, food, health etc.  These data can speak about the conditions of these children and the level of meeting (or not meeting) sustainable development goals.  Data can tell also if there has been a setback in meeting SDGs.  Particularly, in places where schools and health centres have been destroyed, buildings have been flattened and where there is a high risk of water-borne diseases; there is a considerable amount of data to be collected and treated. 

To support and or enquire about the new forms of data for ACCSDGs, contact CENFACS.   

 

 

Main Developments

 

• FACS Issue No. 63: Abstract and contents

 

Please find below, the abstract and the key pieces making the contents of the 63^rd Issue of FACS; Issue entitled:

Economic Value Chains in Africa – What they can do for those in need

 

The 63^rd Issue explore the determinants of value chains in Africa for those in most need.  Value Chains (VCs) can be global, international, regional and domestic.  They can include various aspects of trade such as economic, social, environmental etc.

In this Issue, the focus will be on Domestic Value Chains (DVCs) and on their economic aspects.  DVCs are more realistic than others, knowing the difficulties many African countries face to establish Regional Value Chains.  DVCs can provide a window of opportunities not only to reduce poverty but also to enhance the quality of life.  DVCs are much closer to those in most need compared to other forms of VCs.

The 63^rd Issue reveals and offers a different perspective what people think what CVs can do or cannot for the poor.  Hence, the Issue enables to close the gap in poverty reduction knowledge and practice regarding the effects of VCs on those in most need.    It further provides scope on how to understand data patterns and trends in sustainable development goals related to those in need.  VCs approach is not an end of itself; it reveals the provisions and limits that those in need can expect from CVs.   

In this Issue, those in need include the following: poor people, families in need, children in need, Africa-based Sister Organisations in need, communities in need, small and poor traders in need.

The setting up and development of VCs can be beneficial for those in need.  CVs processes can as well reveal hidden and unmet needs to be met, and what is needed to improve the skill set of poor people.

The following articles, events and project will make the contents of the 63^rd Issue:

Economic integration of rural farmers through domestic value chains; Acquisition of new operational skills by small and poor traders; How VCs contribute towards pro-poor initiatives in Africa; Promotion of infrastructure to create DVCs; Access to financing to develop VCs in the voluntary sector; Reducing the cost of transportation to create effective VCs; Dynamics of links for the supply chain to create and strengthen VCs; What African value chains experiences can reveal for the poor; Economic value chains niches for African organisations in need; The development of industrial poverty relief services to reduce poverty within the context of economic value chains; Experiences and lessons from value chains in the voluntary and community sectors in Africa; How to accelerate pace and extend poverty relief work through value chains; How can product diversification can help to reduce poverty and hardships; How can Africa-based Sister Organisations participate in value chains schemes; Les chaînes de valeurs économiques et la reduction de la pauvreté en Afrique; la chaîne de valeurs en tant qu’association soudée pour remplir les besoins et demandes des consommateurs pauvres en Afrique; Skills Development to Integrate and Survive Economic Value Chains (SDIEVC) project or Skills for Value Chains (Skvach) project.

 

For pre-release details about this Issue, contact CENFACS.

 

• Climate Action Month, Week Four (Starting 25/03/2019) – In focus: Resilience, Adaptation and Mitigation

The following actions will be undertaken under the Climate Action Week Four:

~ Resilience actions will be on

√ Regaining structure and function after climate change

√ Getting back our original shape following climate change

√ Recovery from the effects and impacts of climate change

~ Adaptation actions will consist of

√ Behaviour towards change

√ Ability to survive environmental change through time and at different place

√ Adjustment to changing conditions

√ Development of adaptive capacity

~ Mitigation actions will include the following

√ Avoidance and minimisation of negative environment impacts

√ Repair and restoration of the affected environment

√ Lessening or softening the impacts of climate change

√ Protective steps and measures

√ Compensation schemes

√ Substitute resources

The above actions can be taken at personal level, in community, at work etc.

To support and or enquire about Climate Action Month and Weeks, particularly Climate Action Week Four; contact CENFACS.

    

• ICDP (Individual Capacity Development Programme) Resource (Holiday with Relief) – In focus for Spring 2019 Issue: Life-Sustenance and Climate

The focus of the Spring 2019 Issue of ICDP resource is on Climate and is entitled “Life-sustenance and Climate”.  Climate is defined as the average atmospheric conditions prevailing in a region.

The Issue on Life-sustenance and Climate brings together nine basic life-sustaining goods (or needs) and climate in terms of our Holiday with Relief.  These nine basic life-sustaining goods or needs are as follows: Protection, Food, Education, Health, Water, Environment, Clothing, Energy and Housing.

It tries to establish the links between each of these goods or needs and climate while raising the relevancy of precautious and prudent handling of these links.  In doing so, it provides advice, tips and hints on maintaining these relationships for an adapted, mitigated and resilient holiday.  It means a holiday during which we can adapt, mitigate and be resilient with the climate.   

It looks at how these nine variables connect with climate to smooth the enjoyment of our holiday.  It provides some indicative advice, tips and hints on how to handle these elements in relation to climate (whether it is extreme or good or bad or moderate or better) so that our holiday is not adversely affected by climate conditions. 

The following are the key highlights on the advice, tips and hints about the links between these nine life-sustaining goods (or needs) and climate.

Protection (1)

Its link with climate indicates how we defend ourselves from trouble, harm or loss that climate can cause to us.  Planning a successful holiday means making sure that we organise a protective plan of action or setup to protect ourselves from climate variation or change.

 Food (2)

It is pointless to say that what we eat is influenced by climate change or variation.  These change and variation can lead us or force us to adapt to particular food products to consume.  So, knowing what climate can look like in holiday can help to plan food to cope with the climate change.  We can use climate change food calculator to take our food planning to the next level.

Education (3)

Knowledge and understanding acquired through study and training are useful for a satisfying and rewarding holiday.  They are also important to know and understand climate so that our holiday finds its meaning and purpose, as well as stays within the goals we set up before its starts.

Health (4)

Climate change can affect our general condition of body and mind; which can in return impact our holiday.  Unless we want to have holiday without relief, Holiday with Relief implies the integration of both health and climate for a good well-being and healthcare.   

Housing (5)

Knowledge and skills about cover provision and protection from climate change can help to better keep our time of enjoyment and relaxation as we planned it.  Adverse climate change can affect our shelter or housing.  Knowing about this potential climate effect or impact can help to make the necessary housing planning or shelter we need for a smooth holiday.

Water (6)

Learning and keeping informed about how climate change is affecting the water we drink and use, and how water authorities are trying to regulate water matter can help our holiday.  The last thing we need is to experience the lack of or shortage of water during our holiday because of climate change.  Just as we do not want flood disaster during our holiday.

Environment (7)

Both abiotic and biotic conditions and factors can influence our holiday and make it without relief.  Learning basic skills and acquiring essential knowledge about the environment in relation to climate change can be a deciding factor for our happiness or unhappiness during our holiday or break.

Clothing (8)

Garments and or anything we dress to cover human bodies have been recently even dramatically affected by the climate change.  As the climate getting warmer than in previous centuries ago, we may need less and less heavy clothes on our bodies.  This applies to the clothes we wear during the holiday season as well. 

Energy (9)

The way we use power (water, electricity, gas, charcoal, wins etc.) matters with the climate change.  A better understanding of energy use and its sources can provide answers about its interaction with climate.  This can be done without ignoring the possibility to make some energy transition or renovation during our holiday.

To sum up these highlights and Spring 2019 Issue, it is right to argue that if one knows the state of the climate during their holiday, they can reinforce their ability to act at will.   Climate knowledge and skills give us freedom as they liberate us from compulsion.  In other words, they give us the independence to enjoy our holiday.  One can think of climate forecasts in helping us to better plan and prepare for any climate change.   

Briefly, the 2019 Spring Edition gives some insights into the way of integrating a climate dimension to our holiday whether we pass it at home, away or on the move.

For the full version of Spring 2019 ICDP, please contact CENFACS.

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

 

 

 

 

  

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

20 March 2019

Post No. 83

 

 

 

The Week’s and Spring’s Contents

 

• Spring Relief Projects and Programmes

• Spring Appeal (ReLive, Issue No. 11)

• ICDP (Individual Capacity Development Programme) Resource (Holiday with Relief)

 

… and much more!

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ Spring theme

The key theme for Spring at CENFACS is Rebuilding or Renewing Lives, Infrastructures and Institutions.  In other words, Spring Relief is the season of rebuilding from what has been destroyed by wars, natural disasters, bad economic management, mistakes of the past etc.  We need to rebuild in order to reduce poverty, stop its re-appearance and avoid the emergency of new types of poverty and new generations of poor people. 

The Winter Season of Light, which is ending in a couple of days, gives us an opportunity to bring some lights and hopes to those in most need so that they can find the reasons to believe in life again.  The Season of Light tackles poverty as a lack of hope and expectations.  However, our work does not stop there.  In Spring, we take the challenge of working with those in need to rebuild their lives, infrastructures, buildings, development of relationships, communities etc from the damage, loss and worse change experienced or caused.

So, the key words for the Spring Season are rebuilding and renewing.  We shall come back on these words with our advocacy project about Rebuilding Africa.  

~ Spring Relief Projects and Programmes

We have provided under the Main Development section of this post a selection of projects and programmes which will make this Spring – Spring Relief season.  As said, it is a selection.  Therefore, one should expect the introduction of new activities and the continuation of ongoing initiatives like our all year round projects.  That is to say, there will be additional projects and programmes as we progress throughout this Spring season. 

To reflect CENFACS’ Q Year Campaign in our Spring projects and programmes, we have provided some highlights about three components of Q project, which are:  Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work since 2006, Volunteering Story of CENFACS’ since Creation, and CENFACS as a Quadranscentennial (Q) Creation.

~ Coming this Spring: Spring Appeal (ReLive, Issue No. 11) and Holiday with Relief (Resource) – Spring 2019 Issue

~~ Spring and Easter Humanitarian appeal Appeal (ReLive, Issue No. 11)

CENFACS’ Annual Spring Appeal for Renewing Life (ReLive) will focus on advocating for support to the peoples of the worst affected areas of flooded African countries.  So, the Eleventh Issue of ReLive will deal with Flooding African Countries. 

The focus will be on African countries that have experienced continued floods and torrential rains which often damage homes, roads, other infrastructures (like health and educational ones), cut off communities as well as create human fatalities and misery.  As before, there will an appeal case under our Life-Renewing projects or gifts for the victims of floods in Africa.  The details of the Gifts for Renewing Lives will be released by the middle of Spring 2019.

~~ ICDP (Individual Capacity Development Programme) Resource (Holiday with Relief) – Spring 2019 Issue

The Spring 2019 Issue of ICDP resource will focus on Climate.  Whether we go away or stay at home or even we are on the move for holiday; we need climate or weather information and knowledge about precipitation, temperature, wind velocity, sunshine, humidity etc.  To achieve a successful holiday, we need to be aware of and do something about the climate.

The 2019 Spring Edition of ICDP speaks about climate (i.e. the average atmospheric conditions prevailing in a region) and nine basic life-sustaining goods (that is food, shelter, health, protection, education, housing, clothing, water/drink and freedom). 

It looks at how these nine variables connect with climate to smooth the enjoyment of our holiday.  It provides some indicative advice, tips and hints on how to handle these elements in relation to climate (whether it is extreme or good or bad or moderate or better) so that our holiday is not adversely affected by climate conditions. 

Briefly, the 2019 Spring Edition gives some insights into the way of integrating a climate dimension to our holiday whether we pass it at home, away or on the move.

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Climate Action Month and Weeks 1 and 2: Progress Report

Our two weeks of action (on Energy Transition that started on 04/03/2019 and on Climate Finance and Insurance that began on 11/03/2019) were run smoothly and productively.  The Energy Transition action was about the passing from fossil fuels to renewable energy, while Climate Finance and Insurance concerned the mobilisation of sources of finance and cover/protection to reduce adverse effects of climate change.  We would like to thank all those who supported them. 

~ Climate Action Month and Week 3 – In focus: Nature-based Solutions

In this week three of our Climate Action Month, we are continuing our advocacy with the theme of Nature-based Solutions (NBS).   It is about taking actions for better use of nature and natural functions of healthy ecosystems to help reduce the impacts and effects of climate change. 

The NBS will revolve around the following actions:  reduction of water pollution, water security, food security, disaster risk management, sustainable management etc.  These are actions to enhance nature with its components.

Additionally, this week’s NBS will bring to light some of the good practices and actions carried out by our Africa-based Sister Organisations.  We shall finally include NBS for poverty relief. 

To support and or engage with the contents of this week’s climate action, please contact CENFACS.

~ The Twenty-twenties (2020s) Development Agenda

The discussions and thoughts about CENFACS’ 2020s Development Agenda are scheduled for this week.  As previously said, these discussions and thoughts are carried out in parallel with the review and evaluation of the 2010s Programme.

To bring your input to either the review of the 2010s or the preparation of the 2020s Development Programme, contact CENFACS

 

Main Development

 

Spring Relief 2019: Projects and Programmes

 

CENFACS is pleased to present its new season Spring collection of selected projects and programmes with a choice of relief services.  For every of these projects and programmes, you will find user-friendly and –centred relief.

These projects and programmes are free but we do not mind donations.  The more you donate, the more we can relieve.  Please find below the core highlights and full selection of Spring Relief projects and programmes.

 

• Core Highlights

These highlights concern three sub-projects or activities of the Quadranscentennial (Q) Year and Project for this Spring, which are: Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work since 2006, Volunteering Story of CENFACS’ since Creation, and CENFACS as a Q Creation.

⇒ Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work since 2006

The historical survey and process of CENFACS’ protection work since 2006, which is part of Q Project, is the study of CENFACS’ work on protection since it began it through the programme Peace, Protection and Sustainability.  It is an investigation about our legacies in advocating for a sustainable cover to unprotected or less protected, vulnerable and poor people, especially but not exclusively women and children.  It is as well the legacy of work carried out with Africa-based Sister Organisations on this matter.

⇒ Volunteering Story of CENFACS’ since Creation

This is another activity of Q Year and Project.  Since its inception in 1994, CENFACS started as a voluntary organisation made with people willing to do something about poverty and hardships without firstly thinking of making money out of it.  This founding idea has been underlying in our work until today. 

Men and women from all walks of life voluntarily came and joined us to fulfil this altruistic philosophy in our journey in making helpful difference in the lives of others.  This is our volunteers’ story, the story of all in development volunteers.

⇒ CENFACS as a Quadranscentennial (Q) Creation

CENFACS is a make for the relief of poverty and hardships that has lasted 25 years.  The Q Creation element of the Q Project provides an opportunity to go in depth about the theory of existentialism and of extirpating the existential feature of CENFACS to understand for example why some creations last longer and others live shorter, even disappear.  Because CENFACS exists, it has an essence.  The humans who make CENFACS are active and creative.

It means that as CENFACS is an existential moral person, we need to find out the dynamics within CENFACS which has kept it to reinvent and rejuvenate its self as an existential model of working with local people, as well as to understand the functionality and structural power relations within CENFACS which have kept it going.  In doing so, we can pull out some lessons for learning and development about creations in the field of poverty reduction and development.

• Full Selection

The following selected initiatives (selected for public information) are amongst those which will make Spring Relief 2019 at CENFACS.

April: Protection Month

 

• Historical Survey of CENFACS’ Protection Work since 2006 (Q Project)

This month’s protection theme is Protection of Victims of Wars and Natural Disasters (Protection project)

• Women and Children projects (3W & PPS Reflection Day):

Reflection on the Protection of Women and Children in War-torn Zones and Natural Disaster-stricken Areas

 

May: Stories Telling Month

 

May Stories – Entries for Stories on Poverty Relief and Development for May 2019 are now open. To tell your story of change for change to CENFACS, contact CENFACS for story telling terms and conditions.

• Volunteering Story of CENFACS since Creation – Tell it! (Volunteer’s & Stories Telling project)

• Rebuilding Africa: Rebuilding Lives in the New Democratically-transited African Countries (Advocacy project)

 

June: Creation & Innovation Month

 

• Q Project: CENFACS as a Q Creation (Celebration project)

• Creations and Innovations within the Context of Uncertainty to Reduce Poverty with Jmesci project (Creation project): Featuring Similar Creations that deal with uncertainty

Note: 

The above initiatives are only a selection of what we have planned for Spring Relief season.  We may introduce new initiatives and or upgrade the existing ones depending on the circumstances as we have from time to time to respond to emergencies and urgent humanitarian issues.  In which case, we shall let you know. 

Also, in every work we do to try to help reduce poverty, there is always a cost to bear.  If you could help alleviate some of our costs, we would more acknowledge your support than just appreciate your gesture.  

To request further information about Spring Relief projects and programmes, please contact CENFACS. 

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

13 March 2019

Post No. 82

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Climate Action Month and Weeks – In Focus: Climate Finance and Insurance

• The 2020s Development Agenda

• Quadranscentennial (Q) Year and Project

 

… and much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

~ Climate Action Month and Weeks – In Focus: Climate Finance and Insurance

Our Climate Action Month and Weeks is now in the second week with a focus on Climate Finance and Insurance actions.  These are financial and protective actions or initiatives that help to make the fight against adverse effects of climate change to become a reality and deliver tangible outcomes. 

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have provided the key points of this week’s climate action advocacy.

~ The Twenty-twenties (2020s) Development Agenda

The discussions and thoughts about CENFACS’ 2020s Development Agenda have started.  These discussions and thoughts are carried out in parallel with the review and evaluation of the 2010s Programme.

To bring your input to either the review of the 2010s or the preparation of the 2020s Development Programme, contact CENFACS.

~ Quadranscentennial (Q) Year and Project: Is climate reclaimable?

Our Q Year and Project include climate actions this month.  So, as part of our previous work/action entitled “Reclaiming the Climate”, CENFACS is looking into its quadranscentennial legacies related to the actions carried out under reclaiming the climate in Africa.

Reclaiming the Climate was and is CENFACS’ sustainable development initiative aiming at helping to reduce adverse effects and impacts of climate change; in doing so undertaking actions on the cut of carbon emissions to get the climate and temperature (whether at local or national or regional or even global levels) at the level and degree that are acceptable for the future survival of these different places or levels.

To make climate reclaimable possible, contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

~ Algeria Peace Appeal Response

Our appeal for a peaceful transition to political democratisation processes in Algeria continues.  We would like to thank those who responded to this appeal.  It is possible to achieve fruitful democratic change through a model of peaceful poverty relief movements. 

One can hope the Algerian case will be another example of peaceful democratic change.  If this is the case, this will help avoid Algeria going down the line of humanitarian crisis as we saw in other places in Africa like in Libya.

To support and or enquire about the Algeria Peace Appeal, contact CENFACS.

~ Halving Poverty for the Children Victims of War in the Central African Republic (CAR)

Our campaign to halve poverty in CAR is still running.  You can help to halve poverty in CAR by donating £5 or more. 

To donate or enquire about Halving Child Poverty in CAR, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you!

~ Making Zero Hunger Africa campaign

We are pursuing our appeal to step up efforts to reduce hunger in Africa.   It is worthwhile pursuing a deserving cause such as reducing or even ending the number of hungry people in Africa and elsewhere in the world including in the UK.  This is regardless of the knowledge of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2 of Hunger Zero that one may have.

To respond and or enquire about this campaign, contact CENFACS.

 

 

Main Development

Actions on Climate Finance and Insurance

Our climate action is in its week two (starting from 11 March 2019) with a focus on finance and insurance.  Climate action on finance and insurance is about doing something by mobilising financial funds and covering against damage (or loss or death) as result of adverse effects of climate change. 

Our action on this matter, which includes our previous works on the Financial and Insurance Odyssey, covers three levels of work as follows: actions on finance, actions on insurance and actions with Africa-based Sister Organisations.  Some of these areas of actions cross each other.

~ Actions on climate finance or financial resources mobilisation include the following:

√ Clean technology fund (CTF) that work for poor children from poor nations

√ Equity resulting from converted CTF debt to benefit children from poor nations

√ Mobilisation of adaptation fund and least developed countries fund

√ Mobilisation of the climate finance system that makes climate finance work for children.

√ Climate finance friendly solutions to child protection against climate change

~ Actions on climate insurance or cover against damage, loss and death revolve around the following

√ Reduction of insurance premiums to improve affordability of insurance for poor and vulnerable children

√ Helping children victims of climate change from poor countries to buy insurance policies related to new technologies

√ Making risk insurance work for African children

√ The development of anticipatory, absorptive and adaptive capacities

~ Actions to support Africa-based Sister Organisations working on climate finance and insurance consist of

√ Climate donations and donors

√ Financial products and services to fund climate change work undertaken by these organisations

√ Insurance products and services to cover climate risks and threats

√ Private funds mobilisation

√ Climate fundraising activities and events

√ Grant making for climate work

√ Climate income generating activities etc

Briefly, climate actions for the week two will take into account the key activities carried out to mobilise climate finance and get cover against the adverse effects and impacts from climate change, especially for those who cannot afford to pay for the cost and cover against adverse effects and impacts of climate change.  

 

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2019.

With many thanks