Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

04 July 2018

Post No. 46

The Week’s Contents

• Analytics month with All-in-one Impact Feedback

• Summer Financial  Information Updates: Family Wealth Accounts

• Summer Programme: Happiness Budget

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

Analytics month

July is our Analytics month as it is the time during which we conduct the monitoring, evaluation and review of our programmes and projects.  Through this exercise we analyse what we did over the last 345 days, seize the outputs and, if possible, capture the early impacts made.  It is the time we review what worked well, what worked bad and what did not work at all.  We do it by bringing all together the programmes and projects as well as activities that made the preceding financial year.  This is what we usually call All-in-one Impact Feedback.  It is a feedback because we ask all our stakeholders to give their opinions about our work.  In doing so, this gives us the opportunity to rebuild and reconnect with them. 

For more on All-in-one Impact Feedback and CENFACS’ Analytics month, go the main developments section.

Financial Update: Family Wealth Accounts

This Financial Update is a financial aspect and part of our Individual Capacity Development programme (ICDP) resources and is meant to help with updated financial information and awareness conducive to reducing the lack of financial information, lack that could be a source of income vulnerability or simply poverty.  This resource provides a basic financial guidance, but not a financial support or funds for multi-dimensionally poor children, young people and families (MDPCYPFs).  The 2018 Financial Information Updates resource is on Family Wealth Accounts. 

For more on these Updates, read below.

Summer Programme with Happiness Budget

This week we are kicking off our Summer Happiness Projects with Summer Holiday Budget for poor Children, Young People and Families (CYPFs). 

It is always hard to ask the people who experience poverty, who literally have no income or income below the poverty line, to write a budget about their holidays.  Whether a poor person takes holidays or not, they need a holiday budget or simply a budget to plan their sources of income and ways of meeting their expenses over the Summer holidays. 

The holiday accounts help to assess where and how much help is needed.  Therefore, they need to do their income sums and build them into their holiday expenses or simply Summer expenses.

To discuss your Summer holiday budget, contact CENFACS.

Seven-Days-of-Development-in-July Festival

July is finally the month we hold our Festival of Thoughts.  The theme of this year’s Festival is

Effects of Trade Tariffs on Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development

In today’s world, this issue of trade and trade tariffs particularly have surfaced again with the increase in trade tariffs amongst the major industrial economies with the risk of contagion and trade wars as well as possible adverse impacts on the lives of poor people and sustainable development. 

We shall publish details about this Summer Development Festival in due course.

To find out more about this Festival, contact CENFACS.

Main Development of the Week’s Contents

• Monitoring, Evaluation, Review and Analytics

The name of the July game at CENFACS is Monitoring, Evaluation, Review and Analytics.  July is the month during which we conduct our monitoring, evaluation, review and analytics of the projects and programmes we delivered during almost last 11 months and 2 weeks.  It is the time we do our Summer tracking by reconsidering the value and relevancy of our work, let one the overall state of our charitable work.

It is period that we carry out what we call All-in-One Impact Feedback.  In other words, we try to track or capture the impacts of our work.   Like last year, this year’s All-in-One Impact Feedback will be extended to include our XX236.3F programme as we are in the month of Monitoring and Evaluation.  XX236.3F is our 2020 to 2030 to 2063 Follow up Programme.  We are following the implementation of the International Climate Change Agreement (or the Paris Treaty), the Istanbul Declaration, the United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, and Africa’s Agenda 2063. 

In brief, we shall conduct a follow-up and examination, look back and analyse data on the overall projects and programmes delivered during the above stated period, while keeping implementing our XX236.3F programme. 

We shall publish soon the progammes and projects making this year’s Analytics.

• Summer Financial  Information Updates: Family Wealth Accounts

The Summer 2018 Financial Update focuses on what wealth that poor families have rather than income in order to reduce poverty.  Poor families like any family have wealth even if this wealth is poor or meaningless.  They may have basic assets, human capital and other non-financial resources that can be transformed into something tangible to be used a starting remedy for poverty relief.  This may involve a need assessment of wealth of poor families, valorisation, enhancement, monetisation, re-creation and growth of this wealth.  In this process of need assessment, it is good to evaluate that part of this basic wealth that can contribute to a certain percentage of poverty relief.

You can order this Summer 2018 Financial Issue from CENFACS.

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

27 June 2018

Post No. 45

The Week’s Contents

• Thanksgiving Days

• Summer Programme with Humanitarian Relief Appeal

• World Anti-Poverty System Campaign

  … and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ Creative Economic Development month

We would like to start this week’s communication with the following reminders.  There are only three days remaining for the Creative Economic Development month.  Within these three days, you can still to design and post your cards; take pictures (photos), make a video or short film and post them to support poverty relief and sustainable development works. 

Our activities related to innovation and ideas conversion into projects are still on progress.  It is pointless to argue that to fight poverty and enhance sustainable development, we need to keep creating and innovating.  We even need more these activities at this time than at any other ones as market-based are in transition.

~ Sedecim donation, gift aid and legacy

Our Sedecim fundraising campaign ends today.  For those who have not been able to donate, give a gift or leave a legacy; we would like to remind everybody we will accept their support whenever they decide to do it.  Thank you!

~ CENFACS’ Thanksgiving days

As of today until the end of this week, we are thanking all our supporters (current and past ones).  We would like to take this opportunity to thank them/you for helping CENFACS IN ENHANCING AND SUSTAINING FREEDOMS AND CAPABILITIES BY WORKING IN ALLIANCE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVES. 

For more information about these thanksgiving days, read below.

~ Summer Programme: Humanitarian Relief Re-Appeal

Also, this week is the kick-off of our Summer Programme, particularly the humanitarian relief appeal of this programme.  We are re-appealing to you/our supporters to support poor children, young people and families (CYPFs) in Africa over this Summer. 

Most of poor CYPFs there do not have any means to have a Summer of Relief because of poverty.  They get bound in their remote land and community without any hope.  They have never known any other ways of life except distress, hardship, desperation, vulnerability, helplessness and hopelessness.  CENFACS would be grateful to you if you could bring some relief  to them over this Summer.

For details of this appeal and way of supporting, please go to the Support page of this website at http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

~ e-Mobilisation Days (27 June to 02 July 2018) as part  World Anti-Poverty System (WAS) Campaign

This week is finally the continuation of World Anti-poverty System (WAS) campaign as we informed you at the beginning of Spring.  CENFACS has called for e-Mobilisation Days between 27 June and 2 July 2018 under the WAS campaign to engage users, supporters and the entire development community to develop momentum regarding the proposals for an International System for Poverty Reduction. 

The mantra for this year’s e-mobilisation call and days is Coalesce to Shape the Pattern of Global and African Poverty Relief.  

Further details about these call and days are given below.

Main Developments of the Week’s Contents

~ Thanking Days or Supporters’ Days

These are Special Days we would like to dedicate in thanking all those who contributed to our work for any types of support they have given us over this financial year.  This dedication is normally held in the last week of and by the end of June.For this year, they are held from 27 June to the end of June 2018. 

As we are in CENFACS’ Month of Creation and Local People’s Year, we shall find all sorts of creative, innovative and communicative ways of thanking our invaluable supporters and local people.  These thanking ways may include:

• Conversing with our supporters over phones
• Signing and sending thank you cards to them
• Telling them the stories about the people and communities they helped through their support
• E-mailing and tweeting them with messages of gratitude
• Thank-you stories
• Giving back to you by volunteering our time to the cause you deeply care about
• Free translation service
• Telling African poems and poetry
• Digital and technologically animated thank-you messages
• Designed and hand crafted made objects and crafts of acknowledgement etc

If you are one of the CENFACS’ supporters, please we would like to let you know the Thanking Days at CENFACS are your Days.  Do not hesitate to get in touch, if you do not mistakenly hear from us, we will welcome your human touch, reconnect with you and thank you on the occasion for the helpful difference you made to our work and project beneficiaries.

Your invaluable support has meant a lot for our programme and project beneficiaries over this financial year.

We would like to express all our sincere gratitude to you for helping us to help reduce poverty.

For further details, contact CENFACS’ Thanksgiving End of June 2018 Team.

~ E-mobilisation Days as part of World Anti-poverty System (WAS) Campaign

World Anti-Poverty System (WAS) campaign has returned this June 2018 with our call to action to Coalesce to Shape the Pattern of Global and African Poverty Relief.  The Coalescence call starts on 27 June 2017 and will continue throughout July 2017.   It will remain alive in whatever we will undertake as global advocacy activities during the month of July 2017 and beyond.

Before dealing with the Coalescence call, let us recap on the last call, which was: Step up and Drive Relief forward (SDR).

Recap on SDR

The aim of SDR was/is to support, defend and make the international development community understand the need of an internationally agreed system for poverty reduction that is fair for all, especially but not exclusively for people and communities with severe and or critical level of poverty.  After making the development case for WAS, SDR is an engaging content and process to winning the minds and hearts of all development supporters for the formation of an internationally agreed system to reduce and end poverty. 

It is the continuation of the CENFACS’ Argument following the Post-2015 Global Development Agenda and discussions that led to the setting up of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.  The CENFACS’ Argument was then the international development community should be a bit more ambitious by going beyond and establish an internationally agreed system to reduce and end poverty. 

So, the Summer 2017 slogan for the WAS campaign was:  STEP UP AND DRIVE RELIEF FORWARD.

The case for WAS is still demanding in today’s reality of the world.   In the light of what is happening now with the increase in trade tariffs together with the  eminent risk of trade war, one can wonder whether or not the current international system, if it exists, is suitable for the poor.  This is let alone the on-going global migration flows crisis.

Coalescence call

This Summer 2018, our mantra is COALESCE TO SHAPE THE PATTERN OF GLOBAL AND AFRICAN POVERTY RELIEF.

After stepping up and driving forward relief from June 2017 to now, we are now going to take a further challenge in coalescing to shape the pattern of global and African poverty relief.  This is where we stand with our WAS campaign.

From making the case for WAS to winning the minds and hearts of prospective supporters, SDR has been a step up and forward in building an understanding on the need for an internationally agreed system for poverty reduction. 

Now that some supporters have understood or sympathised with the idea of such a system, there is another need which is to come together as one body to mould in a particular pattern or form the kind of poverty relief we all want in order to develop a collective system against it.

What we generally expect from prospective WAS supporters

If one shares the idea of WAS, then what they can do to coalesce to shape the pattern of global and African poverty relief is to come together with us as one community and mould in a particular pattern or form the kind of poverty relief we all want.  We can come together as one local, national and global community of WAS.  We can come together as one WAS digital and non-digital community.

The above are the defining and engaging lines of our call to action for WAS.

To advocate or campaign or even join WAS, please contact CENFACS NOW!   

What you can do specifically to help the WAS Campaign

There are many ways to help promote the WAS Campaign including the following

√ Voice the WAS wherever you are

√ Brand you events in the e-Mobilisation Days of solidarity with the poor for better system to help them

√ Brand your websites, publicity materials and events with WAS Campaign

√ Promote the e-Mobilisation Days to your supporters, contacts and networks

√ Undertake any activity deems necessary to raise awareness and galvanise support for the WAS

For further details about WAS and or to support, contact CENFACS.

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

20 June 2018

Post No. 44

The Week’s Contents

• Creative Economic Development month

• Sedecim Gift

• Summer of Happiness

…   and much more!

Key Messages of the Week’s Contents

Innovate for poverty relief and sustainable development

Our Creative Economic Development month is taking place as scheduled.  In the last 3 weeks, our focus has been on creation; that is on making things and thinking up new ideals of helping to reduce poverty and hardships.  This has been carried out through arts and design activities.

The remaining days of the creative month will be concentrated on innovation;  that is on converting these new ideas into project proposals, on deploying these fresh thoughts, products and services to effectively reduce poverty and hardships.  It is about making our dream of the relief of poverty and hardships to come true or become a reality.  Again, this will be conducted under arts and design activities to innovate for poverty relief and sustainable development.

To support the creative month and innovation week, contact CENFACS.  

Sedecim Gift

Our 4 days of celebration of the 16 years of CENFACS under the project 16.4 (CENFACS Sedecim) went well last week.  We would like to thank you all for your support.

As a follow-up to this celebration, we are running a one week fundraising campaign for those who would like to donate, give a gift or leave a legacy for the project 16.4 (CENFACS Sedecim).  This one week fundraising campaign will take over the fundraising campaign about Halving Poverty which is ending today.  Details of this short campaign have been provided on the Support us page of this website at http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/ 

To donate, gift aid and leave a legacy for the project 16.4, please contact CENFACS.

Tomorrow is the official start of Summer.  It is also the start of the new season for CENFACS.  It is the beginning of Summer of Happiness.  More details about this has been given below.

Main Development of the Week’s Contents

~ Summer of Happiness

CENFACS’ Spring Relief season together with selected Spring projects and programme has coming to an end, although there are still projects that are on-going.   For every of these projects delivered so far, we hope you have found a user-friendly and -centred relief. 

Jmesci (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Creative Initiatives) and project 16.4 (CENFACS Sedecim) are the projects that have made the last part of Spring 2018 programme.  The first project, which makes our Creative Economic Development month, is still on.  The second has just ended last week. 

In practice, Jmesci is the project that ended our Spring Relief season to start Summer of Happiness.  After creating and innovating for poverty relief and sustainable development, we shall enjoy the sunshine of Summer with Happiness and Peace.  We would forward to Summer, although the warm weather has already started.

Summer is a period of the warm sunny weather that we would like to associate with it at CENFACS.  It is the time of happiness that we all expect, after a long period of full time work and education.  We look forward to a break after such a long time of routine working life, especially as most of CENFACS’ projects and programmes are framed around the school timetable to suit and reflect the needs and living patterns of our users and beneficiaries.

We have now entered Summer of Happiness at CENFACS, the 3^rd season of CENFACS’ development calendar and planner, which consists of Summer Programme.  Summer Programme is mainly made of two sets or broad areas  of projects for and with Multi-dimensionally Poor Children, Young People and Families.  This programme consists of two parts as follows:

Happiness Projects (Part I) and Appeal Projects or Humanitarian Relief to Africa (Part 2). 

Besides this main Summer seasonal regular feature, we have also planned other initiatives.  We shall gradually release the contents of these Summer projects as we progress during Summer 2018. 

Our development calendar/planner already indicates what is planned for July and August 2018.  However, should anybody want to find out more, they are welcome to contact CENFACS. 

~ Summer 2018 Programmes, Projects and Events

7 Projects, 1 Programme: 8 Ways of Helping to Reduce and End Poverty as well as Making this Summer 2018 of Happiness

June

Thanksgiving days or Supporters’ days

July

All-in-one Impact Feedback, Project Supporters’ Experience: Projects and Programmes Monitoring, Evaluation & Review

Seven Days of Development in July 2018 (Summer Festival):  Effects of Trade Tariffs on Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development

July & August

CYPFs (Children, Young People and Families) Summer Programme (Part I): Humanitarian Relief – Appeal Projects

CYPFs (Children, Young People and Families) Summer Programme (Part II): resources, Tools, Boosters & Tasters – Happiness Projects with Positive Relief and Healthiness

Summer 2018 Run, Play & Vote to Reduce Poverty: Action-Results

CENFACS’ Poverty Relief League and Le Dernier Carré (the last Square of Poverty Relief)  – Half Year Results and Outcomes

August

Summer Track, Trip and Trending

We hope you find a joyful, helpful and hopeful relief from the above  programmes and projects on offer at CENFACS  over this Summer!

For details or clarification about the above programmes and projects (including ways of accessing them), contact CENFACS.

Note: Although the above is scheduled for Summer 2018, we may slightly alter our initial plan and or introduce occasional initiatives to cope with the reality of the unpredictability and complexity of development situations (e.g. humanitarian and emergency situations), in which case we shall let you know as early as we can.

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

13 June 2018

Post No. 43

The Week’s Contents

• Creative Economic Development month

• Human Responsibility on the Environment

• Project 16.4: CENFACS’ Sedecim 

   … and much more!

Key Messages of the Week’s Contents

Our Creative Economic Development month continues as planned.  We are as well keeping on working on Arts and Design for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development.  Because this week is of celebration of the 16 years of CENFACS, we are as well working on arts-based development initiative to remember CENFACS as a creation.  This remembrance of CENFACS as a creation is at four levels:

√ CENFACS as a not-for-profit creation (that is a creation driven by selfless and altruistic motivations, unlike for-profit creations)

√ CENFACS as a creation for the relief of poverty and hardships (that is a creation dedicated to helping poor and vulnerable people and communities)

√ CENFACS as a sustainable development creation (that is a creation striving to meet the needs of the present without compromising the generations to come to meet theirs)

√ CENFACS as a creation or model of working together with local people (that is a creation operating with local people as one and leaving the ownership of the solution to the poverty issues to them)  

The remembrance of CENFACS as a creation adds value to the main 16.4 project that deals with the 16 years of CENFACS.

For those who are making cards that apply to the Arts and Design project, we have provided under the Main Developments of this Week’s Contents some basic clues to use.

The Human Responsibility on the Environment continues this week by focusing on human efforts made in tackling desertification and drought.  This work is a preparation towards the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.   As part of this preparation, we are revisiting the case of desertification and drought in the region of Sahel in Africa.  This is a continuation of previous advocacy works carried out within the context of our Rebuilding Africa Campaign and Programme.

To raise awareness of human responsibility on the environment in order to help reduce  poverty and combat desertification and drought with CENFACS, please contact CENFACS.

Project 16.4: CENFACS Sedecim   

This 13^th of June 2018 is the start of four days of celebration under the project 16.4.  Because this year has been dedicated as the Local People’s Year at CENFACS, we have found more appropriate to focus on local people of CENFACS than celebrating CENFACS otherwise.  Additionally, this choice echoes our motto which is:

Working in partnership with local people to develop sustainable initiatives.

For more details about each of the four days of CENFACS Sedecim, please refer to the Main Developments of the Week’s Contents below.

Main Developments of the Week’s Contents

Making and sending a card in the context of Arts and Design project

For those who are trying to design and send a card as a way of participating in the Creative Economic Development month, please make sure that the poverty relief message you are conveying is without confusion. 

When designing a card, it is better that your art or design work 

• contributes to inclusive and sustainable development goals

• is a driver and enabler of sustainable development processes

• is evidence-based as an expression of local realities

• is capable of leading to new pathways for local creative economy

• reflects on local creative economy

• connects with the different sectors of creative economy

• is conducive to new opportunities for sustainable development

• is supportive of local learning and innovation for poverty relief and sustainable development

• opens up a possibility to working together

• develops culture of poverty relief and sustainable development

To create and send your card or support CENFACS’ creative economic development month, contact CENFACS.

Project 16.4: CENFACS Sedecim

The contents of this week’s observance under the project 16.4 are as follows.   

Four themes for four days of observance for the 16 years of CENFACS

1st Theme (on 13/06/2018): Local people as project initiators and suppliers 

CENFACS’ approach to poverty relief and sustainable development is based on helping people to help themselves.  Following our approach, local people initiate or generate project by telling us what the needs within their community are.  In doing so, they supply us with information and data about their needs. 

Together we plan and develop sustainable initiatives to respond to their local needs.  This model of working together with them has been going on for the last 16 years.   This is what we are celebrating.

2nd Theme (on 14/06/2018): Local people as change makers 

Over the last 16 years of CENFACS’ registration, local people have been able to bring small change that produce BIG differences or impacts.  They harnessed both social change in their community and change to themselves and other poor people’s life.  Our local change makers helped us to achieve  changes that help not only them but reach out to many unserved and underserved people. 

We are remembering them as social change makers and poverty alleviators.  Any change, however small it may be, could have only been done through them, the forces of relieving and ending poverty.

3rd Theme (on 15/06/2018): Local people as project implementers and delivers 

Getting local people to get involved in our programmes and projects as volunteers and administrators, has enable us to better implement and deliver them.  Because they have the local knowledge, are aware of local values and culture where the projects and programmes were located; they were able to facilitate our work on the grounds. 

In some cases, they were designated the role of project implementers as they were in a better position to carry out the implementation phase by contributing to produce the desirables.  In doing so, they made the project visions and plans become reality.  We are venerating them as our project executors in this respect.

4th Theme (on 16/06/2018): Local community and sustainable development initiatives 

During the 16 years of CENFACS, we planned and executed many local community and sustainable development initiatives here in the UK (Croydon) and in Africa.  We did it with the support of local people.  To name five of the projects, we can mention

∗ Two projects in Africa (Income-generating Activities against Child Trafficking in Zakpota, and a Health Centre in Kewarla);

∗ Three projects in the UK (Free Employability Training project, Basic Skills Development project, and Project for Sustainable Skills for Employment)  

It is these projects and other not mentioned here as well as the outcomes achieved in delivering them that we are looking back as the history of the last 16 years of CENFACS.  And of course, this is an opportunity for CENFACS to draw lessons for learning and development in the future.

Thank you to Sedecim supporters and makers (16/06/2018)

The last day of our celebration will also be about thanking all those who helped us to complete the 16 years of CENFACS.  We cannot do anything alone.  We needed more hands in our poverty relief journey as we could only achieve what we managed to achieve with the support of other people and organisations.

We would like to indistinctively thank all those individuals, organisations, volunteers (current and past) and our members for developing CENFACS and making it an organisation as it is today.  Thank you very much!

 Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

06 June 2018

Post No. 42

June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Creative Initiatives (jmesci)

Individual and collective creations, in the ways of improving lives through the thinking and the development of innovative and practical ideas to escape from poverty and hardships and foster a better environment and sustainability, are CENFACS’ area of interest.   We create all over the year and life; however June is the month for us to acknowledge our environmental and sustainable makings. 

June is the month of Creative Economic Development at CENFACS with creation and innovation on the main menu: creation for researching and developing fresh ideas to reduce poverty, particularly extreme poverty; innovation for making these ideas come true, transformable into practical environmental and sustainable initiatives and actions. 

Our month of creation (of thinking up new things) and innovation (of converting our thoughts into tangible outcomes) revolves around global, national, local and sustainable issues and events of the month.  Examples of June world and local environmental events and days of the month are: 

~ The United Nations World Environment Day held on 05/06/2018 under the theme of “Beating the Plastic Pollution”

~ The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2018 to be held on 17/06/2018 in Ecuador.  The Day will convene under the slogan, “Land has true value”.

~ Croydon Environmental Fair to be held on 09/06/2018 at Wandle Park in Croydon (UK).

~ Any other significant inclusive sustainable awareness raising and participation events scheduled for June 2018.

As part of this creative economic development process, we also run Art and Design for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development as a project.  One of the activities related to this project for this year would be to construct and post cards or objects as expressions of beating plastic pollution to echo the World Environmental Day’s celebratory theme, as well as ways of sustainably managing land to resonate the World Day to combat Desertification and Drought.   

Put it simply, Jmesci is just about finding out ways of engineering creations relating to the environment and sustainability in order to further reduce poverty and improve the quality of life.

This year’s Jmesci is about Creating and Innovating for the Transitional Economy.  Further details about this are given in the Main Development of this Week’s Contents.

June 2018 is also the month we have chosen to continue with our campaign on anti-poverty system – World Anti-poverty System (WAS).  The WAS campaign is a CENFACS’ call for a system to deal with global poverty and poverty in Africa.  This year’s act of the campaign is to Coalesce to Shape the Pattern of Poverty in Africa and Globally.  

The running humanitarian crisis in many parts of Africa as well as the threats of global trade war to the poor are just and yet two of the many examples that demonstrate that the developing world and Africa need a global system that works for the poor should poverty needs to be seriously in the modern era. 

What’s on at CENFACS in June 2018 

The following selected initiatives (selected for public announcement) are amongst those which will make the end of Spring Relief and the start of Summer of Happiness at CENFACS in June 2018.

~ World Anti-poverty System (WAS): Coalesce to Shape the Pattern of Poverty in Africa and Globally (Global advocacy project)

~ Sedecim Project or Project 16.4: Sixteen Years of CENFACS in Four Days (Celebration project)

~ Creating and Innovating for the Transitional Economy with Jmesci project (Creation and innovation project)

~ Thanksgiving Days

Note:  The above initiatives are only a selection of what we have planned for June 2018.  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.

The above is our plan for June 2018.  Within this plan, what is on at CENFACS for this week?

The Week’s Contents

• Jmesci: Creating and Innovating for the Transitional Economy

• Poverty Environment programme: Environmental Responsibility

• Sedecim project: Project 16.4

   … and much more!

Key Messages of the Week’s Contents

Jmesci: Creating and Innovating for the Transitional Economy

To manage the process of transitional economy (from an integrated to an exiting economy), it requires to keep what works and has proven records or experiences of reducing poverty and enhancing sustainable development.  It also demands creating and innovating to make transitional economy easier and adaptable for all, especially but not solely for those in need.  Creation will be about making things that reduce poverty while innovation is the process of converting thoughts or creativity into tangible poverty relief outcomes.

Transitional economy may require transitional economic products and services to meet people’s needs.  This month of creative economic development, we are working with local people to develop ideas of products and services convertible into tangible products and services to help poor people smoothly manage the transitional economy.   This implies an inventory of products and services benefiting from regional economic integration.  Some of these products and services may not be able or still available at different costs.  It is at this level that creation and innovation become necessary if not compulsory to successfully manage economic transition.

To support CENFACS’ creative economic development month, contact CENFACS

Poverty Environment Programme (PEP): Human Responsibility on the Environment

This week we are raising awareness and remind ourselves about human responsibility on the environment (HRE) to echo the message of the United Nations World Environment Day on 05 June 2018.  The HRE, which is part of CENFACS’ Poverty Environment programme, is an initiative to support the WED’s theme of Beating the Plastic Pollution this week.  As one cannot beat plastic pollution in one day only, we will continue to raise awareness of this pollution through HRE.  Our work on this matter aims at going beyond awareness by working with local people to find creative and innovative ways of reducing plastic pollution.  In doing so, HRE is an exploratory path to develop sustainable solutions that reduce both poverty and plastic pollution.  

For details about the PEP, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/development-programmes/

To raise awareness of human responsibility on the environment in order to help reduce both poverty and plastic pollution with CENFACS, please contact CENFACS.

Sedecim project: project 16.4

On 13 June 2018, CENFACS will turn 16 years old as a registered charity.  16 years of charitable service are a big milestone for CENFACS.  These 16 years will be remembered through a project called 16.4; that is Sixteen Years of CENFACS in Four Days (16 years of working with local people in 4 days of celebration).  CENFACS will be sharing the days with you.  For more about 16.4 project, continue below.

Main Development of the Week’s Contents

16.4 Project – CENFACS Sedecim: Sixteen Years of CENFACS in Four Days

(16 years of working with local people in 4 days of celebration)

The project 16.4 will highlight CENFACS as a mature organisation working with the locals for 16 years as the 4 days of acknowledgement will take us back to the history as it was made and being still in the making.

Sixteen years in the life of a person (physical or moral) is the age of maturity.  To acknowledge that CENFACS is now a mature organisation and has been working with local people in a mature way, we are running two sub-projects which are two parts of the same coin. 

They are:

1/ 2018 as a Local Year (the Local Year Campaign); this initiative which already started since the beginning of the year will carry us throughout the rest of the year 2018

2/ A project 16.4 highlighting CENFACS as a mature organisation (working 16 years with the locals which will be acknowledged in 4 days), project which is kicking off on 13 June 2018

What Sixteen Years of CENFACS in Four Days are about

It is a project celebrating from the 13^th of June 2018 CENFACS’ 16 years of service and commitment to poverty relief and poor people’s well-being since it was granted a charitable status in 2002.  

It is a project of remembrance of CENFACS as a mature organisation; remembrance to be conducted in four days highlighting the transformative development of CENFACS, the building of bonds and bridges with other communities, the help in transformation of deprived lives, the enhancement and sustaining of freedoms and capabilities.  All this has been carried out by working with local people to develop sustainable initiatives through the last 16 years.

As this year has been dedicated the Local People’s Year at CENFACS, the four days of observance will be featured around CENFACS’ local people.  The first time we informed you about this project, we explained who were and are our local people.  However, if you have not been informed, please refer to our previous communications or contact us for clarification. 

We shall hold 4 days of observance as follows:

⇒ 13/06/2018: Local people as project initiators and suppliers

⇒ 14/06/2018: Local people as change makers

⇒ 15/06/2018: Local people as project implementers and delivers

⇒ 16/06/2018: Local community projects with locals plus thank you to Sedecim supporters and makers.

In brief, Sedecim will be a 4-day of celebration of local people as creators and innovators for poverty relief and sustainable development, helpers in the development of sustainable initiatives, project and programme initiators, change makers and life savers, improvers of local life, chain suppliers and providers of local needs and solutions, developers of sustainable initiatives etc.       

To support and or engage to Sedecim, contact CENFACS.

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

30 May 2018

Post No. 41

The Week’s Contents

• All in Development Stories project: Only ONE day to go!

• End Ebola in DRC Appeal – Update

• FACS Newsletter, Summer Issue, no. 60: Abstract

   … and much more!

Key Messages of the Week’s Contents

The submission of stories for All in Development Stories project for this year remains the 31^st of May as initially planned, although we stated last week we will continue to receive stories until next mid-June.

Our storytelling theme is still Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development Stories.  However, as CENFACS is emergently appealing for an End to Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), we are also asking people, those who can, to provide stories about helping the poor people to come out tropical epidemics or diseases or virus outbreaks.

To end our May Stories month, you have on the main menu Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development Stories, as side menus you have the BIG CATS stories (with our call on Making Peace with the Nature) as well as Audio Storytelling, Listening and Short Film experiences.  The last course of this year’s storytelling project is Health-enhancing tales.  So, there is more to tell and share this month. 

Tell and make it to go Top of our May Stories!

Our Appeal regarding the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the DRC continues.  So far, we have received a great response to the appeal.  We thank you for your messages of support to this appeal and for the support given to the Ebola stricken places and people in DRC.

As we tweeted last week, Ebola like any other virus outbreaks is a matter of speed and time.  For those who want and can help, we deeply appeal to them to support NOW no later to avoid this deadly virus overcomes us by the speed and time, and turns into an epidemic. 

Concerning the state of Ebola outbreak itself, it is right to argue that although there could be conflicting reports on the numbers of infected people and fatalities, the common denominator of these reports is as follows: cases of Ebola have been confirmed with laboratory tests, there are confirmed cases of Ebola infected people and fatalities, and contacts of Ebola have been traced. 

We have provided under the Main Developments of the Week’s Contents further points about the state of the current outbreak of Ebola in DRC and the update on this appeal.

For those who have not managed to act, CENFACS hope you will consider this health appeal or circulate this message around you to help the victims of Ebola in DRC.   

As part of the Main Developments of this Week’s Contents, we have given below the abstract of the 60^th Issue of our bilingual newsletter FACS; issue which will be entitled Odyssey of Climate Finance and Insurance for African Children (OCFIAC). 

OCFIAC is a long and stormy pathway to take to win the minds of people (not only of the members of the international development community but also of everybody else) about the need to fund and insure children victims of the adverse effects and impacts of climate change.  In this walk-through process of financial and insurance empowerment, the African children are our sample that represents other children of the world facing the same climate problems. The abstract below gives you more flavour about the OCFIAC.  

Main Developments of the Week’s Contents

• End Ebola in DRC Appeal – Updates

• • The State of Ebola in DRC – Key Points

The following are the key points making the story about Ebola in DRC.

~ Life-saving therapies to patients are to be introduced 

~ Vaccinations continue to be given to the stricken people and communities, as well as screening checks are carried out

~ Use of the experimental vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBoV, has been spread

~ Doctors and other frontline healthcare workers have been treated too

~ Experimental drugs and clinical trials against Ebola virus disease will be tried

~ Energies have been deployed to prevent urban outbreaks

~ Briefly, efforts have been undertaken at vaccination, therapeutic and control levels

•• Update on Appeal to End Ebola in DRC

As we mentioned in this online diary last week, one should aim at the development of a Comprehensive Sustainable Health Strategy to eradicate the Ebola virus disease forever so that in the future we will not have any more new waves or re-appearances of this deadly virus. 

Since its discovery in 1976 in DRC, the Ebola Virus Outbreaks appeared in DRC 10 times including this year’s outbreak.  Throughout the timeline of its appearances and outbreaks, it has caused human fatalities and sufferings. 

Likewise, the overall humanitarian context of DRC needs to be resolved; context which is of the legacies of unfinished business of political democratisation processes and of failing both post-independent and post-Cold War States in DRC and in some other parts of Africa.

So, following up this Appeal about End Ebola in DRC, we shall work on building a momentum for a comprehensive sustainable health strategy and supporting sustainable initiatives helping to improve the humanitarian contexts for local people and organisations in DRC.

• Odyssey of Climate Finance and Insurance for African Children

Abstract –

Generally speaking, there seems to be no financial and insurance obligation to support the victims of natural disasters at international level although there have been some court cases to demand compensations by the victims.  Let us ask these questions.  Who will recognize their responsibility in contributing to the air and plastic pollution?  Very few people will acknowledge it. 

The long journey, and sometimes painful, for not only the international financial development community but everybody to recognize that the victims of the adverse impacts and effects of climate change need both financial backing (and compensation) and cover for their losses, is a matter of debate or controversy.  This is let alone the loss of lives from sometimes tragic environmental events. 

This lack of recognition happens despite some organisations like the UNICEF (1) call in 2011 for the prioritisation of children in the climate finance and insurance.  Just as the Munich Climate Insurance (2) stated in its policy recommendations that “climate risk insurance can support poor and vulnerable people in a concrete way in finding climate-resilient development pathways” (p.49)  

Often when financial support and other forms of support are provided to climate victims, they are seen as aid or charitable gesture.    Yet, many tend to forget that a great deal of natural disasters is caused by human activities and behaviour towards the nature and the Earth planet.  There are countless of examples show that many individuals, companies and governments around the world are responsible for the damages caused to the global environment.

Today, recognizing in the mindset of everybody who pollutes the planet that there is a financial cost as well as a financial and insurance obligation to the victims of this pollution, is still a challenge and may take a long tortuous road. 

So, the Odyssey of Climate Finance and Insurance for African Children (OCFIAC) is an exploration and a state of mind of the issues pending or surrounding the resolve from the demand by the children victims of the adverse effects and impacts of climate change to get financial and insurance justice . 

The OCFIAC is within the framework of the Odyssey of Empowerment of CENFACS users of the project 3W.  The Odyssey of Empowerment (OE) was/is a walk-through account of multi-year processes or experiences that 3W users have had from housebound to the opportunities to use potentials fully, from loneliness to integration to survive and thrive against poverty. 

The OCFIAC is an extension and part of the fabric of the OE in searching to empower the children victims of adverse climate change through a financial compensation and insurance cover. 

The OCFIAC is a journey to winning the minds of more people to accept or at least to accommodate the idea that climate finance and insurance to the climate victims is not only a donation, but it is a price to pay by every human adversely affecting the climate.  This climate adversity then impacts on children’s life and future. 

In this journey or struggle for a financial and insurance justice and recognition, African children are a sample of the many children adversely and unduly affected by the climate change.

Like the OE, the OCFIAC is made of relationships of poverty relief amongst the beneficiaries of the OCFIAC – the resisters – around the ideals of Peace, Protection and Sustainability through the projects of Togetherness.  It embodies the power of resistance for social mobility and change as well as sustainable development.   

The issues pending the resolve include the following:

mobilisation of climate finance for child protection, tracking progress in commitments made for the climate finance budget, sustainability of share in the climate finance flows to child protection, reporting mechanisms and rules of engagement for climate finance needed and received for children, the allocation of fair share between adaptation finance and mitigation finance for children, climate risk insurance for the poor and vulnerable children, affordability and accessibility for the poor children to any climate insurance policy, policy response based on needs not on ideologies, making clean technology fund (CTF) work for poor children from poor nations, ensuring that the equity resulting from converted CFT debt to benefit children from poor nations, a stake to poor children’s needs in the climate finance pledges etc.      

To place an order for a free copy of the 60^th Issue of FACS, please contact CENFACS.

(1) United Nations Children Funds, Climate Proof Children: Putting the Children First in Climate Finance, Climate Finance Briefing, September 2011

(2) Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, Making Climate Risk Insurance Work for the Most Vulnerable: Seven Guiding Principles, UNU-EHS Publication Series, Policy Report 2016  No.1

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

23 May 2018

Post No. 40

The Week’s Contents

• All in Development Stories project: Audio Storytelling, Listening and Short Film Experiences

• BIG CATS Campaign: Making Peace with Animals and Birds

• RILIVES Programme: End Ebola in DRC Appeal

   … and much more!

KEY Highlights of the Week’s Contents

Our All in Development Stories (AiDS) project will end with the end of this month, although we will continue to accept stories until mid-June.  Our engaging storytelling theme is still Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development.  The keywords of AiDS project for this week are audio storytelling and listening, and short films.

To enable people to use cost effective technologies to tell their stories, we are encouraging those who can to submit and share with us stories with audio and short film making; stories related to this year’s theme.    

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

BIG CATS Campaign

The BIG CATS Campaign continues this week with our call of “Making Peace with Animals and Birds”. 

There are countless examples of cruelty in Africa and elsewhere about beating, killing, exterminating and exploiting animals and birds for illegal trade and other purposes.  These examples include throwing stones to endangered birds, killing tigers for their beautiful skins, illegally trading the skins of leopards etc.). 

All these unkind acts against the nature are the evidence of the lack of peace between humans and animals/birds, especially endangered species.  Humans should not only do peace between them, but also between them and the nature.  We may not reinvent the wheels, but we can recreate peace with the nature (particularly with fauna and flora). 

We can make peace with the nature!

To support the BIG CATS campaign and or for further information, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

When we published our Spring Relief programme, we informed all our readers and supporters that we might alter or add to our initial plans new developments to take into account emergency and unpredictable situations. 

Emergency and unpredictability can happen if there is a war, environmental disaster, sudden appearance of famine or epidemics etc.  This is why we have the RILIVES programme (http://cenfacs.org.uk/development-programmes/). 

At the moment, this adjustment of our plan has been influenced by the current outbreak of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  As a result of this new wave of Ebola in DRC, we are launching End Ebola in DRC Appeal, which you can find under the Main Developments of this Week’s Contents.      

Main Developments of the Week’s Contents

• AiDS Project: Audio Storytelling, Listening and Short Film Experiences

You can use the capacity of audio to convey your poverty relief messages and changes.  Audio has a proven power and unique quality to convey poverty relief messages.   You can inform, empower and connect with others using your audio storytelling skills.

Audio storytelling does not demand expensive investment.  It is easily accessible to everybody who has at least a smart phone.  Audio storytelling (with short digital narratives, podcasting, social media and online streaming) can help create and share the impact of the change you made or have made.

Likewise, you can make short films to support your storytelling experiences and create a social impact.  For those who can afford, they can use smart phone filming to create engaging content on a tight budget. Also, you can make film on your smart phone with a video content.  Shooting interviews with project participants can also help to create experiences that maximize social media contents.

If you have audio storytelling and short films related to poverty relief and sustainable development experiences, you can tell and share with us and others.  And if you do not mind, we will circulate your stories within the CENFACS Community.

• End Ebola in DRC Appeal

•• What this Appeal is about

This health-enhancing emergency appeal aims at reducing poverty and hardships by helping to end the Ebola virus which has recently re-appeared in some parts of the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC), particularly in the region of Mbandaka and in the capital Kinshasa. 

Ebola virus, which was discovered in 1976 in DRC, is a very deadly in its nature causing hemorrhagic fever and other health killing effects (such as vomiting, diarrhea etc.).  It does cause a severely critical risk to public health as it can lead to a chain of infections.  According to the local Congolese health reports, there are already 24 fatalities since the current wave of Ebola outbreak started.  This figure can increase if no sufficient action is taken. 

Whatever the causes of this virus, everything must be done to eradicate this very deadly virus.  No longer ago, the world should remember the deadly legacies and effects of this virus on the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia; virus which took so many lives there. 

In the case of DRC, there is already some work going on the grounds to fight Ebola (with the setting up of Ebola security zones).  Precautionary measures have been taken like protection of water and hand washing facilities at health centres and health checking of travellers.  Experimental vaccinations have been given.  But, this may not be sufficient.  The insufficiency of this work can be explained by the following factors.

Since the mid-1990s, the DRC embarked on the political transition and democratisation processes.  These processes have become costly and uncontrollable by local people as they resulted in a prolong war, which almost lasts 24 years and claims millions of lives to now.  As a consequence of this prolong war, health and sanitation infrastructures and structures have been destroyed and out of date.  This is let alone the degradation of transport, communications and other infrastructures. 

As we are making this appeal, the DRC is still struggling to come to term with itself in agreeing on the process of presidential election, election due to happen this year.

To the above factors, we can add continuous environmental events that this country has experienced over the same period.  The lack of adequate infrastructures and of good governance (characterised by a failing State) do not make easier the management of environmental events, especially if they are of gigantic magnitude.      

Because of the ferocity of this virus and the collapse of both major infrastructures and State in DRC, there is a great and pressing need to make sure this time that the Ebola virus will not be forgotten before it spreads across Africa or struck again in the future anywhere else.   Every effort must be deployed to stop it before it becomes an epidemic.    

Your support is more than needed to save and protect lives from the deadly Ebola virus before this virus overtakes people by speed and time.

The history of this kind of disease shows that the spreading speed of Ebola should be stopped before one runs out time, to avoid adverse health and human impact on a large scale, especially on the poor people.

•• What you can do to help

There are many ways of helping; however if you decide to join CENFACS’ End Ebola in DRC Appeal, together we can undertake the following actions.

• You could INFLUENCE people both around and not around you to help those who have been still affected by the deadly virus in the DRC.

• You could CHOOSE your own way of helping and let CENFACS facilitates  your help reaches out to the victims of the Ebola virus in DRC

• You could SUPPORT CENFACS to support the people and Africa-based Sister Organisations in need on the grounds where there are outbreak and spread of the Ebola virus.

•• What CENFACS want you to do

CENFACS would like to appeal to you to undertake any of the following actions by supporting

• The Overseas development charities’ funding appeals and works for the victims of Ebola virus in Africa

• CENFACS’ Spring Health-enhancing emergency Appeal for the victims of the Ebola in DRC

• CENFACS to support its Africa-based sister organisations and other organisations working on the grounds in Africa on similar related health issues

• A COMPREHENSIVE SUSTAINABLE HEALTH STRATEGY to eradicate the Ebola virus forever (for example, a strategy for the development of an efficient vaccine to complement the existing one against the virus and being accessible for all) so that in the future we will not have any more new waves or re-appearances of this deadly virus

• Medically volunteer by joining the teams of health experts working on the grounds to save lives over there (if you have experience with Ebola or similar tropical diseases)

• CENFACS’ Humanitarian Disaster Relief programme (Rebuilding and Sustaining Infrastructures and Lives)

•• How we can communicate to deliver this Appeal

For support relating to

• Overseas development charities and non-governmental organisations, contact them individually

• CENFACS’ sister organisations, speak to CENFACS
• CENFACS, contact us and/or send your support to CENFACS.

For medical volunteering, contact

• Health services and organisations already on the grounds

CENFACS hope you will consider this health appeal or circulate this message around you to help the victims of Ebola in DRC.   

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

16 May 2018

Post No. 39

The Week’s Contents

• All in Development Stories project

• The BIG CATS campaign

• Making Zero Hunger Africa

   … and much more!

Key Highlights of the Week’s Contents

The top story of the week’s work at CENFACS is All in Development Stories project which continues to occupy this month of May our development calendar.  Stories of Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development are the ones dominating our storytelling agenda this year. 

Stories of poverty relief are accounts that bring to light the experiences and conditions of life of those who have little or no money and few or no material possessions, and how they strategically managed to cope and survive in difficult conditions. 

Tales of sustainable development are those experiences that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  In other words, these are the records related to environmental, social and economic sustainability.  

A part from volunteers and interns, other development supporters can contribute.  There are many ways in which people can engage with May Stories.  Engagement can be via twitter, text/phone, e-mail and paper-based post.

Those who have these kinds of stories to tell, share and donate to CENFACS, they are welcome to do so.

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

Sedecim Year: 16.4 Project

The reminder of the week is the coming Sedecim Year or 16.4 Project, which will underline the 16 years of CENFACS in working with local people to develop sustainable initiatives; years to be remembered in 4 days.  This project comes at the right time as we are in CENFACS’ Year of Local People – the Local Year Campaign.  It will be undertaken next June.  Details of this project will be released in due course.

For progress report about this project, contact CENFACS.

The lead content of our Rebuilding Lives programme this week continues to be the BIG CATS campaign.  As part of this campaign, we are working on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15, which is Life on Land.  Goal 15 is about sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.

So, the BIG CATS Campaign continues this week through Sustainable Development Goal 15 (G15), particularly by dealing with the following three areas of interest making G15 targets:

∗ Protection and prevention of the extinction of threatened species (e.g. the BIG CATS)

∗ Action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species (e.g. the BIG CATS)

∗ Action to address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products deriving from these species (e.g. the BIG CATS)

To support the BIG CATS campaign and or for further information, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

Although our trending topic of this month remains Poverty Relief and Development Stories, we are as well MAKING ZERO HUNGER AFRICA (MZHA).  MZHA takes our fight against poverty to the next stage, from poverty intolerance to taking bold steps and implementing concrete actions showing that we do not only tolerate poverty but we are trying to do something to reduce and end it.  It is about making the fabric of an Africa without or with a very tiny level of poverty. 

Further details about MZHA are given below.  However, if you want to find out more, please contact CENFACS.  

Main Development of the Week’s Contents –

Making Zero Hunger Africa

We seasonally adjusted our Spring Relief programme compared to the initial plan we made as the Rebuilding Africa campaign started in March 2018.  We did this adjustment through Rebuilding the Victims of Environmental Disasters and Destructive Wars in Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic as well as with Islands East Africa (Madagascar, Mauritius and Comoros). 

These victims (and other food deprived people in Africa) have many types of need to meet.  One of them is food to tackle famine.  This is why we are working on Making Zero Hunger Africa (MZHA).  MZHA takes stock of the theme of Rebuilding Africa with Zero Tolerance Hunger (ZHT) which we treated at this time round last year. 

What is ZHT?

ZHT was about raising awareness about sustainable food to highlight the role of sustainability as far as the fight against poverty linked to poor food consumption is concerned.  Sustainable food took forward Zero Hunger Goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Targets while echoing the food month of celebration across London and other parts of the world. 

Zero Hunger Goal (Goal 2) is about ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture. 

The aim of ZHT was then to raise awareness of sustainable food consumption and production in order to end hunger and malnutrition amongst those who are extremely food deprived through safe, nutritious and sufficient foods.  The ZHT complemented CENFACS Rebuilding Africa in 2017, whose the focus was on Hungry Lives. 

For further details about ZHT, contact CENFACS.

This year we are Making Zero Hunger Africa.

MZHA is a building block from ZHT as it goes further in stepping up our efforts to help reduce poverty linked to the lack of food, undernourishment and malnutrition.

MZHA takes seriously the Hunger problem and its consequences just as ZHT did.

MZHA links us to the global campaign to Build Zero Hunger Generation or World.  As such, we shall come back on this in October to build on this initiative and echo the world’s celebration of Food Day.

In meantime, we can Make Zero Hunger Africa through the following actions.

∗ Support of small-scale African food producers

Examples of food producers who can contribute to MZHA and who need support are: family farmers, pastoralists, fishers, small food traders etc.

∗ Actions to support the food industry in Africa

Actions to support the food industry to support the extremely food deprived could include the following: promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, supporting small scale farmers, investing in agricultural infrastructure and green technologies, improving agricultural activities etc

∗ Meeting people’s nutritional needs

E.g. Adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, older persons

Actions for sustainable food production systems in Africa

~ Help maintain ecosystems

~ Strengthen capacity for adaptation to and mitigation regarding climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters

~ Improve land and soil quality

~ Develop protective and preventive strategies to protect food production and stock in times of wars, armed conflicts and natural disasters; as well as during the periods of peace.

CENFACS hope you will consider this appeal for the BIG CATS in Africa.   

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

09 May 2018

Post No. 38

The Week’s Contents

• All in Development Stories project continues…

• FACS Newsletter, Issue No. 60 coming in Summer 2018: The Odyssey of Climate Finance and Insurance for African Children

• The BIG CATS Campaign

Key Highlights of the Week’s Contents

Our All in Development Stories project continues as planned.  If you have a story to donate and help change or even save lives, please do not hesitate to give.  Submit your story to make the Top Story of our May Stories month. 

Before telling your story, please check CENFACS storytelling terms on this site.  Also, do not forget that the story theme for 2018 is Local People’s Stories of Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development.   

Thank you for your support!

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

The next title of FACS for the Summer Issue will be The Odyssey of Climate Finance and Insurance for African Children (OCFIAC).

OCFIAC is an extension of the Odyssey of Empowerment of the people in need like the 3W project users of CENFACS.   It is all the pain the victims of adverse climate change have to endure in their journey to win the mindsets of people to accept that climate finance and insurance are not a voluntary donation but some recognition of human responsibility and the price to pay for man-made behaviour against the nature and the victims from the forced change of the nature. 

More information about the OCFIAC will be released as we get close to the start of the Summer season.

To find out more about FACS Issue no. 60 and previous issues, contact CENFACS.

As part of our Spring 2018 Projects Planning and Development under RILIVES programme, we are re-making the case for the BIG CATS to be saved in Africa.  We informed you about the arrival of this campaign in our previous communications.  The campaign consists of rebuilding the lives of the three BIG CATS in Africa which are: leopard, lion and tiger. 

When we help to rebuild destroyed lives for the victims of environmental and war events, there is not only human life; there are also animal and plant lives.  This Spring 2018, we are working on rebuilding the BIG CATS species, among other development works we are doing.   The BIG CATS campaign is an element of our wider campaign to upkeep the nature. 

For further details about our wider campaign about the nature, you need to check in Autumn our A La Une (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence) campaign.

• The BIG CATS Campaign

•• How the BIG CATS campaign came about

Every year, the BIG CATS – which are the largest living members of the genus Panthera – experience threats and risks of extermination and extinction in Africa and elsewhere.   These threats and risks lead to their illegal trade.  This is the general pattern of the threats and risks they face. 

To this general pattern, their lives and situations are made even worse in places where there are wars, armed conflicts, famine, insecurity and environmental disasters.  In these places, because of the economic difficulties that local people experience themselves in terms of copying and surviving from these situations and events, animals (in particular the BIG CATS) are completely forgotten.  They are not a priority as the crisis reinforces the perception in the mindsets of some locals that human lives are the first priority. 

This lack of interest makes even animals, like the BIG CATS (to name a few of examples of animals), more exposed to exploitation for illegal trade than ever before.  This is despite the conventions against illegal trade of animals, and similar works carried out previously.

Examples of places of instability where there is little considerable about animal lives are multiple, because the difficult local situations. 

One of them is in the Democratic Republic of Congo with prolong political instability and the destruction of natural heritage; the BIG CATS (such as leopards, lions and tigers) have to bear the costs and the prices of armed conflicts and irresponsible governance. 

Another example is in the dried region of African Sahel where animals and humans had to compete for water because of severe drought.  In this competition, quite often animals get sacrificed as human needs preside over animal requests.

Yet, it is possible to establish a fair balance between the two types of demands and/or competing ends.  This is why we are re-launching this campaign.

•• What the BIG CATS campaign is about

It is about helping to save the BIG CATS in Africa particularly in places that experienced destructive wars and environmental disasters.  We are arguing to reduce and end the threats, mistreats and risks faced by leopards, lions and tigers in Africa. 

Our campaign, which consists of rebuilding the lives of these Panthera species, should be understood in the context of our Spring 2018 Projects Planning and Development carried out within the programme of Rebuilding Lives Destroyed by Wars and Environmental Events. 

When we help to rebuild destroyed lives for the victims of environmental and wars events, there is not only human life.  There are as well animal and plant lives.  It is this specific context of our Rebuilding Lives programme that drives this campaign. 

So, for the rest of our Spring 2018 campaign, we are focusing on helping to rebuild the life of the three BIG CATS species in Africa: leopard, lion and tiger.

•• What CENFACS want you to do

CENFACS want you to support the BIG CATS in Africa.  You can either donate or support this campaign otherwise (in the way you feel it is the most suitable for you and within your means and limits) so that we can together help save the BIG CATS in Africa, particularly but not exclusively in places subject to armed conflicts, famine, environmental disasters and poor governance towards animal welfare and wellbeing.

CENFACS hope you will consider this appeal for the BIG CATS in Africa.   

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

02 May 2018

Post No. 37

The Week’s Contents

• All in Development Stories project (May Stories): Local People’s Stories, Tell it!

• RILIVES programme

• Halving Poverty continues…

Key Highlights of the Week’s Contents

Before highlighting this week’s contents, let us thank those who spent time to reflect on Making Transitional Economy Work for Poor Families on our last week’s Reflection Day.  It is a great 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.  Well done supporters!

Our All in Development Stories project (May month of poverty relief and development stories) has already kicked off.  This year’s and month’s stories are made with Local People’s Stories of Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development.  We have made this choice to highlight our Local Year Campaign or Local People’s Year. 

We have added to the May menu the BIG CATS stories to raise awareness and engineer action against the threats and risks endangered animals (such as lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars), to name the few, are experiencing from extermination and extinction in Africa and elsewhere in the world.

The week is as well of Projects Planning and Development under the RILIVES programme, which is African Rebuilding and Sustaining Infrastructures and Lives programme.  Spring 2018 projects planning and development will be to rethink, discuss and develop sustainable ways to rebuild lives of endangered BIG CATS. 

So, telling their stories and finding ways of reducing threats on their lives while saving and rebuilding their race will be our wildlife campaigning focus until the end of Spring.

Halving Poverty which started last week continues over this Spring.  We are keeping our resilience in making the case to halve poverty experienced by children without access to safe drinking water and sanitation services in Africa.  Those who want to donate and or leave a legacy are welcome to do so. 

For further details about this appeal, go to  http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

• RILIVES programme: Spring 2018 Projects Planning and Development   

RILIVES (African Rebuilding & Sustaining Infrastructures & Lives) Programme should not be confused with ReLive Spring fundraising campaign, which is done through ReLive communication online and print materials. 

RILIVES is a programme while ReLive is a project, a fundraising campaign made of 14 gifts of renewing lives. ReLive is part and practical expression of RILIVES. 

Likewise, the gifts or life-renewing projects (LRPs) making the ReLive campaign should not be confused with Light projects.  Basically, LRPs are about doing something about poverty and hardships through money donation whereas Lights Projects consist of doing something about poverty and hardships without donating money (by using skills such as communication, negotiation, networking, advocacy, lobbying etc.).  Light projects are mostly wintry projects while LRPs are Spring-like initiatives.

As said above, Spring 2018 projects planning and development will be to rethink, discuss and develop sustainable ways to rebuild lives of endangered BIG CATS that are continuously and critically threatened for extinction.   We hope our projects planning and development will generate proposals for our new BIG CATS advocacy work, which will revolve around developing actions to stop illegal wildlife trade.

For more information about our work under RILIVES programme for this Spring and the BIG CATS Campaign, contact CENFACS.

• MAY STORIES: All in Development Stories

Story telling is our main content for this month of May.  It is the month and time of the year we dedicate ourselves to telling and sharing poverty relief and 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.

•• 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:

• 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

• 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.

• AiDS is an inspirational and motivational support network

After all, the project seeks to inspire and motivate others in the road of change for change, especially 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 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 Local People’s Stories of Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development. 

We have chosen to focus on local people as we are in CENFACS’ Year of Local People.  Getting and exchanging stories with them 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 a special type of stories – BIG CATS Stories. 

•• MAY STORIES ADDITION: BIG CATS STORIES

The BIG CATS stories are the stories of protection and prevention of the extension of threatened animal species, here the BIG CATS. There is an expanded definition of BIG CATS which include many varieties.  For the need of our May Stories, we are going to focus on the following BIG CATS: lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars.  The stories about them are some examples of the accounts of protection and safeguard of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.   

•• MORE ABOUT MAY 2018 STORIES

••• LOCAL PEOPLE’S STORIES

They are human stories from local people as change makers or witnesses in helping to reduce poverty and to enhance sustainable development. 

Stories about initiatives taken by local people

Stories can come from what local people do every day to make the world (the local area) a better place to live.  What they do can be just little things they do to relieve poverty and hardships experienced by themselves or others.  These things do not need to big or spectacular.

An example of initiative-taken story from a local person could be an account related to donating food to a food bank to help increase food stock and reduce food deprivation from those suffering with hunger or starvation.

Stories about projects and events witnessed by local people

They can also be the things local people witnessed that helped to reduce or end poverty as well as to improve the quality of life.  They could be witnesses in their daily life, at work, during holidays, at field work environment etc.  In this respect, their stories will come from the things they witness.

An example of witness story from a local poverty reliever could be watching, listening and telling the copying and surviving strategies of homeless people, as well as feeding this information to local decision making bodies to change the lives of those homeless people.

••• TYPES OF 2018 STORIES

8 types of poverty relief and sustainable development stories related to each of the following selected local people in their capacities in making the local and global worlds better places to live and work:

Local project/programme beneficiaries (1); Local supporters, volunteers and interns on local projects (2); Representatives of local African organisations such as workers, leaders, managers and board members) (3); Staff members and project/programme employees of local poverty relief organisations (4); Self-employees/local project owners like local farmers (5); Members of African organisations (6); Local authorities linked to overseas development projects/programmes (7); (8) Local environmentalists and conservationists

••• 2018 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 every day life. 

••• CALL FOR 2018 ENTRIES –

ANNOTED TIME FOR STORY SUBMISSION 2018

Start of online (e-mail) and paper-based submission (01/05/2018)

Story submission deadline (31/05/2018)

Notification of receipt/acceptance (by 17/06/2018)

Submission of revised stories (01/05/2018 to 31/05/2018)

Closing date of submission (31/05/2018)

••• CENFACS STORY TELLING & SHARING TERMS

To tell and/or share your life-changing 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, videos 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 clarification, contact CENFACS

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

Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

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

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.

With many thanks