Volunteers from Ghana win 2015 Samsung GFP Impact Awards

Youngstars Development Initiative, a non-governmental organization, has won this year’s Samsung Generations For Peace Award for Impact.

The Samsung GFP Award for Impact is given to a programme that demonstrates an ability to positively affect the beneficiary community, stakeholders and other members of the wider community. It is also awarded for successful local media coverage and local awareness of programme, and for quantitative and qualitative reach of programmes.

The winners of the 2015 Impact Award were volunteers from Ghana for the Catch Them Young Accra Programme. This Sport For Peace Programme for Children targeted 40 school students to address issues of bullying and poor communication between students of different ages and social classes. In implementing the programme, volunteers got members of the beneficiary community and stakeholders involved. This approach enabled the wider community to learn about the programme, and start to benefit from the programme activities. In addition, the programme received wide coverage with features in the local media.

The award was presented by His Royal Highness Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Founder and Chairman of Generations For Peace, and Fadi Awni Abu Shamat, Corporate Marketing Director for Samsung Levant at a ceremony in Jordan.

Countries like Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia and Palestine also won awards for Innovation, Quality, and Sustainability respectively. These four categories are also the key drivers of change for Generations For Peace.

The fifth Generations For Peace Samsung Advanced Training concluded in Amman, Jordan. The six day 2015 Samsung Advanced Training, during which 39 volunteers from 10 countries gained new skills in facilitating peacebuilding programmes in their communities, ended with the annual Awards Dinner on 25 November at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman, Jordan.

HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein congratulated this year’s award winners, and the nearly 9000 volunteers who have been trained to implement peacebuilding programmes in their communities around the world.

He also presented certificates in recognition of Samsung Levant, supporter of GFP’s work since 2008; the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which supports GFP’s work throughout the MENA region; as well as institutional partner Jordan Olympic Committee, telecommunications partner Orange, logistics partner DHL, and beverage sponsor CocaCola Jordan.

Generations For Peace (GFP) is a Jordan-based global non-profit organisation founded by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein and Sarah Kabbani, dedicated to sustainable peace building and conflict transformation through sport, arts, advocacy, dialogue and empowerment.

By providing unique training and continuous support and mentoring to volunteer leaders of youth, GFP empowers them to lead and cascade change in their communities, promoting active tolerance and responsible citizenship and working at the grass roots to address local issues of conflict and violence.

Different contexts include inter-tribal, inter-ethnic, and inter-religious violence; gender inequality; post-conflict trauma response, reconciliation and reintegration; exclusion of minorities including IDPs, refugees and people with a disability; and challenges of integration in multi-cultural societies. Conflict sensitivity, and the full participation and empowerment of girls and women, are integrated into GFP’s approach.

GFP uses sport as an entry point to engage with children and youth, and our carefully-facilitated sport-based games provide a vehicle for integrated education and behaviour change. In addition to our sport-based approaches, GFP has also developed arts, advocacy, dialogue, and empowerment activities to support conflict transformation with children, youth and adults in different contexts.

In the last seven years, we have trained and mentored more than 8,500 volunteer leaders of youth in 50 countries and territories in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. With our support, their ongoing programmes address local issues of conflict and violence, and have touched the lives of more than 216,000 children, youth and adults.

GFP is ranked 32^nd in the Top 500 NGOs in the World for 2015 by Global Geneva. The ranking assesses non-governmental organisations according to innovation, impact, and sustainability.

GFP is also the only peace-through-sport organisation officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

“Address challenges and seize opportunities of the new world of work”, UNDP urges

 2 billion people lifted out of low human development, in last 25 years, now focus on work is needed to galvanize progress, alerts the 2015 Human Development Report.

Fast technological progress, deepening globalization, aging societies and environmental challenges are rapidly transforming what work means today and how it is performed. This new world of work presents great opportunities for some, but also profound challenges for others. The 2015 Human Development Report, released at a ceremony in Ethiopia, urges governments to act now to ensure no one is left behind in the fast-changing world of work.

The report, titled ‘Work for Human Development’, calls for equitable and decent work for all. In doing so, it encourages governments to look beyond jobs to consider the many kinds of work, such as unpaid care, voluntary, or creative work that are important for human development. The report suggests that only by taking such a broad view can the benefits of work be truly harnessed for sustainable development.

Speaking at the launch, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, said “employment can be a great driver of progress, but more people need to be able to benefit from sustainable work that helps them and their families to thrive.”

The need for more inclusive and sustainable work opportunities was also emphasized by United Nations Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark who said “decent work contributes to both the richness of economies and the richness of human lives. All countries need to respond to the challenges in the new world of work and seize opportunities to improve lives and livelihoods.”

With better health and education outcomes and reductions in extreme poverty, 2 billion people have moved out of low human development levels in the last 25 years, the report says. Yet in order to secure these gains and galvanize progress, a stronger focus on decent work is needed.

830 million people are classified as working poor who live on under $2.00 a day. Over 200 million people, including 74 million youth, are unemployed, while 21 million people are currently in forced labour.

“Human progress will accelerate when everyone who wants to work has the opportunity to do so under decent circumstances. Yet in many countries, people are often excluded from paid work, or are paid less than others for doing work of the same value,” said report lead author Selim Jahan.

Women do three out of every four hours of unpaid work

The report presents a detailed new estimate of the share of all work, not just paid work, between men and women. While women carry out 52 percent of all global work, glaring inequalities in the distribution of work remain.

Women are less likely to be paid for their work than men, with three out of every four hours of unpaid work carried out by women. In contrast, men account for two of every three hours of paid work. Since women often carry the burden of providing care services for family members, the report warns that this disparity is likely to increase as populations age.

When women are paid, they earn globally, on average, 24 percent less than men, and occupy less than a quarter of senior business positions worldwide.

“To reduce this inequality, societies need new policies, including better access to paid care services. Ensuring equal pay, providing paid parental leave, and tackling the harassment and the social norms that exclude so many women from paid work are among the changes needed. That would enable the burden of unpaid care work to be shared more widely, and give women a genuine choice on whether to enter the labour force,” Helen Clark said. 

Globalization and the digital revolution are double-edged swords

Globalization and technological changes are producing an increasingly polarized world of work. 

“There has never been a better time to be a highly skilled worker. Conversely, it is not a good time to be unskilled. This is deepening inequalities,” said report author Selim Jahan.   

Highly skilled workers and those with access to technology, including to the internet, have new opportunities in the types of work available and the way that work is done. Today, there are seven billion mobile phone subscriptions, 2.3 billion people with smart phones, and 3.2 billion with internet access. This has brought about many changes in the world of work - for example, the rise of e-commerce and the mass outsourcing of banking, ICT-support, and other services.

Despite new opportunities, however, more jobs are now becoming vulnerable and a wide digital divide remains, the report notes.

In 2015, 81 percent of households in developed countries have internet access, but only 34 percent in developing regions and 7 percent in the least developed countries have that access.

Many types of routine work, such as clerical jobs, are predicted to disappear or be replaced by computers, or have already disappeared, the report warns, while many more workers face other insecurities. According to the International Labour Organization, 61 percent of employed people in the world work without a contract, and only 27 percent of the world’s population is covered by comprehensive social protection.

The report calls on governments to formulate national employment strategies that take into account the many challenges emerging in the rapidly changing world of work.

Sustainable work, opportunities both for present and future generations

The report stresses the key roles that work can play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The types of work many of us do will need to change if our economies and societies are to make genuine progress towards a low emission and climate-resilient future. These changes will influence what the labour market of tomorrow looks like”, the report states.

With green growth, new jobs will be created, the nature of others will be transformed, and others will end altogether. These changes ideally should be supported by systems of social protection and safety nets.

The report argues that work opportunities can be fostered by the global goals. It estimates, for example, that around 45 million additional health workers will be needed to meet the health objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals. That would see the global health workforce increase in size from 34 million in 2012 to 79 million by 2030.

Setting the new agenda for work

While policy responses to the new world of work will differ across countries, three main clusters of policies will be critical if governments and societies are to maximize the benefits and minimize the hardships in the evolving new world of work. Strategies are needed for creating work opportunities and ensuring workers’ well-being. The report therefore proposes a three-pronged action agenda:

§ 1. A New Social Contract between governments, society, and the private sector, to ensure that all members of society, especially those working outside the formal sector, have their needs taken into account in policy formulation. 

§ 2.  A Global Deal among governments to guarantee workers’ rights and benefits around the world.

§  3. A Decent Work Agenda, encompassing all workers, that will help promote freedom of association, equity, security, and human dignity in work life.

Airtel donates to Human Compassion Orphanage

Airtel, Ghana’s fastest growing Telecommunications Company has donated to the Human Compassion Orphanage as part of its ongoing employee led “12 Days of Giving” initiative.

Human Compassion is a registered non-governmental organization established in 2004, in the Ga West district to operate a full time facility to care for orphaned HIV positive children.

The orphanage was nominated by an employee of Airtel who recommended the work of the home to be supported by the ongoing campaign this season of giving.

Ms. Angela Jones, a representative from the home thanked Airtel for the generosity shown to the home at such a crucial time of the year. She further expressed her gratitude to the staff who nominated the home to be recognised in such a manner.

Making the presenting to the orphanage, Maruf Lawal, Network & TI Director of Airtel remarked, “We are deeply touched by the compassion shown by this orphanage in caring for children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. The effort the team is putting in to care for these children living with HIV is remarkable and in appreciation of your effort, we are making this donation to support you to continue inspiring hope in these children”.

The “12 days of Giving” is an initiative led by employees and supported by Airtel to support individuals and charitable causes in communities this festive season as a way to spread the joy of the season. The initiative is expected to support similar causes across the country over a 12 day period.

Airtel is Ghana’s fastest growing telecommunications company was recently awarded at the IPR awards for Best Company, Community Relations Programme.

Peruvian women install solar panels and light up their communities

Pilar Celi, Peru

Five women from Candarave Province, located in Tacna (Peru), travelled to India to be trained and to learn how to install solar panels. The training has enabled 272 families to have electricity and improve their quality of life. Solar panels mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases and allow to address climate change. 

In 2011, Reina Isabel Humiri Mamani, 41, who has two children and two grandchildren, realized that, sometimes, to make a right decision, you have to break stereotypes, overcome fears and invest in knowledge. Although her mother, brothers, and some people in her community (Tacalaya) were against the idea, she accepted to take part in the Barefoot College programme, travelled to India for six months, and learned that electricity can be obtained by sunlight with the help of solar panels.

In December 2011, Reina together with four other women from Candarave, left for Barefoot College. This institution brings rural women together from around the world to Tilonia, a village in India, to share life experiences and most importantly, learn how to install and maintain solar panels – devices that convert solar radiation into electric energy – and thus improve daily life in their communities.

"At first I was afraid, because I knew what would happen. My family was sad, and in the community, they believed that it wasn’t true that I would come back to help, once I left. ‘My, you’re so brave’, they said,” Reina said to ConexiónCOP.

Before leaving, the inhabitants of the Candarave communities, starting from 6 in the afternoon – at sunset – were experiencing constant problems due to the lack of light. "I decided to travel to India so that I could have electricity. We used to cook or care for animals at night and children would study using the light of candles and lights. But we had to buy kerosene and would inhale the smoke, which caused us trouble breathing,” Reina explained.

As regards to what Reina said, the health system, Allina Health, warns that inhaling noxious fumes can cause disease in the lungs and airways. Moreover, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), around 96,000 children die annually worldwide due to thermal burns, which may result from the use of lighters.

Solar panels in the communities

To participate in Barefoot College, Reina flew almost 30 hours. She arrived in India, changed her diet, and left her family. Reina explained that while in Tilonia, she mingled with women around the world, discovered other cultures, beliefs, ideas, and even a new language, and above all, learned about solar technology.

"At the beginning, our group of Peruvian women was greatly shocked by the many changes we faced. The food was different and we did not understand the language, but the teachers followed a method using colours, with which were able to communicate, and we learned how to install solar panels."

At Barefoot College, the women learn using signs, numbers and colours. The method makes learning possible also by illiterate women. With the help of teachers, they are trained on how to install solar panels, troubleshoot and repair. Also, the aim of this programme is to be replicated in other communities.

Coming back to the communities

When they came back to their communities, Reina and the others were recognized as engineers, a situation that no one had imagined when they were offered the opportunity. In each village, a "solar committee” was set up to organize the population. In January 2013, they received equipment imported from India, which came in "kits" in order to install a low-power solar system for electric lighting. The technology is based on LED lights, which, unlike the traditional types, can be repaired and need not be changed.

The installation of 387 solar units made it possible for 1,360 people (272 families) from nine communities in Candarave Province to have electricity. Alicia Condori Quispe, who was part of the Barefoot College coordinating team in Peru, told ConexiónCOP:  "The team monitored the distribution process, but it was the five engineers who installed the panels in the families’ homes. Each beneficiary paid 35 [new] soles for the installation, and each woman was capable of installing up to four units per day. The beneficiaries were very satisfied,” she said.

However, maintaining the solar panels over the years is an issue that still needs to be improved. Due to the high transportation costs and the lack of budget and management in the communities, it was problematic to regularly hire women engineers. However, new populations have requested additional systems, which shows that the benefits outshine the obstacles. As a first step, the engineers trained the beneficiaries on the basic maintenance of the systems, who today can carry out simple repairs independently.

The benefits from solar energy in Candarave

Candarave is province that is particularly vulnerable to climate change. The area lies between 3,500 and 4,800 meters above sea level, and the inhabitants are mainly engaged in trout and alpaca breeding. Alpacas have been affected by the increase of greenhouse gases, as frost and drought are compounded by the effect of climate change, thus affecting their food.

With the arrival of solar power, the children of Candarave can study at home with adequate lighting and improve their school results. The health of the populations has also improved because they no longer inhale the smoke of candles and lighters. In addition, this resulted in significant cost savings for families, because the lighting systems previously used were very expensive.

Villagers on their own initiative also brought power outside the home, which resulted in an increase in the productivity in traditional activities. Policarpio Pariguana, who owns a trout farm, installed five solar panels, which made it possible to feed his fish at night and in the early morning.

Similarly, Reina explained that the villagers who raise alpacas as she does, installed solar lighting systems to protect their alpacas at night and to prevent foxes, which usually eat baby alpacas, from coming near. Another initiative was taken by the parents in the community of Marjani, who collected money to pay for the installation of the solar system in the community school.

Rodrigo París Rojas, journalist, political scientist, diplomat and director for Latin America of Barefoot College, explained that when women return to their homes, they become transformative people who illuminate lives.

"When returning home, women want to stop the consumption of gasoline or kerosene, which provides feeble light and generates CO2 emissions. With the help of NGOs and state institutions facilitating the programme, they also want to do away with the risks of accidents and problems for children’s health due to the amount of smoke that they inhale,” said Rodrigo París Rojas.

Electricity is development

In developed and developing economies, access to energy is often the difference between poverty and wellbeing. The importance of the Barefoot College programme, which invests in knowledge and empowerment of the people, lies precisely in this difference.

Rodrigo París explained that during their stay in India, rural women learn to fight and to overcome challenges, and realize that change for the better is possible.

A key component of Barefoot College is that the students are exclusively women, because there is a philosophical notion that very clearly indicates that women are the centre of communities. "Women are generous. They are mothers and grandmothers. They are great storytellers, sharing knowledge among themselves, and ensuring that it will not fade away. And they also think about transforming their environment," concluded Rodrigo París Rojas.

This story was sourced through the Voices2Paris UNDP storytelling contest on climate change.

Airtel supports Moore Foundation and tumour patient

Tina Muparadzi (2^nd from right), Human Resource Director- Airtel Ghana with representatives from The Moore Foundation.

Airtel, Ghana’s fastest growing telecommunication company, has stepped up its 12 days of giving by supporting the Moore Foundation and contributed to the surgery of a face tumour patient as part of its ongoing employee led 12 Days of Giving initiative.

Sixteen year old Albert Aba, an SHS 2 student of the Adidome Senior High School in the Volta region, has been suffering from a tumour on the right side of his face over the last 14 years. This intervention from the change-maker company will contribute to the cost of a surgery to remove the tumour and give the brilliant Albert the opportunity to realize his full potential.

The Moore Foundation, an NGO that supports families with children suffering from cancer was the fourth beneficiary of Airtel’s 12 Days of Giving. The Foundation was nominated by an employee of Airtel who recommended the work of the Foundation to be supported by the ongoing campaign.

 Mr. Gershon Aba, uncle of Albert Aba receiving the cheque donation

Both beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to Airtel Ghana for coming to the aid of the beneficiaries and for its continuous support for worthy causes.  

Making the presenting to the Moore Foundation, Tina Muparadzi, Human Resource Director of Airtel remarked, “we are delighted that our employees have taken up such an inspiring and touching initiative to enrich lives and support causes that they truly care about in their communities.

At Airtel, we are committed to investing in and supporting worthy causes through our CSR programmes. Through this initiative, we are giving our employees the opportunity to be the change they want to see in their communities.”

“We appreciate the efforts of the Moore Foundation to improve the lives of children with cancer and we believe Albert will go through a successful surgery and be back to school to pursue his dreams.”

The “12 days of Giving” is an initiative led by employees and supported by Airtel to support individuals and charitable causes in communities this festive season as a way to spread the joy of the season.

Airtel Ghana supported Mr. Francis Abotsi on the maiden day of the initiative and on the second day, surprised the Adaklu Aboadi Salvation Army School with a Christmas party. The initiative is expected to support similar causes across the country over a 12 day period.

Airtel is Ghana’s fastest growing telecommunications company was recently awarded at the IPR awards for Best Company, Community Relations Programme.

Solar power fuels hope on neglected Lagos island

By Augustina Armstrong-Ogbonna

For the first time in his 30 years on Sagbo Kodji Island, near Lagos, Friday Onos has electricity at home, thanks to a solar power project that could transform the lives of the island’s 80,000 inhabitants.

“The lack of power supply to this island kept extinguishing my dreams of creating alternative job opportunities for the youths here,” said Onos, 35.



Most islanders fish for a living, and in the absence of electricity, they smoke the fish and try to sell it quickly – often at a low price. But with enough solar power, they could refrigerate their catch.
Onos’s home is one of the few lucky ones on this neglected island to be equipped with solar power. So far only five out of nearly 7,000 houses in his neighbourhood have benefited.

When the solar project was first mooted, many residents did not believe it would work, following a failed government effort to install solar street lights. After a few months, the light bulbs stopped working, leaving many locals sceptical about the idea.

Onos, however, volunteered to participate in the new project and is now thinking of setting up a cold-room business, offering fresh fish storage.

For now, children find his solar electricity a novelty. “At night, (they) gather around my house and dance for joy, playing until they get tired,” he said. “They had never seen a 24-hour power supply before.”

Sagbo Kodji Island is one of 34 riverine communities in the Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos in southwest Nigeria. The island, which has been settled for around a century, is bound by Apapa seaport to the south, but has yet to get an electricity supply.

According to local leader Solomon Suenu, the island community was founded by a fisherman from the ancient town of Badagry, who used to rest there during fishing expeditions.

He then brought his family to settle on the island, and was later joined by other traders and people from Lagos.

REMOTE CONTROL
The fish caught by the islanders is smoked using wood stoves and sold in Lagos. Many Lagos residents are unaware of the islanders who crowd daily onto boats to tout their wares in the city centre, at markets and on street corners.

There is often a dense cloud hanging over Sagbo Kodji Island, due to the wood smoke from homes where women preserve fish or cook for the family.

Until recently, many children on the island believed light came only from small petrol-powered generators, unaffordable to most, or the floodlights of cargo ships sailing by to Apapa wharf.
But several months ago, a handful of homes on the island were equipped with solar power under a pilot project led by Arnergy, a renewable energy technology company founded in 2013 by a young entrepreneur in Lagos.

Its CEO Femi Adeyemo was shocked to learn that a community had existed for a century without electricity. After visiting the island and meeting community leaders, he decided to change that.
The system enables users to pay N100 ($0.50), N200, N300 and N500 per day for a 24-hour electricity supply, with power from the solar panels stored in batteries.

Before the company installs solar panels in a home, it takes an inventory of the gadgets and appliances its residents will use, ensuring the right panel is supplied.

“Sometimes people can be tricky,” Adeyemo said. “After listing the appliances that will be used and installation is finished, they later include others that are not listed.”

The company has technology that detects overloading via a wireless network and switches off power remotely from its office once a customer has used up their pre-paid units.

Arnergy has secured funding from investors including Nigeria's Bank of Industry, which has put up $600,000 to deploy the company’s system to 3,000 households in three states.

But powering the whole of Sagbo Kodji Island would be expensive, at a cost of around $1.2 million per 1,000 households, as the solar panels must be imported, Adeyemo said.

The company has sought backing from U.N. agencies and other international donors.
“Up to now, most promises are yet to be fulfilled,” said Adeyemo. “Many investors find it hard to believe that a community can exist inside Lagos - known as a megacity - without ever having been connected to a source of power.”

But with more financial support, the social and economic life of the island’s residents could develop much faster, he added.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Businesses would come alive, children could study at any time of the day, and women would no longer inhale smoke that has damaged their health.

“This solar power project will change the air they breathe,” said Adeyemo.

According to a 2007 World Health Organisation report, indoor air pollution from solid fuel use kills around 80,000 people in Nigeria each year. Over 60 percent of the oil-rich country’s population is not connected to the national grid.

But a N9.2 billion federal government programme to supply clean energy cook stoves to women in rural communities has run into troubled waters.

Hamzat Lawal, director of non-profit group Connected Development (CODE), said women in communities like Sagbo Kodji would benefit from the initiative. But no concrete plan has yet been put in place to produce or procure the stoves, he noted.

Government officials are not answering questions about the future of the project, which is shrouded in secrecy, he said.

The original plan was that the new cookstoves would be fuelled by wood from fallen trees, which would be replaced by LPG once the infrastructure was ready to refill and maintain the cylinders, providing local jobs too.

“We know there are real women in poor communities like Sagbo Kodji who need this source of energy,” said Lawal.

Without an alternative fuel supply, they will cut down trees for firewood, he said. “We lose our forest, the Sahara desert encroaches, and our women continue to inhale smoke.”


Many residents in Sagbo Kodji are hopeful their homes will be fitted with solar panels in the next phase of Arnergy’s project - but that will depend on whether the company gets financial support to expand its activities on the island.

“I will be happy to witness light in every home on this island,” said Madam Felicia Akodji, a 68-year-old woman community leader. “Or are we not part of the Lagos megacity?"


This story was sourced through the Voices2Paris UNDP storytelling contest on climate change and developed thanks to Megan Rowling from the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Climate change and floods, the uninvited guests of Guyana

Neil Marks, Guyana

MRS Doodnauth is being interviewed about the fact that the effects of climate change are what led the family to abandon their home and farmlands in the Mahaica Creek and relocate to an area identified by the authorities. She was clear climate change was not the reason.- “And what’s the reason?”

- “Too much rain,” she says. “We have never seen so much rain and floods before.”

- “What is climate change?”
- “I really don’t understand,” Doodnauth says with a blank stare.

It is now 10 years since extreme rainfall caused widespread flooding which devastated the coastal lowland areas of Guyana, which is below sea level and prone to flooding.

Official figures show that the 2005 floods caused an estimated US$465 million in damage, or just about 59 percent of the country’s GDP at the time. That major flood was followed by others, which resulted from severe rainfall events in the years to follow.

The families of the Mahaica Creek were the collateral damage of the extreme rainfall patterns. Even when the rains didn’t cause the banks of the creek to overflow, flooding came as a direct result of government orders.

The coastal zone of Guyana, where most people live and where most economic activity is concentrated, is cut across by a dense network of drainage and irrigation canals which are all linked to the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC), a water storage canal which is the source of drinking water for the capital Georgetown and also provides water for rice, sugar and cash crop farms during the dry season.

The problem is that the Conservancy is hemmed in by an earthen dam, approximately 67 km long, which could collapse if it takes in more than the 250 million cubic meters of water that it was designed to hold. The collapse of the dam could cause widespread flooding along the coast.
So at times of extreme rainfall, the Conservancy acts as a drainage canal, using five sluices at different locations - Cunha, Kofi, Maduni, Lama and Land of Canaan. Two of those sluices - Lama and Maduni - release water into the Mahaica River.

However, during periods of extreme rainfall, pumping the water into the Mahaica Creek aggravates the already stressful flood conditions. Unable to cope with the constant flooding, many families decided they had to leave the Creek for a new life on the coast.

In addition to the plots of land to live on, with modest houses built by Food for the Poor, they were also offered new farmlands, which they could lease.

Khemwantie Ramkissoon, 44, misses the creek. But it is not just about missing “home.” She has seen her crops – watermelons, pumpkins and other cash crops – destroyed time and time again and so she had to leave.

These days, she is unable to travel with her husband to the farm, as it often involves an overnight trip sleeping in a shack. These days also, instead of taking her line and hook to get fish for the typical evening curry, Ramkissoon now has to find money to buy fish.

For Bahawanie Basdeo, 57, a resident of Joe Hook, the creek was the only life he knew until the floods forced him to move to higher ground.

“It was terrible. When the floods come, it took away everything. Then you are forced to use your savings, but that could only last so long,” he says with a smile, but his eyes well up with tears as he speaks of his cattle killed time and time again by the floodwaters.

“The families of Joe Hook were the first to be affected and the worst affected when water is discharged from the Conservancy into the Mahaica and Mahaicony Creeks,” said Robert Persaud, who served as Agriculture Minister when the decision of voluntary resettlement was offered.

Many families still remain in the creek. For them, the days of flooding could be over. A Conservancy Adaptation Project, the single largest adaption project in water management in the country, was developed after the 2005 floods, with the main component being another canal to drain excess water from the conservancy.

 “This can also be seen in the wider context of adaptation to the effects of climate change, given Guyana's acute vulnerabilities,” adds Persaud. A recent test of the Hope sluice was successful, the current Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder said.

Mr Narine Singh, the chairman of a nearby local authority, believes that the new sluice will definitely reduce the possibility of flooding the Mahaica Creek.

“It will very much ease the flooding; I don’t think we will see dead cows coming down the river as before,” he says.

This story was sourced through the Voices2Paris UNDP storytelling contest on climate change.

Airtel Ghana commences ‘12 Days Giving Initiative’

Hannah Agbozo, Legal & Corporate Affairs Director (middle) and Maruf Lawal, Networks& IT Director (3^rd from Left) making the presentation to Mr. Francis Abotsi (2^nd from right)

Airtel Ghana culminates its impressive year of charity and goodwill with a specially designed programme led by employees to touch and enrich the lives of individuals and communities dubbed “Airtel 12 Days of Giving.”

The community based programme which starts on December 1, will identify specific charities and special cases of individuals, families , organizations and communities in need and make a meaningful and sustainable contribution to them over the twelve days of giving this  festive season.

The initiative that rides on the popular Christmas carol “the twelve days of Christmas” is spearheaded by employees of Airtel to support causes and projects they care about. 

On the first day of Giving, Airtel Ghana gave a medical grant for the treatment of Francis Sefadzi Abotsi, who has been diagnosed with a spinal cord defect that demands urgent treatment. Francis Abotsi was nominated by his elder brother, Patrick Abotsi, an Airtel employee to benefit from the initiative to help finance his brother’s medical bills.

Speaking at the launch of the initiative and maiden presentation ceremony, Hannah Agbozo, Legal and Corporate Affairs Director, Airtel, explained that the change-maker Company is always seeking unique and impactful ways to enrich lives and support worthy causes. 

“12 days of Giving is an employee led initiative supported by Airtel to enrich lives and support causes that our employees are passionate about this festive season. The initiative allows our employees to be the change they want to see in their communities by presenting causes or projects they would like to support which are vetted and the approved projects are supported by the company.

We are committed as we have shown on numerous occasions to provide an opportunity for individuals to be touched through diverse means. We share in the passions of our employees and we will continue to invest in the initiatives that matter to them. This is what continues to make us an employer of choice.”

She further noted that “the spirit of community and giving is what the Christmas season is all about. We are committed to touching lives and inspiring hope in Ghana – a clear testament that Airtel truly cares.” 

The ‘12 days of Giving’ is an initiative to spread the cheer of the Christmas season to bring smiles and joy to the hearts of Ghanaians.

Over the next 12 days, Airtel Ghana, through this initiative will be supporting causes and projects across the country.

Airtel is Ghana’s fastest growing telecommunications company with unparalleled products and service offerings. The company was recently awarded for Best Community Relations Programme and Best Company CSR – Education at the IPR and CSR Excellence awards respectively.

Addressing climate change and poverty as one in Malawi

Watson Maingo, Malawi

The government of Malawi has been struggling to end poverty since independence in 1964, banking its strategies on the proceeds from its agro based economy. Sadly, climate change entered the scene and dramatically disrupted the farming sector.

Annie Ganizani, 47, a subsistence farmer from Kandulu village in Salima District has witnessed its impacts in the last decade.

“I was born in a family of subsistence farmers. My parents failed to give me education due to other reasons poverty, but when I got married and was blessed with some kids, I believed that through hard work I would be able to educate my kids,” said Ganizani.

“Our leaders used to tell us there was no reason for me to worry as the land was indeed producing more than enough. Farming was a very promising occupation and the only hope for our uneducated community,” she said.

Unfortunately her dreams were shattered by the prevailing brutal effects of climate change.

“We first noticed that something was wrong around us after the year 2000 when the rainfall pattern changed. Unexpected floods, drought, and dry spells became an annual occurrence,” said Ganizani. “The floods and dry spells quickly resulted into dwindling yields leading to food shortages and subsequently taking us into extreme poverty," she added.

In 2004, heavy floods from near-by Lifidzi River destroyed her village and farm land.

“After the floods, we moved to this new area only to be given a smaller piece of land. We continued harvesting just enough to last us a few months. In the end we are engaging in activities that contribute to climate change” said Ganizani.

Now 10 years after relocating to upper land Ganizani, her family is poorer than they were in 1999. “I do believe that climate change and poverty should be addressed together,” she said.

Although climate change has turned the livelihoods of many villagers upside down and even in spite of the government of Malawi and other organizations’ continued interventions, communities are indirectly contributing to climate change.

“Many people want to run away from poverty by cutting down trees for charcoal and cultivating in river banks which, in turn, makes them more vulnerable to floods and droughts” said Majawa Bwanali, chairperson of the Kandulu Village Disaster Risk Management Committee (VDRMC).

Environmental District Officer for Salima Davies Chogawana concurs with Bwanali and said that efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change are continually challenged by local efforts to end poverty.

“People still cut trees down wantonly, still use charcoal at large scale and some of them still cultivate in river banks, triggering ever more floods and droughts,” said Chogawana.

Assistant District Disaster Risk Management Officer (ADDRMO) Blessings Kamtema said that it is unfortunate that not all victims of climate change related disasters have been rehabilitated despite interventions.

“Salima, one of the districts most hit by climate change in Malawi has been receiving support from many organizations. However, these area-specific interventions might not have restored the livelihoods of all the affected people,” said Kamtema.

With funding from UNDP under AAP projects, Kamtema said the Council and the community from Kandulu were able to build a dyke on the Lifidzi River which has prevented the river from flooding and causing havoc in Kandulu Village in the last three years.

Kamtema also said that with support from GEF, people of Kandulu village have built an evacuation point in times of floods so people no longer seek shelter at a primary school in the area.

DDRMO explained that with funding from UNDP, the Council has managed to establish a climate information for climate and weather early warning and farming planning.

Over 50% of Malawians live in poverty and 80% of Malawians depend on farming for their livelihoods. Unless climate smart agriculture technologies are passed on to all small holder farmers, the government goal of ending poverty by 2030, as pointed in the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030), will not be achieved.

And if poverty is not checked and alternative economic activities are not identified, little progress will be achieved to minimize our contribution to climate change.

This story was sourced through the Voices2Paris UNDP storytelling contest on climate change and developed thanks to Urmi Goswami from The Times of India.