JVE Action Plan
Programme planning March 2004 to April 2009
PS: if you want the complete program (past programs, donors, budget, calendar), please send us an email
1. General Information :
• Organisation Details :
Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement (JVE)
37, rue 218 Akossombo
BP : 80470, Lomé, Togo
Tel : + 228- 2200112 / 2200034
Fax : + 228- 2514739
E-mail : yvetogo@hotmail.com -
Site Web: www.cooperationtogo.net/jve
• Status:
National non-governmental organisation
• Name and Title of Head of Organisation:
ATITSOGBE Kossi Edja
President of the Board of Directors
• General Objectives of the Organisation
JVE is a national youth-led NGO which aims to educate, empower, and support the youth of Togo in order to involve them in the sustainable development process. Its volunteer-based activities aim to provide economically disadvantaged youth and local communities with a better understanding of the environmental issues facing them and the rest of the planet, access to ICTs and global information sources and an education that stresses the importance of environmental protection and cultural biodiversity preservation.
• Principal Achievements Since Inception
Officially accreditated by the Secretary of the World Summit, JVE has: participated in numerous national and international conferences (Algeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Indonesia, South Africa, France, Benin, Ghana...); provided a translation service to other international and national NGOs (eg: Stakeholder Forum for our Common Future, UK) ; helped create two youth-led organizations, Amis du Pangolin-Togo and Ecole et Santé; provided technical support to peasant, youth and community-based organizations; organised an international Summer Camp in August 2002; led numerous awareness-raising activities, including the Earth Day celebrations in Togo and a national campaign(made possible by the EARTHACTION network) on the importance of sending children mainly girls to school. As well as its weekly radio show, “Environmental Corner” on Tropik FM, JVE frequently broadcasts programs on other radio stations, and on TV2, a private national television station. To date, JVE has 10 operationnal branches in 9 cities throughout the country.
JVE is a member of numerous youth and environmental networks (youth caucus, earth day network, takingitglobal, african biodiversity network, southernyouthvoices, global youth action network, International POPs Elimination Network, mandate the future, world youth organization on climate change, EarthAction, Idealist.org etc. ) and chairs the Youth Francophone Forum (France), and the Youth Associations Network for Sustainable Development (Togo). It organized The First Youth Conference on Sustainable Development, which established the YANESD. JVE has been appointed in 2003 as the National Co-Leader of the Global Youth Service Day. JVE is accredited by the Secretariat of the World Summit on the Information Society.
JVE received two prizes in 2002 in recognition of its contributions to environmental education: these are the Best Performance Certificate awarded by the International Award Council (United Arab Emirates) and the Reuters-UICN 2002 Media Award.(Washington DC, December 2002)
• Name and title of person in charge of this programme
Mr. Sena ALOUKA
ExecutiveDirector
3.1 Objectives and results
• General Objectives
Reinforce the place of youth, with special attention to girls, as actors in the sustainable development process and actively involve them in the decision-making, implementation and monitoring of development strategy programs while encouraging eco-tourism and cultural diversity preservation.
• Specific Objectives
Involve 50 primary and secondary schools in the integration of an environmental education course into their curriculum in order to raise conciousness of environmental issues among 50,000 students of 12 years and older.
Build competence and improve knowledge among 150,000 youth between the ages of 6 and 30 in the domain of new computer and communication technology, thus connecting them to current global information sources.
Encourage intercultural mixing and dialogue through an exchange project, in order to instill a spirit of tolerance, acceptance, and respect for cultural differences among the youth of developing and developed countries.
Reach 1,000 young readers per month through the publication and distribution of a sustainable development journal which will deal with development issues including environmental preservation, poverty, globalization, education, human rights, and HIV/AIDS.
Teach young Togolese within each region about the arts, customs, and traditions of their territory. Involve them in proudly continuing the cultural traditions of their people.
Incorporate youth (especially young women), numerous NGOs and associations, government officials, and international development actors in awareness raising campaigns through conferences, celebration of various international days of recognition, training workshops, and community outreach activities.
Enable 250 unschooled youth, with privilege given to girls, to go into apprenticeship through the building of a learning complex in a central rural community.
Provide adequate learning conditions for at least 1,000 pupils through the building of a three-classroom school complex
Rehabilitate a health center for a village, that will significantly help in diminishing the high rate of maternal mortality.
Establish an efficient network of delivery throughout the country and neighbouring countries.
• Expected Results (see chart, section 3.4)
3.2 Category of the Target Population (see chart, section 3.4)
3.3 Domain of intervention
• Description of the domain of intervention
Youth participation in the preservation of the environment: Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement intends to organize awareness-raising sessions, classes, forums for reflection and discussion, and training workshops in this domain.
Facilitate youth access to current information and communications technology: organize computer and technology classes to be incorporated on a permanent basis in Togolese schools. A youth-led newspaper on ecology and development will also be publised on a quarterly basis.
Networking both nationally and internationally: Build upon currently existing frameworks for a regional, national, and international youth network: YANESD (Youth Association Network for Sustainable Development) is a program to initiate activities and develop projects for the rational management of natural resources. Its aim is to help all Togo’s youth movements, and endow them with the capacity to achieve better outcomes. By 2009, it should become an official body, expressing the national youth’s opinion on various issues relevant to development. It will work as a national youth council. Reinforcing the various local branches of JVE, already in 9 cities, is one of our many tasks, as well as compiling a complete dataset on youth associations across the country. Moreover, establishing links with partners throughout the subregion will help in exchanging success stories, sharing best practice and building up experience. Developing eco-villages is particularly suitable for the implementation of this programme.
Raise cultural awareness and appreciation: Exchange projects introduce Togolese youth to the traditions, customs and lifestyles of other cultures, and develop relationships between youth of developed and developing countries. Togolese-based camps and festivities reuinite Togolese youth with their own cultural heritage and teach the importance of continuing cultural traditions. Contact, collaborations and partnerships between the youth of communities in Canada and Togo will be strongly encouraged.
• National situation to which the program responds
Togo is a country in the midst of a natural crisis. It is confronted with an alarming and progressive degradation of its natural resources, largely caused by human exploitation of the environment. With the population growing at an annual rate of 2.4 %, according to the Direction de la Statistique (1998), water and environmental resources are seriously threatened, and they will be even more of a rarity for future generations. In 1994 it was found that 72.6 % of the Togolese population was living in poverty (under 90,000 F CFA anually), and 57.,4 % living in extreme povrety (under 70,000 F CFA anually). Among the poor, the following categories were found to be the most disadvantaged: women, infants, abandoned elderly and children, the disabled, displaced persons, refugees, and beggars. Also, adequate access to schools and health care facilities is limited, especially in rural areas that are home to 63.62 % of the population. HIV/AIDS is conservatively estimated to affect 1/5 of the population, approximately 1 million people. About 1/10 of the population is reported to be HIV-positive, with about 70 % of those infected being youth of 15 to 25 years of age.
As stated in the "National Action Plan to fight Desertification (PAN-LCD, Togo, 2001, page22)
" the Togolese national strategy for the environment consists of the the following points:
° Reinforce capacity in the domain of environmental management.
° Ensure intra and intergenerational equity
° Promote national ecological consiousness by mastering environmental knowledge and the management of development.
° Promote the healthy and rational management of natural resources in the context of sustainable development
° Reinforce sub-regional and international cooperation for a concrete management of environmental problems.”
According to the Programme, the above strategies must be carried out in tandem with measures to reduce the poverty afflicting the majority of the population, to perfect demographical knowledge, and to mobilise the necessary financial resources to put the environmental policies into place.
The Togolese national Population Strategy also outlines a number of objectives to combat the country’s distressing demographic situation. These objectives include:
“ ° Promote the participation of women in the development process.
° Improve the level of education and training for youth and adults.
° Put into place a policy of rational environmental management and healthy habitat.”
It is then according to this official direction that we have drafted the current programme.
• Consultation with other partners of civil society of the state in the domain
All the different programmes described below require the involvement of various partners.
Summer Youth Camps: We invite participation of members of numerous youth NGOs worldwide
YANESD: This is necessarily a partnership of all Togolese Youth Associations
Eco-Village Network: In cooperation with UNDP and West African national NGO confederations
HIV/AIDS Training of Young Educators: Carried out in partnership with specialist Counselling and Health Care NGOs, such as Espoir Vie – Togo, MF, SIDA 3, National Strategy to Fight AIDS, Women's League, Togolese Association for the Family well-being.
Institutional Support: Training provided by adequate NGOs (eg Le Pont), internships to be arranged with appropriate organisations
International Days: We encourage the participation of all the NGO community, as well as government and local business
Eco-Journal: This will require partnership with schools, teachers, student coalitions and unions
Sustainable Education: Education NGOs, teachers’ associations and the Ministry of Education are all involved
As always, JVE will work with various stakeholders towards the implementation of this programme. Some partners are indespensible actors, while some will be invited for capacity building purposes.
3.7 Potential Risk Factors
Failure of this programme could occur due to the following three factors:
° The political situation in Togo
° The insufficiency or mismanagement of funds
° The lack of training for JVE members
The first factor is beyond the control of JVE.
Concerning the sufficiency of funds and their availability, it is very important that both the sponsor and JVE agree on the various aspects of the partnership and make sure the contract is effectively followed. JVE will continue to look for other donors apart from the current source in order to secure funds for unforseen expenses.
A monthly (or at least quarterly) verification/assessment of the use of the funds can signifantly reduce the risk of mismanagement and abuse. This is why we consider it important to recruit a well trained accountant and provide an electronic accounts system (software). Also, JVE will try its best to use the money for appropriate activities. An annual audit will be carried out by an external auditor.
The training of JVE members is a constant and continuous activity on which the association concentrates, and is included as number 10 on the above table of activities. Communication will be cherished.
3.8 Perennisation
Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement is a not-for-profit organisation, that ensure all its are sustainable. Consequently, the organizati will initiate the following activities to ensure the continuation of its activities:
• Establishment of focal points in various communities and countries
• Full involvement of education authorities in the educational program
• Research of additional donors for alternative activities
• The training of JVE executive staff will play a big role in ensuring the perennisation of the programme
• The last group of volunteers that will sent by the donor must be specialist in the management of projects, and particularly their perennisation, to help in drafting relevant measures
• Publication and sale of a monthly journal
• Initiation of activities in which receipts cover certain charges
• Before the end of the sponsorship, JVE will look for another donor to further fund the continuing activities such as Environmental Education, the summer camps, the publication of the Newspaper and the West African youth involvement in ecovillages network.
• Eventual Partnership between communities of Togo and Foreign can help in promoting development activities far after 2009.
• Submission in 2009 to the sponsor of another 5 year programme of action.
4. Equality of the sexes
The general principles of our association and its projects have always been designed to encompass both males and females. JVE is member of the Women’s Caucus and will put into practice the measures recommended in the process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, especially those referred to in the Johannesburg Action Plan.
Due to the disadvantaged position of females in Togo, we place special emphasis on including and targeting young women in all our activities. Female representation is obligatory on all our local committes and branch executives, and we shall make sure this continues. The HIV educator training will also help to empower young women to make their voice heard and teach others about the risks related to AIDS.
Also the Learning Center will help girls and young women to learn a craft or other work, and thus to attain a degree of financial independence.
5. Environment (Measures taken to conform to International Environmental Law)
As our activities are aimed at preserving the environment and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come, we will make every effort to ensure that our activites do not reach the opposite goal.
As clearly stated in the Canadian Law on Impact Assessment, we will follow all the national and international rules in this regard.
Interestingly, the Togolese Code for the Environment declares in its 24th article that each activity is subject to an official authorization delivered by the Environmental Impact Assessment Board (EIA) after su bmission and study of an environmental impact analysis by the project stakeholders. We will then need to conduct an impact assessment prior to every important project, containing: analysis of the initial site, identification of elements upon which the project can impact, evaluation of possible consequences on these elements, human health and the related risk of accidents, measures to reduce or compensate these risks, and benefits to the environment and the local population.
Consequently, all our activities and particularly those related to construction will have an official permit from the Minister of Environment. Moreover, an annual impact analysis will also be done to make sure that the project has not generated any unforeseen impacts. Procedures will be automatically implemented to reduce or compensate these threats on people or the local ecosystem.
Fortunately, as most of our activities are in the field of awareness, we will do no harm to the environment itself. The Program coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that the implementation of this programme conforms to Canadian Environmental Law.
Thanks for the attention paid to this action plan and hope to read you soon
Sincerely,
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”
Eleanor Roosevelt
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