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From Poverty to Sustainable Livelihoods : Changing the Narrative and Taking Action

From Poverty to Sustainable Livelihoods : Changing the Narrative and Taking Action. Naresh Singh. Presentation to WTN Summer Institute. Mexico, New York. 20 th July 2017. Purpose of the Presentation:.

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From Poverty to Sustainable Livelihoods : Changing the Narrative and Taking Action

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  1. From Poverty to Sustainable Livelihoods : Changing the Narrative and Taking Action Naresh Singh. Presentation to WTN Summer Institute. Mexico, New York. 20th July 2017.

  2. Purpose of the Presentation: 1. To share some international experiences in the hope there might be some relevance to the Oswego situation and its current efforts at reducing poverty 2. To highlight some connections between WTN’s current work on character education through stories andefforts to reduce poverty in Oswego. 3. To set the stage for a discussion on whether and how to link WTN current work ( Character Ed) with poverty reduction.

  3. Narrative Shifts • Instead of focusing on what outsiders see as their shortcomings, the sustainable livelihoods approach builds on what local people see as their strengths. • Starting with Assets rather than with Needs. Assets such individual strengths and gifts, social networks, land, rivers etc., institutions, anchor institutions, exchange, stories etc. (ABCD Institute) . Half full vs Half Empty Glass • From Empowerment to Self-Empowerment. From Power as a Zero Sum Game to Power as Positive Sum Game (Legal Rights of the Poor). From victims to clients to citizens, to producers. • From Humanitarian Relief (Welfare provision) to Resilience Building. • From top down or bottom up to iterative top down and bottom up processes. • From Post Conflict Needs Assessment (PCNA) to Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA)

  4. What is already planned for Oswego:

  5. What is already happening in Oswego. • Oswego County Anti-Poverty Task Force ( Roy Reehilis Chair and also a member of the WTN Board) A Partnership of the County Legislature, County School Districts, and Community Leaders: The Task Force consists of teams of professionals, experts and volunteers working in four major areas. • CZB Report on Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Action Plan ( Nov 2015) : “Perhaps the project’s most valuable contribution to the greater Oswego community is not the presentation of particularly new information, but the observation that these problems have been long known and in their stubborn resistance to the community’s best efforts is a mandate to change existing approaches. Not only must the County act now, but success will very likely hinge on a departure from how the County has done business for years”.

  6. Oswego County Recommended Poverty Reduction Action Plan. (CZB Nov. 2015). 1) Develop a Comprehensive Economic Development Plan 2) Implement One Stop Shop and No Wrong Door Strategy 3) Focus on Youth and Schools 4) Prioritize Community Development 5) Build a Culture of Constant Improvement, 6) Share Best Practices.

  7. THE LIFT (Learn, Identify, Focus, and Transform) 40 community leaders. ANALYSIS (April 2017) : POVERTY SITUATION in OSWEGO. • While 14% of Americans lived in poverty during 2015, 29% of City of Oswego residents did, including nearly 35% of children. • About 30% of the 5,000 poor residents of the City are college students. • Manufacturing jobs have declined by more than 30% in the last 15 years, while Education and Health Care jobs increased 18%. • Only 57% of adults 55-64 and 52% of adults without a high school diploma are in the workforce. • Transportation is an enormous problem for low-income residents. • Housing costs are considered unaffordable for nearly half of renters in the City and 18% of homeowners.

  8. Federal Poverty Levels (USA) 2017 ( Hawaii)

  9. LIFT Recommendations and OCAPTF Response • Recommendations: : Social Services, Housing, Share Best Practices, Help low income residents start businesses and provide ride share transport and child care, Involve Residents in Family Independence Initiative and in LIFT. • RESPONSE: : Local Economic Development; Workforce development, Transportation and Day Care; Youth and Schools; Substance Abuse; Social Services. Community Empowerment Teams building on the positive: —State investment flowing in, the partnership to create CCCE, the establishment of the Land Bank, the purchase and re-fuelling of the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant by Exelon and the outstanding progress being made by the Fulton Block Builders and the Oswego Renaissance Association. Address some initiatives not in the LIFT assessment.

  10. Some Global Lessons and Issues • Understanding Poverty : Absolute and Relative, Income , Money measures, Human , Multidimensional ( Health, Education, Living Standards +10 indicators) • What works is a direct function of context: One size does not fit all. Brazil, China, India, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Pakistan. Many countries in Latin America have done well on growth and poverty reduction but facing growing inequality. • Macro-micro linkages. The importance of policy. Is policy evidence based ? Community projects higher visibility. • Making policy in the face of complexity: CBA, narrative , local justice…

  11. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach 1. Establish community vision of more sustainable Livelihoods 2. Assets mapping: what do we have to build on 3. What can we do our own to move to our vision ( community action plans) 4. What is missing ? What do we need from outside? ( OCAPT and others) 5. Then proceed together.

  12. The Process of Legal Empowerment Conditions for Legal Empowerment Pillars of Legal Empowerment SYSTEMICCHANGE Goals of Legal Empowerment Rule of LawandAccess to Justice Rights Protection Identity and Legal Status as Citizen Identity and Legal Status as Asset holder IdentityIdentity and Legal Status as WorkerIdentity and Legal Status as Business-man/-woman Access to Justice Access to Assets Access Access to Decent Work Access to Markets Property Rights Opportunity Labor Rights Business Rights Information and Education Voice Organization and Representation

  13. From Empowerment to Self-Empowerment. (Link to the OCAPT Community Empowerment ). • Mobilisation at community level • Articulation of issues • Contestation for redistribution ( assets, power, control) • Confirmation of new rights in law.

  14. Examples from the International Community and the USA. (Supporting the OCAPT Community Empowerment Ideas). • UNDP: 3X6 Approach: ( 3 phases x 2 steps each) • UNHCR: Graduation Approach. (relief, building capabilities, self empowerment ) • Other ideas: community wealth development, individual wealth development and preservation, social impact investment. • Examples: ABCD and the Cleveland Model (Show the Cleveland Model and the video clip from John McKnight (from Goa Festival) • Reference: www.community-wealth.org. • Reference: https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute.

  15. From Local to Global • While taking action at the Local Level is the Key First Step we need to bear in mind what is happening at state, national and global levels as these all interact and provide constraints and opportunities. • State Level : Empire Funds. Education Boards. Other assets and challenges. • National Level: Existing and Emerging Policies creating new constraints and opportunities. Instructional Practices. • Global Level: International Practices. Civilizational narratives.

  16. Eight Structural Flaws in the Western World View. Jeremy Lent 2107: The Patterning Instinct (Tikkun) Structural Flaw New Foundation

  17. Conclusions: Implicationsfor WTN. • For LOCAL level Action ( Owego /Syracuse) : Introducing and catalysing some of the ideas on wealth creation through strategic partnership with the OCAPTF building on WTN’s work on character education. Linking shifts in character, school culture, and academic outcomes to poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods : jobs, small businesses, vision, energy , drive. • For GLOBAL Level Action : Next WTN Round Tables/ Panels: • With Jeremy Lent on Structural Flaws and New Foundations. • On Science and Non-duality : From a dualistic world: I and the other; me and you, to non-dualism. The pure knowing awareness, the infinite consciousness from which we all arise, and the fiction of the separate self. We need to share stories that teach this; and help the world arise from a narrative that leads to selfishness, greed, etc. Science and non-dualism is an excellent entry point for the western world. (www.scienceandnonduality.com.)

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