Areas of Focus

• Eradication of poverty and hunger
• Education
• Orphan care
• Gender equality
• Improvement of child quality of life
• General health and HIV/AIDS
• Sustainable design and implementation
• Social justice and stakeholder partnerships
• Land use rights
• Eco-village development and application
• Development of community-based economics


Eradication of Poverty and Hunger
In full alignment with the Millennium Development Goal #1, CSAfrica acknowledges the need to commit more resources for sustainable development that benefit the poor. "There is an emerging consensus on effective strategies for poverty and hunger reduction combining investments in productive activities with targeted programmes to provide the neediest with direct and immediate access to food as well as other basic goods and services. With about 75 percent of the poor and hungry in developing countries living in rural areas, promoting investments in agricultural and rural development is fundamental." - UN Economic and Social Development Department.

Education
Providing Education on Sustainable Development and other important skill-building programs including computer training and protection of our planet's environment. By providing a means for people to share their ideas and solutions within our framework of sustainability goals, we hope to encourage others to take similar steps. "There can be few more pressing and critical goals for the future of humankind than to ensure steady improvement in the quality of life for this and future generations, in a way that respects our common heritage - the planet we live on." (UNESCO)

Orphan Care
CSAfrica promotes community-driven environmentally, economically and socially empowering responses to the AIDS orphan pandemic. NextAid, one of our founding organizations, collaborates with individuals, businesses and nonprofits to produce culturally-rich, awareness- raising projects and music events involving technology, the arts, public education projects, and volunteer opportunities. Through grass- roots efforts, NextAid provides opportunities for concerned individuals to make a tangible difference in the lives of African children in need.

Gender Equality
Ensuring that women are full participants in our program and are given the same opportunities to further their skills and socio-economic capacities. Many of our programs directly involve and support women and children. Gender equity" is one of the goals of the United Nations Millennium Project, to end world poverty by 2015; the project claims, "Every single Goal is directly related to women's rights, and societies where women are not afforded equal rights as men can never achieve development in a sustainable manner."

Improvement of Quality of Life for Children
We believe that investing in the healthy development of all children is investing in a brighter future for the whole world. Everyone can benefit when children become productive, engaged citizens of tomorrow.

General Health and HIV/AIDS
Africa is ground zero of the HIV/AIDS crisis – 22 million Africans live mostly in silence with AIDS. CSAfrica maintains that there's an energy and resilience and makes a stand that Africans continue to rise above U.S. and international policies that restrict access to preventative and emergency healthcare.

Sustainable Design and Implementation
Many of our local partners participate in designing their own development by applying certain technologies that build on the holistic concepts of sustainability. CSAfrica believes that environmentally-conscious design is one of the guiding principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability, eliminating negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design, relating people with their local and natural environment. In as such, the "training of trainers", templateable and duplicateable models, are an integral part of all our programs.

Social Justice and Stakeholder Partnerships
CSAfrica maintains that environmental injustices bring human injustices. Therefore, what is best for the planet is best for its people. This relationship becomes clear when one considers the challenge of living a dignified life without access to comfortable housing, health care, food, and clean water? All of our member organizations and programs reflect the principle that human dignity in the application of social and economic rights rests relies on the quality of one's local environment.

Land Use Rights and Other Economic Reforms
Providing knowledge and access to alternative policies that concern the issues of land access and land rights. CSAfrica brings empowerment to local communities and tby promoting policies and programs which further democratic rights to common resources for more sustainable ecological communities.

Eco-village development and application
CSAfrica supports socially, economically and ecologically sustainable intentional communities. Housing developments that are united by shared ecological, social-economic and cultural-spiritual values with share centralized electrical, water, and sewage systems have less ecological impact, thus reducing the burden of government.

Development of Community-Based Economics
The development of new economic activities and institutions that facilitate African's abilities to leverage products, services and technolgies for local empowerment has been a main focal point of CSAfrica member organizations and programs for three years now. CSAfrica supports the restructuring of patterns existing in the formal monetary, economy, and income distribution systems to reflect more of the wealth that can be created locally; a primary mark of true sustainability.