The Western Union Foundation today announced nearly 60 new grants
under the Western Union Our World, Our Family(sm) Program. Totaling
more than $1.5 million, the contributions will aid diverse causes;
from providing humanitarian aid and assistance for Kenyans impacted by
post-election violence to supporting after-school programs in writing
and civic engagement for inner-city youth in Denver, Colorado.
However, one key theme runs through many of the projects supported by
the Foundation in this grant cycle: creating economic opportunity at
home, regardless of where home might be.
Western Union´s Our World, Our Family(sm) initiative is framed
around four pillars or focus areas: Our World Gives; Our World Learns;
Our World Strives and Our World Speaks. Each pillar is given equal
attention and is designed to address the critical needs and challenges
of the world´s migrant population. Our World Strives seeks to provide
support in the areas of entrepreneurship and personal finance and to
increase opportunity for many migrants in their home countries or
wherever they are in the world, helping to make migration a choice
rather than a necessity.
"Around the world, millions of people are forced to leave their
homes and their families in search of greater economic opportunity,"
said Luella Chavez D´Angelo, president, the Western Union Foundation.
"Every day, Western Union hears from these people, and sees first-hand
the hardships they face. Through the Western Union Our World, Our
Family(sm) program and the Our World Strives pillar, we hope to honor
these sacrifices by creating opportunities in the home countries of
these immigrants so that, perhaps, the next generation will see
migration as only one of many solutions available to them as they
strive to improve the fortunes of themselves and those they love."
In the Pacific Islands, a grant to the Foundation for Development
Cooperation will provide poor, remittance-receiving households with
access to financial information that will help them to optimize the
hard-earned funds sent by their loved ones. Designed to increase
financial literacy and create long-term economic opportunity and
stability, the materials will be translated into five local languages,
including Samoan, Tongan, Hindi, Tetun and the native Fijian dialect.
In Ghana, a grant to the All Trust Foundation will help train
teenage mothers to set up their own businesses and generate income
that will support themselves and their families. By helping to reduce
the unemployment rate and building opportunity for disadvantaged
youth, the program will create a sense of hope for its participants
and a focus on the future.
In India, contributions to Humana People to People and Save the
Children will provide vocational training for underprivileged women
and youth. The Humana People to People project will support workforce
preparation for approximately 2,000 youths from the poorest 15 percent
of the country´s population. Participants will receive training in
life skills development, job-related technical skills, workplace
competencies, work readiness preparation, job shadowing and
apprenticeship. The Save the Children India project will provide
adolescent girls with an empowerment model that combines life skills,
literacy and vocational training. Ultimately, the organization´s goal
is to help young women to "stand on their feet by providing financial
and economic independence thus enabling them to become contributing
members to society."
In Mexico, World Vision´s Frontera Norte Project is partnering
with residents along the U.S./Mexico border to create a network of
healthy, productive communities. Its goal is to increase local
capacities through improving the employment skills and entrepreneurial
abilities of more than 500 youths and heads of households. The project
is targeted at single mothers, teenagers, the unemployed and the
disabled and at least 65 percent of the participants will be women.
In the United States, grants to the African Business Alliance in
Georgia and the Immigration Development Center in North Dakota will
provide training in economic development and entrepreneurship. The
African Business Alliance´s program uses specially designed courses to
teach participants the skills needed to foster economic growth and job
creation projects in their home communities back in Africa. The
Immigrant Development Center´s Micro Enterprise project will provide
these businesses with access to shared technology, resources, space
and technical assistance, with the ultimate goal of developing an
International Market Plaza that will "enhance the local retail market
with goods and services from local entrepreneurs while providing these
entrepreneurs with an opportunity to bring their business ideas to the
mainstream economy."
These are just a few of the many worthy projects supported by The
Western Union Our World, Our Family(sm) program. For more information
on Our World, Our Family(sm) or on individual grants, please visit the
Foundation´s Website at www.westernunion.com/foundation.
About the Western Union Foundation
The Western Union Foundation began in 2000 as a philanthropic
organization to facilitate charitable giving programs worldwide.
Through the donations of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), its
employees and Agents, the Foundation helps to fund programs that
enhance the quality of life for those most in need around the world.
Since 2001, the Western Union Foundation, in collaboration with
Western Union Agents and employees, has granted nearly $45 million to
more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in 70 countries
around the globe to support humanitarian projects. In addition, the
Foundation has supported more than 50 disaster-relief operations and
has funded education and human services programs. For more
information, visit www.westernunion.com/foundation.
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