Western Union CEO attends White House Call-to-Action Meeting for
Private Sector Engagement
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
As a founding
partner of the White House Call-to-Action for private sector
engagement on the global refugee crisis, the Western Union Company
(NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced
expanded participation.
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Fact Sheet: Western Union and the Western Union Foundation, Standing With Refugees (September 20, 2016) (Graphic: Business Wire)
The Western Union Foundation has pledged a three-year grant support
totaling USD$ 750,000 to the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative
(WPDI) that will help provide access to education for 10,000 refugees in
Uganda.
During a White House Call-to-Action meeting today in New York, Western
Union CEO, Hikmet Ersek reaffirmed exploring the opportunity to use
Western Union’s cross-border platform, marketplace voice, charitable
giving and talent to help refugees participate more directly in the
global economy. Western Union’s support will extend to include
education, employment and enablement initiatives.
“The need for assistance is great, and a crisis of this scale requires
action on many fronts,” said Ersek. “Supporting the people in the
communities that we serve through education and economic opportunity is
in the DNA of Western Union and can provide new ways toward a better
future.”
Western Union’s White House Call-to-Action program includes looking at
ways to expand access to education for refugee children and young
adults, leveraging Western Union’s products and services to implement
refugee crisis response initiatives, and proactively striving to make
job opportunities available to refugees via traditional employment and
shorter-term assignments, such as internships and freelance
opportunities, with Western Union and teaming up with key corporate
partners. The Western Union Foundation’s three-year commitment to WPDI,
the non-governmental organization created by Forest Whitaker, represents
the first step in this multi-year effort.
WPDI’s successful approach to training refugees focuses on life skills,
vocational training and entrepreneurship. This will serve as a blueprint
to implement a new program in a camp in Kiryandongo, Uganda where the
UNHCR reports that approximately 70,000 refugees and asylum seekers from
Kenya, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan reside, 85% of whom are
under 18. Uganda hosts the eighth-largest refugee population in the
world, third-largest in Africa.
“After meeting Hikmet at the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit
this year, it became clear that partnering with the Western Union
Foundation was a natural fit and alignment with our passion and purpose
for strengthening communities,” said WPDI Founder and CEO, Forest
Whitaker. “Connecting to people, empowering them with the tools they
need to succeed, and teaching them to give back to others is a very
powerful thing.”
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment
services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western
Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union
provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient
ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to
purchase money orders. As of June 30, 2016, the Western Union, Vigo and
Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network
of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and
over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks, and included the capability to send money
to billions of accounts. In 2015, The Western Union Company completed
262 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82
billion of principal between consumers, and 508 million business
payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
About The Western Union Foundation
The Western Union Foundation is dedicated to creating a better world,
where the ability to realize dreams through economic opportunity is not
just a privilege for the few but a right for all. Through its signature
program, Education for Better, and with the support of The Western Union
Company, its employees, Agents, and business partners, The Western Union
Foundation works to realize this vision by supporting education and
disaster relief efforts as pathways toward a better future. Our combined
social ventures efforts make life better for individuals, families and
communities around the world. Since its inception, The Western Union
Foundation has paid more than $106 million in grants and other giving.
These funds have been pledged to more than 2,794 nongovernmental
organizations in more than 137 countries and territories. The Western
Union Foundation, is a separate §501(c)(3) recognized United States
charity. To learn more, visit www.westernunionfoundation.org,
or Follow us on Twitter @TheWUFoundation.
About the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative
WPDI is a non-governmental organization with an international scope and
reach, founded by Forest Whitaker in 2012. WPDI develops an array of
peacebuilding programs, initiatives and campaigns to foster peace and
reconciliation in disadvantaged and fragile communities in Africa, Latin
America, and the United States. Our mission is to help societies
impacted by destructive conflicts transform into safer and
more-prosperous communities. Visit us online at www.wpdi.org
and follow us on Twitter (@connectWPDI), Facebook, and Instagram
(whitaker_peace).
WU-G
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Source: The Western Union Company