Western Union Foundation Creates Global Economic Opportunity Through Targeted Philanthropy

Business Wire, April 2, 2008

Our World, Our Family(sm) Program Strives to Make Migration a Choice Rather Than a Necessity

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- 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.