DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--During a recent trip to Uganda, Denver-based Western Union Foundation Executive Director, Elizabeth Roscoe and San Francisco-based Western Union Head of Digital Engineering and Western Union Foundation Board Member, Ernesto Boada experienced firsthand how one non-profit is working to transform the country and support young people from war-torn regions of Uganda and South Sudan.
In 2016, the Western Union Foundation announced its support for the program that has provided Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative’s (WPDI) Youth Peacemaker Network with a community learning center, access to life-skills, conflict-resolution education and vocational training for more than 10,000 refugees and internally displaced persons at the settlement in Kiryandongo, Uganda. Earlier this year, the Western Union Foundation Board of Directors voted to renew its commitment, providing continued access to education for refugees in Uganda. The pledge will extend its support to WPDI for an additional three years. In total, investments to WPDI will total more than USD $2M.
Last year, the United Nations’ refugee agency reported a 44 percent increase in Uganda’s refugee population in 2017, estimating that the sub-Saharan region now hosts nearly one-third of the world’s refugee population.
WPDI appointed Ms. Roscoe to their Board of Directors in January. In this role, she brings with her experience in developing non-profit organizations and will help WPDI scale its efforts, making education more accessible in other communities around the world.
After seeing the success of the program in Uganda, the Western Union Foundation extended its grant in 2018 to WPDI in Mexico to support 3,000 youth.
Western Union and the Western Union Foundation has a long history of supporting organizations and issues related to migration and refugees. We believe education and humanitarianism are the surest pathways to economic opportunity for fragile and vulnerable communities.
About the Western Union Foundation
The Western Union Foundation believes that education is one of the surest pathways to economic opportunity. Through collaborations with NGOs around the world, the Foundation has embarked on a mission to connect 50,000 migrants, refugees, women and youth to the global economy through demand-driven skills training and workforce enablement programs by 2020. The Foundation also offers a global scholarship program that helps put a post-secondary education in reach for in-need students studying in the STEM fields and business. To date, more than $119 million has been given to fund projects affecting more than 820,000 people in 137 countries across the globe, including disaster relief for communities in crisis. The Western Union Foundation is a separate charitable corporation that is tax-exempt under 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code, and receives support from The Western Union Company, its employees, agents and business partners. Contributions to the Foundation are tax-deductible for US income tax purposes. To learn more, visit www.westernunionfoundation.org or follow us on Twitter @TheWUFoundation.
