- Since 2019, FEMSA has hired refugees at OXXO convenience stores in Mexico.
- The company plans to explore different opportunities in favor of the inclusion of more refugees, including ways to support them in Latin America.
- The announcement was made at a virtual event organized by the founder of Tent, Hamdi Ulukaya and attended by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan; the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson; the executive president of Empath and former US Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutiérrez; UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements; the former Minister of Education of France, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, among others.
Mexico City, Mexico. October 15, 2020. – On October 6, showing their commitment in the global recovery after the pandemic, FEMSA and its business units joined the Alianza Tent Partnership for Refugees, a non-profit organization created to promote and continue the economic integration of refugees in their work centers.
COVID-19 has had an impact on refugees around the world and has highlighted the great challenges this population faces in accessing the job market. Companies play a vital role in ensuring the integration and self-sufficiency of this population group in other communities, which is why, with the technical support of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Mexico (UNHCR), FEMSA has developed a program for the labor inclusion of refugees in OXXO convenience stores.
In Mexico, refugees have the right to dignified and formal employment that allows them access to development opportunities for themselves and their families. Today FEMSA has the participation and commitment of more than 200 refugee collaborators in OXXO convenience stores. “Our union with the Tent Partnership for Refugees Alliance demonstrates our commitment as a sustainable and responsible company to generate social value in multisectoral projects that are scalable and committed to long-term changes, such as fighting the inequality and systemic discrimination faced by vulnerable groups and contributing to the inclusive economic growth of countries. FEMSA plans to explore different opportunities in favor of the inclusion of more refugees, including ways to support them in Latin America”, said Roberto Campa, Director of Corporate Affairs at FEMSA.
The announcement of this union was made during a virtual event hosted by Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of TENT, and moderated by June Sarpong, television host, leading diversity expert and award-winning author. The event also featured the participation of personalities such as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan; the European Commissioner, Ylva Johansson; the Executive President of Empath and former US Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutiérrez; UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly Clements; the former Minister of Education of France, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, among others.
“It is heartening to see so many companies stepping forward in a time of crisis to show that refugees are needed in the process of recovering and rebuilding our businesses and strengthening our communities. If you give them the opportunity, refugees will make your company stronger and better, but it is up to us to open the door for them”, said Hamdi Ulukaya.
Tent Partnership for Refugees was launched in 2016 to mobilize the global business community to include refugees. Today, it is a network of more than 130 major companies committed to integrating refugees into their communities. For more information about Tent and its current projects to support refugees, visit www.tent.org/members.
About FEMSA
FEMSA is a leading company that creates economic and social value through companies and institutions and seeks to be the best employer and neighbor of the communities where it has a presence. It participates in retail trade through FEMSA Comercio, which includes the Proximity Division and of which OXXO, a chain of small format stores, is a part of. It also has a Health Division that includes pharmacies and related activities as well as a Fuel Division that operates the service stations chain, OXXO Gas. In the beverage industry it operates Coca-Cola FEMSA, public bottler of Coca-Cola products; in the beer sector, it is a shareholder of HEINEKEN, a company present in more than 70 countries. Additionally, through FEMSA’s Strategic Businesses Business Unit, it offers logistics services, point-of-sale refrigeration solutions and plastics solutions to FEMSA companies and external clients. Through its Business Units, it employs approximately 320 thousand employees in 13 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance Index, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainable IPC, among other indices that evaluate its performance in sustainability.
