- FEMSA participates in the session of MIRPS and the MIRPS Support Platform: Protection and Solution in Central America and Mexico within the Global Forum on Refugees.
- FEMSA announced that its aspiration in alliance with UNHCR is to benefit more than 27,000 refugees in Mexico and Latin America by 2027.
- OXXO currently employs refugees from various countries such as Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, USA, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, with an average age range of 21 to 40 years old.
Geneva, Switzerland. December 14, 2023. – FEMSA participated in the Global Refugee Forum, the most important international gathering in support of refugees and host communities, and shared its aspiration to continue building sustainable futures for refugees in Mexico and Latin America through providing access to jobs and sustainable livelihoods, fostering the development of local communities in solidarity with refugees, and promote better access to their rights.
In this context, FEMSA announced that its aspiration with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, by 2027 is to directly and indirectly benefit more than 27,000 refugees, in addition to continuing to be a benchmark in terms of labor inclusion, since, as a result of its participation and vocal commitment, currently around 600 companies in Mexico have joined to replicate this type of actions, according to figures from UNHCR Mexico. The objective is to mobilize the accumulated experience and the financial, human, and technological capital of UNHCR and FEMSA for the benefit of refugee and displaced women, men, girls, and boys in priority regions of Mexico and Latin America.
“By facilitating employment opportunities and recognizing the potential of refugees as our customers and consumers throughout our value chain, we strengthen their integration and inclusion in communities and contribute to closing gaps in Mexico and Latin America,” said Roberto Campa, Director of Corporate Affairs, during his participation in the Global Forum on Refugees, which took place December 13-15 in Geneva, Switzerland.
FEMSA currently employs refugees and migrants in Mexico and Brazil. In Mexico, through OXXO’s work centers and its Distribution Centers, as well as in OXXO GAS, and in Brazil with Solistica, consolidating itself as a leading company in the employability of refugees and migrants by hiring more than 2,800 refugees and migrants in these countries.
As part of the shared perspective, FEMSA will focus on the following actions:
- Expanding access to jobs and sustainable livelihoods for refugees. Facilitating their access to decent work that allows them to meet their needs and those of their families, protect their dignity, achieve resilience, and empower them to shape their future.
- Promote the development of local communities in solidarity with refugees. Through a participatory approach, promoting projects that generate welfare in priority communities with the presence of refugees, based on needs identified by the communities themselves.
- Promote better access to rights for refugees. Strengthening the spheres of influence to promote the participation of strategic stakeholders, including the FEMSA community, customers of the different business units, public actors, and the private sector.
In this sense, OXXO promotes the employability of refugees through its labor inclusion strategy, through which it capitalizes on the skills and knowledge of people seeking employment opportunities, supporting them in their professional development and allowing them to create a sense of belonging to the company. The selection of its personnel is based on their competencies and seeks to promote diverse and inclusive environments that bring value and different perspectives to its business.
Today, OXXO employs refugees from various countries such as Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, USA, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, among its main ones, with an average age range of 21 to 40 years, of which 59% are men and 41% women.
Since 2019, FEMSA and UNHCR Mexico have worked together to provide job opportunities to hundreds of refugees in Mexico. This collaboration has brought important benefits in terms of employment and inclusion and has generated positive results, aligned with FEMSA’s social inclusion goals and UNHCR’s protection and solutions mandate.
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About FEMSA
FEMSA is a company that creates economic and social value through companies and institutions and strives to be the best employer and neighbor to the communities in which it operates. It participates in the retail industry through a Proximity Americas Division operating OXXO, a small-format store chain, and other related retail formats, and Proximity Europe which includes Valora, our European retail unit which operates convenience and foodvenience formats. In the retail industry it also participates though a Health Division, which includes drugstores and related activities and Digital@FEMSA, which includes Spin by OXXO and Spin Premia, among other digital financial services initiatives. In the beverage industry, it participates through Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world by volume. FEMSA also participates in the logistics and distribution industry through its Strategic Business Unit, which additionally provides point-of-sale refrigeration and plastic solutions to its business units and third-party clients. Across its business units, FEMSA has more than 350,000 employees in 18 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainability Index: S&P/BMV Total México ESG, among other indexes that evaluate its sustainability performance.
About FEMSA´s Proximity Division
FEMSA´s Proximity Division creates economic and social value in the countries where it has presence. It operates different small-format store chains in LATAM and Europe, among which there are OXXO proximity stores. It also operates service stations under the OXXO GAS brand in Mexico and Valora, our European retail unit with convenience store and food service operations. Through its business units, FEMSA´s Proximity Division serves more than 13 million consumers every day, and has more than 160,000 employees, promoting inclusion, diversity and sustainability practices in its teams to operate in harmony with the environment, community and value chain.
About ACNUR
The United Nations Refugee Agency was created by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1949 with a mandate to provide international protection to refugees and to support governments in seeking permanent solutions to their situation. Faced with the millions of displaced people left behind by the Second World War, the Agency was intended to serve only three years, however, its work continues, as unfortunately wars and conflicts have not stopped. The Agency works in 133 countries to meet the needs of all people who have had to flee their countries because of war, persecution, violence or human rights violations. It also caters for internally displaced persons and stateless persons. Since 1982, UNHCR has had a Representation in Mexico. Since then, it has been working with the Mexican State to ensure respect and international protection for refugees and asylum seekers.
