- Early Childhood Guide presents more than 600 actions and policies that can be applied by any type of company.
São Paulo, June 29, 2021.– São Paulo, June 29, 2021.- To sensitize and mobilize the business world regarding the importance of investing in early childhood, the Early Childhood Guide for Companies was created. It is an interactive platform with more than 600 actions and policies that can be put into practice by any organization or company. The complete Guide is available on the following website: www.empresaseprimeirainfancia.com.br.
United Way Brazil, a global organization that works collectively with companies and institutions to guarantee development opportunities for children and young people, together with its partners—the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, and the FEMSA Foundation—created this material. Together, they believe early childhood is a priority social cause. It brings cross-cutting impacts because it qualifies companies’ relationship with society and creates a fairer environment for people.
The effort also brings numerous positive returns for organizations. It improves governance processes, increases productivity, reduces employee turnover, brings in new talent, and strengthens their reputation by attracting more clients. The subject is also among the current ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) guidelines.
“Our commitment to future generations has a starting point, which is early childhood. During the creation of this Guide, we found a way to support companies and see the growth of initiatives that support families with children from 0 to 6 years of age in their work environment. We believe that a collaborative alliance that invests in that age range is the key to building the society we want to have in the future,” says Paula Crenn, Project and Volunteering Manager at United Way Brazil.
“Offering support to families with children in early childhood, understanding and attending to their needs, is to make the company part of that fundamental support network. Internal policies supporting parents generate real feelings of protection and support in adults for the complex task of caring for their children without losing focus on work. Involving the company’s production chain in this cause means acting even more so that the city becomes stronger, and the children benefit from this care,” says Marian Luz, CEO of Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation.
“We are very proud of our partnership with United Way Brazil, the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, and the Bernard van Leer Foundation to reach more companies. Thus, we help in the full development of children, and together we build more resilient and equitable communities,” commented Eva Fernández, Manager of Social Investment in Early Childhood at Fundación FEMSA.
Construction of the Early Childhood Guide
The platform was created based on the results of an investigation conducted by United Way Brazil and the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, under the consultancy of Oré, who mapped 630 different actions and policies aimed at early childhood.
With the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation and the FEMSA Foundation, the actions were systematized and divided into categories such as breastfeeding, financial support, disabilities, education and schooling, orientation, among others. In the platform, it is even possible to filter the actions by the company and the target audience and highlight which initiatives do not require financial investment for the company.
“When government, private initiative, and civil society come together, the opportunities to accelerate effective solutions to crucial social problems are much greater than if they act separately. There is no doubt that synergy between sectors is an excellent way to overcome the challenges of promoting comprehensive development in early childhood,” says Claudia Vidigal, representative of the Bernard van Leer Foundation in Brazil.
“Corporations are crucial points for the strengthening of early childhood, not only because they have the resources, but because it is in them that families are concentrated. Professionals in companies are also mothers, fathers, and grandparents. That is why we believe that companies can support the necessary social changes forcefully”, concludes Claudia.
The Early Childhood Guide for Companies also featured Fiesp, Fiec, GPTW (Great Place to Work) and Oré, as institutional alliances.
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About United Way Brazil
United Way is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world, founded in 1887 in the United States and present in 41 countries. It has been operating in Brazil since 2001 to promote the comprehensive development and protection of future generations, with a focus on two fundamental moments in the citizens’ trajectory: early childhood and youth.
The organization brings together and connects entrepreneurs, people, organizations, and governments that act through programs and projects, united by the conviction that together, it is possible to do more.
About the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation
Since 2007, the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation has been working for the cause of Early Childhood to positively impact the development of children in their first years of life. The main fronts of action of the Foundation are the promotion of quality Early Childhood Education, the strengthening of paternity services, the evaluation of the development of the child and the public policies of early childhood, as well as the awareness of society about the impact of experiences at the beginning of life.
About the Bernard van Leer Foundation
The Bernard van Leer Foundation is an independent Dutch organization that acts globally to ensure that all babies and children have a good start in life. We inform and inspire large-scale actions that improve the health and well-being of children – especially the most vulnerable – and the people who care for them.
About FEMSA Foundation
At FEMSA Foundation, our mission is to positively impact people and communities through social investment in sustainability. We make a better future for everyone by working in three strategic areas: we promote efficient resource management for sustainable development, we promote the integral development of early childhood, and we promote Latin American art and culture. For more information, visit us at www.fundacionfemsa.org or follow us on Facebook (/ FundacionFEMSA) and Twitter (@FundacionFEMSA).
About FEMSA
FEMSA is a company that generates economic and social value through companies and institutions and seeks to be the best employer and neighbor of the communities where it is present. It participates in retail trade through FEMSA Comercio, which comprises the Proximity Division and of which OXXO, a small-format store chain, is part; a Health Division that includes pharmacies and related activities; and a Fuels Division that operates the OXXO Gas service station chain. Coca-Cola FEMSA participates in the beverage industry, the world’s largest bottler of Coca-Cola products by sales volume; and in the beer sector, as the second largest shareholder in HEINEKEN, one of the world’s leading beer companies with a presence in more than 70 countries. FEMSA also participates in the logistics and distribution industry through FEMSA Strategic Businesses, which additionally provides refrigeration solutions at point-of-sale and plastic solutions to its companies and external clients. Through its Business Units it employs more than 320,000 collaborators in 13 countries. FEMSA is a member of the MILA Pacific Alliance Sustainability Index of the Dow Jones, of the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and of the Sustainable IPC of the Mexican Stock Exchange, among other indices that evaluate its sustainability performance.