Western Union Foundation Joins WPDI for Peace Day

Giving By Emily Larson Oct 10, 2018

The International Day of Peace is observed every year on September 21st. To recognize this day,  the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), a WU Foundation beneficiary, hosted an intimate dinner in New York City. Elizabeth Roscoe, Executive Director of the WU Foundation, joined the event to celebrate the successes of WPDI’s peacebuilding initiative.

“The evening was incredibly successful in sharing the heart of the work that WPDI has achieved, and their exciting future expansion plans. Forest Whitaker, Elaine Grunewald and Hans Vestberg spoke with so much passion and authenticity about the work – it reaffirmed my strong belief in the transformative effects of the program”. – Elizabeth Roscoe

The WU Foundation began a relationship with WPDI in January of 2016, as a result of Western Union answering the White House call-to-action for private sector engagement on the global refugee crisis. Through a 3-year grant of $1.1M  to the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Uganda, the funding helps to provide access to life-skills and conflict-resolution education for 10,000 refugees. The goal of the program is to help provide hope and opportunity for some of the millions of displaced young people across the globe. After seeing the success of the program in Uganda, the WU Foundation has extended its grant to the new WPDI location in Mexico supporting 3,000 youth.

We at the WU Foundation hope that everyone can celebrate and observe this day of peace, not only on September 21st, but each day, a reminder of the universal right to live free of fear.

Read more on the WU Foundation’s work with WPDI.

The Western Union Foundation is an independently managed 501(c)(3), United States non-profit corporation. © 2018 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.