MANILA – The philanthropic arm of Western Union and its agents Petnet and eBusiness Services last week helped launch a nationwide financial literacy campaign with a $220,000 pledge.
In a statement, Western Union Foundation said “Peso-sense” is meant to increase financial literacy by promoting productive expenditure, greater savings and entrepreneurship among recipients of remittances. The campaign, which started with the “Peso-Sense at Christmas” module, will target students, young adults, entrepreneurs, homemakers and retirees.
“Western Union’s consumers are ambitious and resourceful and their most important aspiration is to secure their financial future, increase their standard of living and improve their level of education,” said Western Union Foundation president Patrick Gaston.
“However, for too many, their dreams are delayed or out of reach. What they lack is the encouragement, training and tools to accelerate their aspirations through innovation and new ways of thinking. The Western Union Foundation’s mandate is about empowering people to reach their destination through education and knowledge. Our funding of Peso-Sense is about making the journey easy to inspire individual innovation and entrepreneurship,” he said.
The Commission on Filipinos Overseas will implement the campaign with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme.
“Our overseas Filipinos deserve their financial freedom considering the blood, sweat and tears they have invested while working and living outside the country. Collaborative initiatives between the government of the Philippines, corporate sector and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations are crucial to helping them achieve their individual goals and we thank Western Union for initiating this multi-stakeholder campaign,” said Commission Secretary Imelda Nicolas.
According to research conducted by Ipsos and sponsored by Western Union, two-thirds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who send money home were unsatisfied with how their beneficiaries spend the remittance, most of which ends up paying for food, education and debt. The study further showed that nine out of 10 respondents agreed that a financial literacy campaign would benefit them.
“Financial literacy is an essential component of access to inclusive financial services. It can assist in developing inclusive financial markets by empowering the poor to evaluate options and take responsibility for their financial decisions by choosing products and services best suited to their capacities and needs,” UNDP Philippines country director Toshihiro Tanaka said.
“Growth becomes inclusive when the poor participate in the growth process and share the benefits. With financial literacy, this participation in the growth process can become a reality as the poor develop their capacity to save and invest”, he said.
source: interaksyon.com
