Businesses in Mexico and Brazil to boost sustainable housing and job opportunities
New York, April 19, 2012 - More than 28,000 low-income households in Mexico and Brazil will gain access to environmentally sustainable housing, training and jobs by 2017 following two companies commitments to the Business Call to Action (BCtA) today.
The BCtA is a global initiative that encourages private sector efforts to fight poverty. It is supported by several international organizations including the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
In Mexico, ¡Échale! a tu casa, an affordable housing provider, has committed to making US$25 million in low-cost financing available over the next five years to enable 25,000 low-income families to build their own eco-friendly homes, which include wood-saving stoves or bio-digesters for energy needs and rain harvesting water purification systems.
One of the key barriers to home ownership for low-income people is access to finance. By making finance available to poor families, we are helping communities to purchase a kit that allows them to build their own eco-friendly home, said Francesco Piazzesi, ¡Échale! a tu casa, founder and CEO
Nearly nine million families in Mexico have inadequate housing, and two thirds of them face difficulty obtaining loans to purchase homes. As a result, millions resort to building unsafe and unsecure housing structures. ¡Échale! a tu casas self-built kits are up to five times less expensive than buying already built homes.
Grupo Orsa one of Brazils largest pulp, paper and packaging companies will provide job opportunities to low-income people in the Amazon through environmentally sustainable practices. Ouro Verde Amazonia, a subsidiary of Grupo Orsa, will train 3,000 low-income farmers on sustainable growing and harvesting practices to help boost production and improve the quality of Brazil nuts that reach global markets through its organic and certified products.
By promoting better Brazil nut production and eliminating intermediaries, farmers will be able to quadruple their earnings. Furthermore, improved agricultural practices will help to ensure sustainability of the Amazon forest.
"The challenge is to reorder a traditional Amazon supply chain through consolidation in a more sustainable and harmonious way; thereby sharing the benefits from producing one of the healthiest foods in nature, the Brazil nut," said Luis Fernando Laranja, Partner and CEO, Ouro Verde Amazonia
"These two inclusive business initiatives show the importance of private companies in building a more sustainable future; one where attention to people, planets and profit is both, possible and worthy," said Susan Chaffin, BCtA Programme Manager. As we approach the Rio+20 UN Sustainable Development Conference being held in Brazil in June, these leading examples serve to establish a best practice for other companies to follow.
For more information:
BCtA: Carina Kjelstad, carina.kjelstad@undpaffiliates.org, +212-906-5194
Grupo Orsa: Rosa Fonseca or Felipe Zaghetto, Department of Corporate Communications and Press Relations, cgo@grupoorsa.com.br, +55 11 4689-8731/8783
¡Échale! a tu casa: mailto:informes@echale.com.mx; Carla Hernandez. Social Franchise Director, carla@echale.com.mx, +52 55 55 63 52 00
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Business Call to Action is a global initiative that challenges companies to develop inclusive business models that offer the potential for development impact along with commercial success. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, UK Department for International Development, US Agency for International Development, United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Global Compact, and the Clinton Global Initiative to meet the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Companies report on progress toward commitments on an annual basis. To learn more, please visit www.businesscalltoaction.org or join the conversation on Twitter at @BCtAInitiative.
About ¡Échale! a tu casa: ¡Échale! a tu casa (put your heart into your home) helps families to build homes through a social impact franchise that supports sustainable community development. The program aims to restructure community social networks to address inefficiencies inherent in the process of building ones own home through organization and social Inclusion; financial education and social financial trust; training and technology appropriation and program replication through social impact franchise http://www.echale.com.mx/
About Grupo Orsa is a major Brazilian company in the timber, wood pulp, paper and packaging industry, with additional operations in non-wood products. Grupo Orsa, with 100 percent Brazilian capital, has become a world benchmark in sustainable management of native tropical forests through its operations in the Amazon region of Vale do Jari, located between the Brazilian states of Pará and Amapá. http://www.grupoorsa.com.