Fundación Vidanta Celebrates Innovative Social Projects

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Dec 12, 2016, 09:00 ET

Grupo Vidanta, Organization of American States (OAS), and Secretaria General Iberoamericana (SEGIB) Announce 2016 Fundación Vidanta Award Winners from Bolivia, Venezuela and Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fundación Vidanta, a non-profit institution founded in 2005 by Grupo Vidanta, held its seventh annual international awards ceremony recognizing leading organizations for their contributions to the reduction of poverty, inequality, and discrimination in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The awards ceremony, "The Social Agenda and Foreign Affairs," was hosted at The College of Mexico (COLMEX), a prestigious Mexican institute of higher education specializing in social sciences and humanities. Fundación Vidanta presented several grants ranging from $100,000 for first place, $75,000 for second place, and $50,000 for third place.

"Through these awards we hope to raise awareness and mobilize the public opinion on key issues like poverty, inequality, and discrimination in Latin America and the Caribbean. We want to promote humanitarian values by encouraging philanthropy and corporate social responsibility," said Roberto Russell, President of Fundación Vidanta.

Una Brisa de Esperanza, a Bolivian project working to eradicate sexual violence and restore the lives and rights of child and adolescent victims, earned first place. Since 2004, the organization has provided free legal, social, psychological, and medical service to more than 450,000 victims, and even worked to reform Bolivian law to ensure that aggressors cannot interrogate their victims during trial.

Second place was awarded to the Alcatraz project in Venezuela, a NGO working to reduce crime and fight poverty through sports and family education in Revenga, a region which suffers from some of the greatest wealth inequality in the country.

Diseños Mayas de Yucatán took third place for its work in sustaining endangered fruit trees in Mexico. To date, the project has directly benefited 3,000 people in Mayan communities, and indirectly benefited 9,000 more. Through its efforts, the organization has formed 14 groups of artisans that sell crafts and have planted over 3,500 trees.

"Grupo Vidanta is always working in the present with an eye towards the future, and we're pleased to support these organizations that are dedicated to improving the lives of people in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Iván Chávez, Vice President of the Fundación Vidanta and Executive Vice President of Grupo Vidanta. "We recognize the value and creativity of the work in these grant recipients, and will continue to advocate for public policies that help foster the economic and social development in these regions."

Notable speakers and attendees included Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu; Silvia Giourguli Saucedo, president of The College of Mexico; Gonzalo Hernández Licona, founder of CONEVAL; Edna Jaime, director of México Evalúa; as well as academics from various universities including CIDE, UNAM, Universidad Iberoamericana, UAM-Xochimilco, the Instituto Matías Romero, amongst others.

The Fundación Vidanta Awards were created in 2009 in collaboration with Grupo Vidanta, OAS, and SEGIB, with the shared vision to take action against poverty across the continent.

Grupo Vidanta is the leading resort developer in Latin America with over 40 years of experience in building hotels, resorts, golf courses, tourist infrastructure and world-class entertainment experiences. The company currently employs more than 15,000 people.

SOURCE Grupo Vidanta