Western Union Ramadan 2012 campaign supports United Nations World Food Programme

The Western Union Company, a leader in money transfer and global payment services, today announced its support of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as part of the company’s Ramadan 2012 Campaign. The Campaign aims to provide up to 240,000 meals to WFP’s school meals programs for school children around the world, and is part of Western Union’s ongoing commitment to social responsibility. 

To bring attention to the issue of child hunger and rally consumers around this global need, Western Union is calling upon UAE residents to participate in a simple online game called ‘Light the Lantern,’ which serves as the mechanism to provide donations to the World Food Programme. Consumers can access the free game at www.westernunionramadan.com through August 19^th 2012. 

"This is an ideal time to recognize the spirit of giving within each of us," said Nancy Roman, WFP Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships. "Western Union's global presence will allow us to spread the message of hunger even further, providing a voice to the millions of people who struggle to find their next meal." 

For each of the game’s three levels that a consumer completes, Western Union will donate one school meal to the World Food Programme. When consumers complete the game, Western Union will donate an additional meal, for a total of four meals for every completed game. 

Jean Claude Farah, Senior Vice President for the Middle East and Africa, Western Union said, “This unique opportunity ties in perfectly with the spirit of giving and sharing which is associated with the holy month of Ramadan. It offers our consumers the opportunity to join us in reaching out to some of the world’s most vulnerable children who struggle with hunger daily. As part of the Campaign, Western Union has committed to providing a minimum of 200,000 meals and with the help of our consumers we are aiming to provide up to 240,000 meals, worth US$60,000, to help children succeed in school and in life.” 

The microsite also offers various other useful and interesting tools and features such as: Greetings Cards, visitors can send e-cards to their loved ones with personalized messages; Emsekiyat Calendar, suhoor / iftar calendar per country; and Zakat Calculator, visitors can calculate the Zakat amount they need to pay depending on their assets, savings accounts, deposits, cash in hand, business inventories and liabilities. 

Extending further support to the Campaign, the Dubai-based Western Union Middle East & Africa (MEA) Team has also donated US$15,000to the World Food Programme, which the team was awarded earlier this year when it won the Western Union CEO Award for Excellence for 2011. The team won the award for demonstrating the drive, dedication, focus and commitment to maintaining service for consumers during a time of upheaval and change in the region. In addition, the Western Union Foundation has matched this amount, taking the amount donated to the World Food Programme beyond the Ramadan campaign to US$30,000. 

“Western Union has always sought to make a positive difference to the lives of people globally, whether helping consumers send money to their loved ones through its money transfer services; providing grants to NGOs and disaster relief through the Western Union Foundation; facilitating economic opportunity by providing education and skills training through its Family Scholarship Program; or through various volunteering opportunities. We are honored to extend our support in the spirit of Ramadan”, added Farah. 

The Western Union Ramadan Campaign will run through August 19th following which the final donation will be made to the World Food Programme.

For more information about Western Union^® services, visit westernunion.com. For more information about the World Food Programme, visit www.wfp.org.