Consortium for Mexico's Well-Being.
COVID-19
The Consortium for Mexico’s Well-being is an initiative launched by the Swiss-Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Industry in April 2020. It was initially designed as an instrument to promote concrete actions to mitigate the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and support the health sector in Mexico. With the spread of COVID-19 throughout Mexico and the world, it was necessary to face a global health crisis with prompt and effective coordinated action by governments, the private sector and civil society. For this reason, the Consortium for Mexico’s Well-being also offers a platform that gives visibility to the support provided by Swiss companies operating in Mexico through donations and specific actions.
As time went by, the need to expand the range of action of this cooperation mechanism became evident so that it could be triggered in the event of natural disasters and other crises. Thus, the Consortium for Mexico’s Well-being was established as a long-term tool through which SwissCham Mexico seeks to join forces with Swiss companies for the good of Mexican society. In addition, the Consortium for Mexico’s Well-being contributes to build communication channels between various sectors of the population —government, civil society, academia— in search for multisectoral solutions that contribute to alleviate the needs of people going through situations of vulnerability.
The promotion of ESG strategies is a crucial axis for the Swiss Chamber activities. Thus the Swiss private sector will continue to promote initiatives that favor the environment, social development and good governance through the Consortium for the Well-being of Mexico. – Simon Blondin, President of the SwissCham Mexico.
Four Pillars.
– Resilience:
Through this pillar, the SwissCham Mexico aims to promote various actions focused on strengthening the capacity of Mexicans to recover from various crises through training programs, donation of food supplies, medical supplies, medium and long-term projects, among others.
– Health:
The Swiss private sector groups key companies in the pharmaceutical, chemical and food sectors, which play a fundamental role in the efforts to promote the health of Mexican society through donations of medicines, medical equipment, financial support to domestic institutions and health foundations, as well as training programs like the public health program.
– Employability:
Aims to continue creating jobs, promote recruiting programs and continuous training. Among these projects, Adecco’s Movilización por el Empleo program stands out as a fruitful collaboration. Also, Dual Education is an initiative that promotes the employability and labor insertion for young people through public programs, as well as Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro, that aims the labor insertion of young people who neither study nor work.
– Diversity & Inclusion:
The actions of the Consortium are aligned with a gender perspective, prevention of family and domestic violence, diversity of vulnerable groups, as well as their inclusion, for example the Mentorship Program for Female Leaders.
Swiss companies' initiatives.
This statement (in Spanish) summarizes the main actions and donations of Swiss companies to face COVID-19. The following section will show and redirect you to individual initiatives of Swiss companies:
Short, medium, and long term.
– Short-term:
- Shed light on actions implemented by Swiss companies for the benefit of the well-being of Mexicans in face of both health emergencies and natural disasters.
- Develop a platform for Swiss companies in Mexico to join actions according to the pillars of: 1) resilience, 2) health, 3) employability, and 4) diversity and gender.
- Identify and provide information to those who could benefit from programs and / or join efforts to enhance their scope.
- Contribute, with accurate and timely information to enhance accurate business decision-making.
– Medium-term:
- Share the results and possible next steps of the programs, donations, and actions of Swiss companies in Mexico.
- Update public information so that interest groups cooperate effectively.
- Promote the implementation of transversal strategies (gender perspective, sustainability, development) to ensure the durability of the projects.
- Encourage companies to develop strategies to recover from different crises and support value chains.
– Long-term:
- To boost the quick reactivation of local economies, the Consortium seeks to develop alliances with national institutions and international organizations to effectively face the long-term negative economic consequences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico.
- Implement programs that seek to contribute to sustainable development and that encompass a health, humanitarian, and socio-economic response.
- Identify new initiatives to deal with economic and social problems derived from social distancing policies such as unemployment, insecurity, increased inequalities, domestic violence, attention to mental health, among others.
