Poverty is a worldwide challenge and in 1993 the UN declared October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty to remind governments, society and the private sector that, by joining forces, we can rise to this challenge. At Iberdrola México we have taken this challenge on as a commitment in some of our social actions.
According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), in Mexico poverty is classified into different categories such as educational backwardness, access to healthcare services, access to social security, housing quality and space, access to basic services and quality nutritious food.
What are the figures for Mexico?[1]
We are aware of the situation in the country and, in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, as from Fundación Iberdrola México we have devised initiatives to help address shortcomings in the fields of economy, energy and gender as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility efforts.
This is how we are working at Iberdrola México to help eradicate poverty:
Energy for the countryside
Luces de Esperanza
Figures published in the report VIVIR A OSCURAS: la pobreza energética en México[2] (LIVING IN THE DARK: energy poverty in Mexico) reveal that in 2018 two million Mexicans were not connected to an electricity grid. The Luces de Esperanza (Lights of Hope) program therefore aims to bring this basic utility to thousands of people living in rural locations in Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí with the installation of solar systems.
Impulso STEM
We consider education a fundamental pillar for social development which is why we are encouraging young people, especially women, to study university degrees. Through Impulso STEM (STEM Boost) we seek to eradicate the gender gap in education, especially in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) which are still dominated by men, with only eight women out of every 100 studying a degree in these fields.
So far, we have achieved positive results thanks to the day-to-day teamwork of our Iberdrola People and, of course, the support of our allies. It is, without doubt, a privilege to share our positive energy with Mexico and help combat poverty.
[1] https://www.coneval.org.mx/Medicion/Paginas/PobrezaInicio.aspx
[2] https://www.mexicoevalua.org/mexicoevalua/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/pobreza-energetica-ok.pdf
