I asked Maria Ignacia Arcaya, SVP of Social Impact and Institutional Relations, to be my guest writer for this post. I wanted Maria Ignacia to share with you the amazing work that the team has been doing around COVID19.

In the last few weeks we have all in one way or another had to rethink our business goals and strategies. At the same time, at Cisneros we have looked at how we can harness our business operations and existing social impact initiatives to communicate relevant content.

As the leading broadcast TV station in Venezuela with nationwide reach, Venevision, has honed in on its power to communicate through both television and social media to educate on prevention of the virus and to promote staying at home. Actors and program hosts have participated in campaigns from their own homes and special efforts have been implemented to reach the younger audiences with the participation of young, local talent, particularly through social media messages.

Moreover, building on our ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) focus on the rights of women and girls, we have joined efforts with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to raise awareness on the rise of gender-based violence during confinement, and to provide information regarding support available for victims. These communication efforts have been designed for different audiences and beneficiaries of our CSR programs.

Over the last ten years, Fundacion Tropicalia’s work in Miches, Dominican Republic, has allowed us to not only learn about the local community’s needs and design initiatives to address them, but also to gain the trust of the community as advocates for their development and well being.

With this in mind, the Foundation has not only replicated official information regarding COVID-19 prevention, but has also addressed gender-based violence in collaboration with UNFPA, both through its institutional platforms, and its flagship gender program Soy niña, soy importante (I‘m a Girl, I’m Important), which provides girls with the guidance and tools they need to be self-reflective, critical thinkers and make timely life choices.

In addition, Miss Venezuela candidates have continued participating in social responsibility workshops, although virtual, as part of their integral training. These sessions, which allow them to become aware of pressing social issues and the potential impact of their voice and actions as public figures, have been complemented this year by the candidates participation in UNFPA’s communication campaign, in addition to UNICEF’s COVID-19 prevention and family well being messaging through the Miss Venezuela social media platforms.

In addition, FISA, our personal hygiene products company in Venezuela, identified the opportunity to contribute to COVID-19 prevention by assigning one of its production lines to manufacture hand sanitizer, a product that was not previously among its product offering, but for which regulatory conditions could be met.

Our ongoing efforts during this global health emergency lead us to reflect upon, and reaffirm, the responsibility that we all hold as members of the private sector and the impact that the sum of our actions can have on society at any given time, and more so during times of crises.