The First Ibero-American Congress on Corporate Volunteering launched in Mexico City on 25 March 2014 (congresovoluntariadocorporativo.org)

Over a period of eight months the Congress will deal with all activities that involve company corporate volunteering, NGOs and public bodies on both sides of the Atlantic. The subjects under discussion will form part of the United Nations-led Global Initiative to Advance Corporate Volunteering which was created to advance corporate volunteering worldwide.

The main aim of this Congress is to debate and suggest guidelines for the development of corporate volunteering for the coming years, based on the cumulative experience of companies and NGOs in Spain and Latin America. The subjects under discussion will consider the impact of corporate volunteering within companies, its impact on society and its relationship with the various stakeholders, as well as the experience gained by the employees/volunteers.

These subjects will be dealt with by means of online work-groups and a series of participation seminars in three host cities: Mexico City in May, Bogotá in July and, lastly, Barcelona in October. Simultaneous events will be organised in several cities across Latin America such as Lima, Managua, Caracas, Buenos Aires, Panama City, Montevideo and Santiago de Chile, and in Spain there will be events in Madrid, Seville and Valencia.

Banco Santander, ENDESA, Repsol Foundation and Telefónica Foundation are the four companies who are organising this meeting at a global level. The congress is also supported by other companies such as NH Hotel Group, Atresmedia, Voluntarios de la Caixa (Fasvol), Cemex and Corresponsables.