09/02/2012. A recent Ipsos study, which compares various aspects of Mexico with other BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), shows that 63% of Mexicans are concerned about crime and violence.
This is not surprising if we take into account that the federal government revealed a few days ago that from December 1, 2006, when Felipe Calderón came to power, until September 2011, 47,515 people died in actions related to organized crime.
However, progress is already being made. According to the Ministry of National Defense, the participation of the Armed Forces in support of public security has increased by 150%.
In addition, the federal government has said that local governments must use 27,458.1 million pesos – of the resources delivered – to strengthen public security and combat organized gangs in 2012. This amount registers a growth rate of 449% compared to 2007.
In this regard, the president said in his visit to Tijuana last Friday, that despite the advances and the decrease in the crime rate, the problem is far from being solved.
Entrepreneurs against crime
In this way, companies begin to play an important role. But it is not only about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but about becoming, together with the Government and the Police, another actor that joins the fight against crime.
In Nuevo León, and especially in Monterrey, we have a good example. The city registered, between 1997 and 2007, 44 cases of kidnapping, a figure that only during the last year was 48, that is, it suffered in a year the same as in a decade.
Without going any further, last August the drug gang known as Los Zetas sprayed gasoline inside the Casino Royale in Monterrey, causing a fire that killed 52 people.
Precisely, as part of a joint effort to contain the criminal violence that has affected the city, the government proposed to hire 14,000 new agents by 2015.
The initiative would pass as one of the many efforts made by the authorities to recover the city, if it were not for the fact that behind everything are some of the main companies in the region: the so-called "G-5", a group made up of Cemex, Femsa, Alfa, Xignux and Grupo Soriana.
"I confess and make a mea culpa because we woke up late," said José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, CEO of Femsa, Coca-Cola and a Mexican retailer, valuing the help, but also accepting the time it took to join the cause.
Specifically, the companies helped create a call center and design the image of the advertising campaign that accepts "we need you", a phrase that seeks to recruit more staff for the streets. They also pay a portion of the cost of government development plans, pumping money into community groups and sponsoring school programs.
This "explosion of generosity" by the Private Initiative is relatively new in Mexico, where until recently corporate philanthropy had moved only to the delivery of toys to orphaned children at Christmas.
"In the last 5 or 10 years there has been so much progress in terms of the amount of money and the quality," said Michael Layton, director of the Philanthropy and Civil Society Project at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). "Although I think there is a long way to go to reach Brazil and other countries, where the business sector has placed these tasks at the heart of its philosophy."
Javier García Justicia, a professor of sociology at the University of Monterrey, argues that most companies here could give much more. "There are companies that have really joined the cause with everything. Others see it as a type of advertising," he said.
In the first position we have an alliance between some companies in Monterrey, known as Red Sumarse, whose plan is to strengthen non-governmental organizations to work on community development.
In addition, the telephone company Axtel and the tortilla manufacturer Gruma have about 20 companies in a public-private partnership that imitates a high-performing American program, called Gear Up, investing in school infrastructure and encouraging children not to abandon education.
Initiatives such as this one aim to give new impetus to the fight against crime.
Do you think that with the help of private enterprise you can better combat crime?
Source: altonivel.com.mx
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