El Fondo de Impacto Social impulsa el crecimiento de la empresa UNEI con 3M€ para abordar el reto de la inserción laboral de las personas con discapacidad

The Social Impact Fund (FIS), managed by COFIDES and attached to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, will support the growth of the Andalusian social company UNEI, whose objective is the labour insertion of people with disabilities, especially with mental health problems. This is one of the social challenges that is helping to alleviate the FIS through financial and technical support to this company.

COFIDES President and CEO, Angela Pérez, and the Sevillian company’s CEO, Rafael Cía, signed today, in the presence of the Secretary General of Inclusion, Elena Rodríguez, the afinancing body by which the FIS grants a loan of three million euros to UNEI, with which it will finance its strategic plan for the next five years and increase, at least, by 13.5% its staff with disabilities in this same period.

In addition, the FIS will provide technical assistance for the training of disabled personnel in logistics with technical added value, an area in which UNEI is strengthening its activity and creating increasingly qualified employment opportunities for these groups.

UNEI is the leading social enterprise in Andalusia in employability of people with disabilities and a reference in Spain in employment of people with mental health problems. It reinvests 100% of its profits in projects that allow the creation of new employment opportunities.

The company fulfills its social purpose through competitive development in the market of different lines of business: logistics, facility services, environmental conservation, technological development of advanced telecare and management of sports spaces.

87% of staff with disabilities

Currently, the company has a staff composed of more than 1,600 people, of whom 87% have some disability and 50% disability derived from mental health problems, a group considered difficult to include.

The Secretary General of Inclusion, Elena Rodríguez, highlighted that “with this investment, the FIS addresses one of the main social challenges: improving the employability of people with disabilities. In addition, it addresses mental health care, a priority for the Government of Spain. The aim is for each person to have the opportunity to develop his or her full potential and to have access to decent employment, on equal terms. With this public-private partnership model, we multiply results.”

The president and CEO of COFIDES, Angela Pérez, said that "UNEI is a clear example of a purposeful company that has shown that economic profitability and social commitment can go hand in hand generating a high sustained impact over time. She has been a pioneer in the social economy in Spain and has achieved a level of excellence and stability over 30 years, until becoming an international benchmark. For all this, it is very satisfactory to support, with the funding of the FIS managed by COFIDES, the growth of a company that, with five different lines of business, has made integration and equal opportunities its raison d'être."

The CEO of UNEI, Rafael Cía, has assessed that, “with the funding of COFIDES, UNEI will execute its Strategic Plan 2024-2027, boosting the growth of the company and consolidating its logistics facilities. All this, with the commitment to expand, by at least 13.5%, the number of people with disabilities, especially derived from mental health problems, in the team”.

About the Social Impact Fund

The FIS is a fund created by the Government through the addendum of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and has resources from the NextGenerationEU instrument.

The objective of this public financial instrument, endowed with 400 million euros, is to strengthen the ecosystem of impact through support for investment projects carried out by companies and other entities in Spain that generate a positive and measurable social and/or environmental impact.