The Western Union Foundation has announced second-quarter grants totaling $1.7 million to nongovernmental organizations working to expand access to and improve the quality of education around the globe.

Awarded as part of the foundation's Education for Better initiative — a three-year commitment to secondary education and vocational training launched last September — the grants will support projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Recipients include the Daniel Ogechi Akujobi Memorial Foundation to help establish libraries in Nigerian public schools; the Planeterra Foundation, which supports education, job training, and counseling services for women and children in New Delhi; the Haitian Education & Leadership Program, which provides scholarships to students working to complete a higher education degree, with a focus on skills training and career services; Interkulturelles Zentrum, in support of language and athletic training for underprivileged children in Austria; and the Lebanese American University in Beirut, which provides financial aid to students under the school's Annual Scholarship Grant program.

"We are actively supporting NGOs that are committed to expanding educational opportunities for global communities," said Western Union Foundation president Patrick Gaston. "Education for Better is a long-term program that not only includes grantmaking, but also consists of collaborations with Western Union agents to make a tangible impact on the communities and customers we serve. To date, many Western Union agents have joined in the Education for Better program, with the Western Union Foundation matching agent grants to support educational programs around the world."