News
CEB approves € 200 million to Comunidad de Madrid for essential social care programmes
29 September 2020
PARIS - The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has approved a € 200 million loan to Comunidad de Madrid to support the region in its efforts to ensure adequate social care for the vulnerable.
The CEB loan will support Comunidad de Madrid in ensuring dignified living conditions for the vulnerable as well as, whenever appropriate, their reintegration in society. The loan will finance the cost of providing support for victims of gender violence, including by safeguarding temporary accommodation. It will also contribute to the running of social canteens for the homeless and to the maintenance and upgrade of care homes, day centres, and apartments in use by the elderly and the disabled. Home support services and specialised assistance for the latter will also be financed.
The CEB financing approved capitalises on a previous agreement, signed in November 2018, which had similar objectives. The 2018 agreement has benefitted more than 400 000 vulnerable people living in Madrid.
The Governor of the CEB, Rolf Wenzel, said: “In accordance with its social mandate, the CEB has always sought to strengthen its member countries’ response to the needs of the vulnerable. In light of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to Europe’s social cohesion, the Bank has swiftly mobilised additional resources not only to respond to the health emergency but also to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable economic recovery. We are therefore pleased to support the Comunidad de Madrid in its endeavours to leave no one behind during these difficult times.”
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Spain joined the CEB in January 1978. Over the past 10 years, the CEB has provided more than €4 billion in financing for a wide range of investments, ranging from health, social care and sustainable transport to support for MSMEs. Spain has contributed more than € 5 million in grant resources to the Bank’s trust funds. More information can be found here.Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 42 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank's target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable, AAA with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.