News
Governor Wenzel meets with Council of Europe Special Representative on Migration and Refugees
24 January 2018
PARIS – The Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Rolf Wenzel, today welcomed the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Tomáš Boček, to the CEB’s headquarters.
The meeting focused on issues related to migrants and refugees and on ongoing cooperation between the CEB and the Council of Europe in that respect.
Governor Wenzel updated the Special Representative on the latest steps taken by the CEB in relation to migrant and refugee issues and highlighted the Bank’s efforts to help CEB members tackle the integration of migrants.
In October 2015 the CEB established a dedicated trust fund, the Migrant and Refugee Fund (MRF), to help its member states cope with migrant and refugee flows. The Fund has so far received over €25 million in contributions from 23 donors and has approved €22 million in grants for 18 migrant and refugee projects. Recently approved projects focus on the most vulnerable among the migrants and refugees, such as unaccompanied children, victims of sexual and gender-based violence and single parents with underage children.
Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 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 (Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable, AA+ with Standard & Poor's, outlook positive and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, 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.