The president of the Fundación La Caixa and the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CZECH), Isidro Fain, presided over the first meeting of the Social and Philanthropic Council of the World Institute of Savings Banks and Retail Banks (WSBI) in Bangkok, Thailand. The WSBI was established in December 2023 with Fain serving as its president. The council discussed topics such as contributing to sustainable development goals, sharing success stories of member foundations, and proposing new collaboration projects to create jobs and support microbusinesses in developing countries.
During the meeting, a ‘Bangkok Declaration’ was issued, which highlighted the commitment of participating entities to six areas of action: young population, poverty reduction, education support, empowerment of women, older people, and sustainability of the planet. Fain also presented three key social programs from Fundación La Caixa and highlighted a recent agreement with Sparkassenstiftung on Silver Finance supported by Inter-American Development Bank.
The Social and Philanthropic Council’s objective is to facilitate exchange among members regarding their social work programs while providing guidance on global trends in philanthropy. The council also aims to identify areas for important developments that improve global sustainability and stability.
The council comprises international actors in social work and philanthropy such as State Bank of India, German Sparkassenstiftung, Grupo Social Foundation of Colombia, Al Barid Bank of Morocco, GSB Foundation of Savings Banks of Thailand as well as Fundación La Caixa and CECA among others.