16/09/2024 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, meeting in Lisbon on 13 September, congratulated the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) for “its flexible and tailored support to its member states” in the context of the pandemic and natural disasters, and for the rapid assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
The committee underlined that the CEB had successfully kept expanding its operations, capital base and membership, namely with Andorra and Ukraine joining the CEB recently. It strongly encouraged five outsider States - Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Monaco and the United Kingdom – to join the CEB as soon as possible.
Adopting a draft resolution based on the report by Eka Sepashvili (Georgia, EC/AD), the committee called on the CEB to “gradually enhance support for the Ukrainian Government in its recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the social sectors”, paying particular attention to housing and public health. In addition, as highlighted in the Reykjavik Declaration, it encouraged the CEB to persevere in “focusing on the social dimensions of climate change and environmental degradation”.
According to the parliamentarians, the CEB should also step up its focus on target group countries through the provision of more grants, technical assistance and capacity building to support the preparation and implementation of social projects with the highest potential impact.
Finally, the committee proposed that the CEB strengthen its co-operation with partner institutions such as the EU and multilateral development banks, for maximising the impact of projects.
The report will be debated in the Parliamentary Assembly on 30 September 2024. Carlo Monticelli, Governor of the CEB, will address the Assembly on this occasion.