In Bangkok, Thailand, the first meeting of the Social and Philanthropic Council of the World Institute of Savings Banks and Retail Banks (WSBI) took place. The WSBI was established in December 2023, with Isidro Fain serving as its president. During the session, Fain chaired the council and discussed various topics such as contributing to Sustainable Development Goals, sharing success stories of member foundations, and proposing new collaboration projects to support microbusinesses and create jobs in developing countries.
The ‘Bangkok Declaration’ was issued during the meeting, which outlined a commitment from participating entities to six areas of action: young population development, poverty reduction, education support, women’s empowerment, elderly care and planet sustainability. Fain also presented three key social programs from the Fundación La Caixa that include Silver Finance supported by an agreement with Sparkassenstiftung and Inter-American Development Bank.
The primary goal of this council is to facilitate experience sharing among members on their social work programs while providing guidance on global trends in philanthropy and identifying areas for important developments that can improve global sustainability and stability. Members include 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 among others including Fundación La Caixa and CECA.