The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is a multilateral development bank with a social vocation. Established on 16 April 1956 in order to bring solutions to the problems of refugees, its scope of action has progressively widened to other sectors of action directly contributing to strengthening social cohesion in Europe. The CEB represents a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe: it uses its resources for the financing of social projects in order to help its 42 member states achieve sustainable and equitable growth.