La Fundación La Caixa increases its budget for social action in Catalonia. For this year, the entity will allocate 225 million to social investment in the territory, following an agreement signed by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, with the president of the foundation, Isidre Fainé.
The agreement includes collaboration between both institutions in social action, culture, education, and research, which this year will lead to an increase of 38 million euros compared to last year. Of the total budget, 100 million will be allocated to social programs that the entity directs especially to the most vulnerable groups.
The agreement "responds to the Government's will to work for a more just and egalitarian society," assured the President of the Generalitat. And, according to Illa, "public-private collaboration is essential to offer quality public services that improve the lives of citizens." For his part, Fainé defended that "the increase in social investment in Catalonia shows the foundation's firm commitment to society and to the social and human development of all people."
Among the basic objectives set out in the agreement are the fight against child poverty, the promotion of active and healthy aging, care for people with advanced diseases, and the improvement of working and living conditions for people with disabilities or at risk of exclusion.
These objectives are materialized in programs such as CaixaProinfància, focused on child poverty and which in 2023 assisted 20,555 children from 13,056 families in Catalonia, and the Incorpora labor integration program, which facilitated access to 12,081 jobs last year and the creation of 557 micro-enterprises. In addition, the foundation has a direct social action entity, la Fundació de l'Esperança, which assisted 2,117 people and housed 14 vulnerable women in 2023.
The foundation also has programs such as the Comprehensive Care for People with Advanced Diseases, which seeks to improve the quality of care for people at the end of life and their families and which in 2023 served 9,000 patients with 12 psychosocial care teams operating in hospitals and residences. Also in this area, the foundation works with a program for older people and to promote their social participation, in which 188,000 people participated last year.
Of the total budget, 100 million will be allocated to social programs that the entity directs especially to the most vulnerable groupsIn addition, the agreementalso focuses on areas such as education, culture, and research, through programs such as EduCaixa; undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, and investment in health research, also through the CaixaResearch Institute, whichis building its headquartersnext to CosmoCaixa.
CosmoCaixa is precisely part of the set of cultural spaces that the foundation has in Catalonia, which also include CaixaForum centers and activities in the Cap Roig Gardens. In total, the foundation's cultural and scientific dissemination centers in Catalonia received more than two million visitors last year, with 1.2 million at CosmoCaixa, the most visited. The foundation's cultural proposals and dissemination also reach spaces such as Palau Macaya, and cultural institutions that maintain an alliance with the foundation.