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The following is issued on behalf of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee:
The Social Welfare Advisory Committee (SWAC) discussed the application results of the Special One-off Grant (SOG) scheme at a meeting today (March 29).
Committee members considered that the SOG was a reasonable arrangement as it would effectively assist non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to cope with their financial arrangements following the termination of the Tide-Over Grant in 2006-07 as scheduled.
"The recently-announced Budget has already brought a piece of good news to the welfare sector. NGOs are no longer required to implement the efficiency savings measures for 2006-07, which will help them better plan their future financial budget. The sector should not rely on the Government forever. They should continue their efforts on restructuring and re-engineering so as to well utilise the limited resources," a committee spokesman said.
The spokesman added that in view of ever-changing social and service needs, NGOs should continuously review their services, strengthen their corporate governance and training as well as improve communication with their staff in a bid to withstand the challenges ahead.
"With the processing of the SOG, the committee hopes all the discussions over the issue are over. The sector should be forward-looking and co-operate with the Government in delivering the best services to the general public," the spokesman said.
Having considered the financial difficulties of NGOs, the Administration put forward the SOG scheme in 2005. Among the 125 eligible NGOs, 124 submitted their applications to the Social Welfare Department (SWD), with one declined. To date, the SWD has completed processing 116 applications which amounted to $757.2 million. The applications of the remaining eight NGOs are still being processed.
Ends/Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:32
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