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The Director of Social Welfare, Mr Patrick Nip, today (December 7) appealed to the business community and the welfare sector to continue their support for the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged (PFD) in rolling out more meaningful welfare projects to help the disadvantaged.
Speaking at an experience-sharing session on the PFD, Mr Nip said that the Fund, which was set up in 2005, aims to encourage tripartite partnership among the welfare sector, the business community and the Government to help the disadvantaged and to create a cohesive, harmonious and caring society.
He said: "Seven rounds of PFD application have been launched since its inception. I am very glad to see that the number of applications received, welfare non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved (particularly non-subvented ones), and participating business organisations, as well as the amount of approved grants, are all on the rise.
"So far, a total of over $247 million has been approved for 141 NGOs, together with 917 business partners, to implement 573 welfare projects. More than 800,000 persons in disadvantaged circumstances have benefitted.
"Taking the seventh round of applications as an example, the number of applications received is 148, which is about 3.5 times that of the first round. The number of NGOs which are taking part in this round has seen an increase of nearly 50 from the first round. Of the 77, 38 are from non-subvented NGOs. The number of participating business organisations is 243, which is over two times that of the first round.
"Moreover, a sharp rise of more than six times in the amount of approved grants from $8.9 million in the first round to $62.63 million in the seventh round has been recorded. All these statistics reflect not only that PFD meets the needs of the community, but also the wide acceptance of the Fund among the business and welfare sectors," he added.
Mr Nip extended sincere thanks to all the business partners for the support they have given to NGOs in running the PFD projects. Their generous support had resulted in the successful implementation of the projects, benefiting thousands of persons in disadvantaged circumstances, he said.
He also gave special thanks to members of the Advisory Committee of PFD for their invaluable advice and recommendations on the vetting and approval of applications as well as the development of and improvement in the management of the Fund.
A total of 250 participants from 111 business corporations and NGOs attended the experience-sharing session today. Mr Nip said he hoped that the sharing session could help the participants to network with new partners for running more and diversified welfare projects to enhance the quality of life as well as the work skills of the disadvantaged.
One of the guest speakers, the Community Affairs Manager, Legal and Corporate Affairs, of Microsoft Hong Kong, Mr Terry Wong, spoke on "Corporate Social Responsibility Nowadays". He said that PFD created a win-win situation. While the organisation could fulfill corporate social responsibility and promote its corporate image, NGOs could capitalise on the additional resources and expertise acquired from business corporations to run tailor-made projects for the needy. Microsoft had so far donated over $5.5 million in support of seven PFD welfare projects.
Another speaker, the Programme Director of HOPE Worldwide Limited, Mr David Chung, talked about "Strategy to Establish and Sustain Partnership between Welfare Non-governmental Organisation and Business Corporation". He shared his view on how to find a business partner, how to work with the business partner and what the corporations may gain from the partnership. He called on NGOs to build trust with their business partners and enhance the transparency of the welfare projects so that the corporations would better understand the operation of the projects.
The Government has injected a total of $400 million into PFD on two occasions in 2005 and again in 2010. Matching grants will be provided to donations made by business organisations to support NGOs in running welfare projects.
The eighth round of applications, which began on October 15, will close on February 28, 2013. For details, please visit the Social Welfare Department's webpage (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_supportser/sub_partnership/).
Ends/Friday, December 7, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:40
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