First meeting of Advisory Committee of the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged

The Advisory Committee of the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged held its first meeting today (February 3) to discuss the establishment, arrangements of application guide, eligibility criteria and monitoring mechanism.

In the Policy Address this year, the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, undertook to set up a $200 million Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged to promote the development of a tripartite partnership among the Government, the business community and the welfare sector to help the disadvantaged.

The Fund also aims to incentivise the welfare sector to expand their network in seeking and securing corporate participation; and encourage the business sector to take up more social responsibility in helping to create a cohesive, harmonious and caring society.

The Government has conducted extensive consultation sessions with relevant parties from last year on the establishment of the Fund. Both the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and business corporations generally welcomed the initiative. The funding proposal was approved by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council last December.

The Government has taken into account different views expressed in formulating the proposed operational arrangements. It has decided that the Fund will allocate about $190 million for NGOs in the welfare sector to apply for launching projects to help the disadvantaged. Grants to NGOs will be calculated in accordance with the contributions from business corporations, in cash or in kind, on a dollar-to-dollar matching basis.

To encourage participation of NGOs and in order that the Fund will benefit the largest number of NGOs possible, each applicant NGO will be allowed to submit only one application in the first round and allocation for each successful application will be capped at a maximum of $500,000. There is no limit on the amount of contribution from the business corporations.

The rest of about $10 million will be used to carry out various support measures to facilitate the formation and sustainability of tripartite partnership. These measures include commissioning research, evaluative studies or projects, establishing and maintaining a web-based platform, and conducting promotional activities.

The Fund will be launched in March this year. It is expected that vetting on the first round applications can be started in the second quarter of this year and disbursement of grants for successful applications will be made thereafter.

For the matching grant portion, the committee will allocate funding in two rounds. It has tentatively earmarked $80 million for the first round and $110 million for the second round. Any unallocated funding of the first round will be transferred to the second or subsequent round(s) for allocation until depletion of the Fund.

All bona-fide charitable welfare NGOs having tax-exempted status under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance can apply for the Fund.

Project proposals meeting the following conditions will be eligible for application:

*	The proposal should be an initiative in support of the Government's welfare policy but currently not receiving funding support from the Government in any form or from any established charitable Trusts/Foundations etc.
*	The initiative should be delivered in Hong Kong, and would benefit directly the welfare of the underprivileged groups such as people with disability, elderly people with inadequate social support, children from deprived families and victims of family violence/abuse, etc.
*	Contributions should be made by business corporations registered and operating their business in Hong Kong.
*	The proposal submitted by applicant NGO should have business corporation's contribution in cash, in kind or a combination of the two.

Grants from the Fund will be disbursed to the applicant NGO upon confirmation of the commencement of the project and receipt of contribution from the business corporation concerned. SWD reserves the right to withhold any payment if the applicant NGO fails to provide adequate information as required or fails to deliver the project as approved and on time. NGOs will be required to furnish a concise report at the end of the project, or progress reports at intervals as specified by the Advisory Committee which will be uploaded onto a web-based platform for public scrutiny.

NGOs will be required to submit final audited financial statements to account for the usage of the grant from the Fund to SWD, and to certify that the grant from the Fund has been used for the purposes as specified in the applications. As a requirement, NGOs should exhaust all or an amount equal to the approved grant under the Fund, whichever is the lower, of the donations from the business corporations if they are contributions in cash before using the grant from the Fund. Unless otherwise approved by the Advisory Committee, any unspent sum from the Fund at the end of the project should be returned to SWD.

The Advisory Committee, chaired by the Director of Social Welfare, comprises non-official members from the welfare, business and academic sectors. It will examine applications for the Fund and all matters relating to the operation of the Fund.

 

End

Thursday, February 3, 2005