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The Commission on Poverty (CoP) Task Force on Children and Youth, chaired by Dr Philemon Choi, today (May 11) held its fifth meeting.
The Task Force reviewed overseas experience in setting up Child Development Fund. Members noted that Child Development Fund was a relatively recent development in the UK and US. The dominant overseas models aim to promote long-term saving habits and improve financial literacy among the younger generation and their families, and to cultivate self-responsibility and shared responsibility on the development of children among family and community networks.
"Today we had the first formal discussion on the applicability of overseas experience in setting up Child Development Fund in Hong Kong," Dr Choi said. "The Task Force considered that such a fund, if implemented in Hong Kong, should be adapted to address local needs. At the same time, there is a need to avoid duplication with existing funds and services. We shall continue to explore proposals in this direction to help reduce risks of intergenerational poverty."
At the meeting, members expressed views on the purpose and possible design of such a fund, e.g. whether the funds should be used to address specific needs during childhood, or for subsequent development when entering adulthood, and the relationship with the wide array of existing services in Hong Kong. Noting there were diverse expectations from the community on the subject, as a next step the Task Force will arrange a sharing session to gauge the views of relevant parties on ideas of a meaningful and feasible arrangement that suited Hong Kong's circumstances.
The Task Force was also briefed on a supervised mentoring project carried out by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in tackling intergenerational poverty.
The agenda and papers of the meeting are available at the commission's official website: www.cop.gov.hk.
Ends/Thursday, May 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:10
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