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The Social Welfare Department (SWD) is inviting interested non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to submit proposals for operating the fourth batch of Child Development Fund (CDF) projects, which are to be launched in the second half of 2013.
The projects will provide children from disadvantaged backgrounds with more personal development opportunities to reduce inter-generational poverty. For details, please refer to Annex.
A spokesman for SWD said today (May 6), ¡§So far, three batches of 40 CDF projects have been rolled out, benefiting more than 4 000 children. There will be 20 projects in the fourth batch to be rolled out in the second half of this year, providing
2 000 to 2 300 places. These projects will help participating children draw up and implement personal development plans as well as develop an asset-building habit, thus preparing them for long¡Vterm development.
¡§Taking into account comments made by the members of the Steering Committee on Child Development Fund, practical experience gained in implementing the first three batches of CDF projects, and consultants' recommendations, we will implement a number of enhancement measures starting from the fourth batch. These measures include increasing the training provision by one-third from $15,000 to $20,000 per participating child; increasing the minimum number of training programmes for mentors and parents/guardians respectively from four to five; and increasing the administrative fee for operating NGOs from $1,500 by one-third to $2,000 per participating child. The aim is to better facilitate mentors and parents/guardians in guiding the participating children to implement their personal development plan, and to strengthen NGOs' capacity in operating CDF projects.¡¨
The spokesman added, ¡§NGOs are now invited to submit proposals to operate the fourth batch of CDF projects. The applicant must be a charitable organisation exempt from tax under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap 112), with a good track record in the provision of children and youth services in Hong Kong in the past five years.
¡§Selected NGOs are expected to start recruiting participants for the projects in September 2013.¡¨
Application forms and guidelines are available on the SWD website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_whatsnew/). A briefing session for prospective applicants will be held on May 15 at the Lady Trench Training Centre at 44, Oi Kwan Road, Wan Chai.
All proposals, together with completed application forms, should be submitted by hand to the Child Development Fund Office, Social Welfare Department, Room 942, 9/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong on or before 5pm on June 17, 2013.
Ends/Monday, May 6, 2013
Issued at HKT 11:01
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