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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, conducted a briefing for members of the Commission on Poverty (CoP) and the co-opted members of its six task forces this afternoon (January 21), helping them better understand the poverty alleviation and support for the disadvantaged initiatives outlined in the 2014 Policy Address.
The Chief Executive has announced in his Policy Address a comprehensive list of policy initiatives on poverty alleviation and support for the disadvantaged, which cover a wide range of areas benefiting various groups and form a blueprint for poverty alleviation. These initiatives include the Low-income Working Family Allowance, which was proposed subsequent to the CoP Summit's identification of the working poor as one of the groups deserving the Government's priority attention last September.
"The Policy Address has positively responded to aspirations expressed by various sectors of the community after the announcement of the poverty line and put forward many initiatives to tackle poverty and strengthen support for the disadvantaged. The Policy Agenda has also listed out 40 new initiatives related to poverty alleviation and support for the disadvantaged. Among these, many have been discussed by the CoP and its task forces. I thank the CoP members and the co-opted members of its task forces for their untiring efforts in tackling the poverty problem in Hong Kong over the past year," Mrs Lam said.
Members welcomed the Government's decision to accept the CoP's suggestions and introduce various initiatives to alleviate poverty and support the disadvantaged. They look forward to the early implementation of these initiatives.
Mrs Lam said that, as stated by the Chief Executive in his Policy Address, the CoP will continue to serve as the major policy platform to assist the Government in pursuing poverty alleviation initiatives. She looks forward to continuing to work with the CoP members to follow up on the work in the next stage and implement the Chief Executive's blueprint for poverty alleviation.
Mrs Lam has written a blog article published on the CoP website to elaborate on the policy considerations for the Low-income Working Family Allowance. The article can be viewed at www.povertyrelief.gov.hk/eng/blog170114.html.
Ends/Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:01
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