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As the Chairman of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee (DRFAC), the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, hosted a tea gathering today (September 29) at the Conference Hall of the Central Government Offices to meet and exchange views with representatives of relief organisations which have been granted funding from the Disaster Relief Fund to carry out disaster relief work.
The 13 relief organisations attending the tea gathering were: the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, China; Amity Foundation, Hong Kong; CEDAR Fund; Correctional Services Department Credit Union Education Fund; Habitat for Humanity Hong Kong; Hong Kong Red Cross; Operation Blessing Hong Kong; Oxfam Hong Kong; Plan International Hong Kong; The Salvation Army; Save the Children Hong Kong; Social Workers Across Borders; and World Vision Hong Kong.
The DRFAC members Mr Cheng Yiu-tong, Ms Starry Lee, Mr Leo Kung, Dr Tik Chi-yuen and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, as well as the Director of Administration, Ms Kitty Choi, also attended the tea gathering.
Addressing the gathering, Mrs Lam said that it had been more than 20 years since the establishment of the Disaster Relief Fund in 1993. Grants exceeding $1.8 billion had been disbursed through relief organisations and governments outside Hong Kong to support 375 relief programmes, benefiting disaster victims in different areas across the five continents. The DRFAC has implemented a series of measures to further streamline and enhance the operation of the Disaster Relief Fund in recent years. Mrs Lam expressed gratitude for the dedicated efforts made by relief organisations in carrying out disaster relief work throughout the years. During the tea gathering, the DRFAC members and representatives of the relief organisations shared experience and exchanged views on emergency relief matters.
Representatives of the relief organisations offered valuable views on matters related to the ambit of the Disaster Relief Fund, post-disaster relief other than tangible goods, application processing time and staff deployment in the relief organisations. Mrs Lam said that the government would actively follow up the matters and bring up discussion in the DRFAC so as to provide assistance to disaster victims more effectively.
Ends/Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Issued at HKT 22:25
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