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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (June 10):
Ambassador Sha (Zukang, UN Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs), Dr Jones (David, President of International Council on Social Welfare), Mr Rollet (Christian, President of International Federation of Social Workers),
Professor Yuen (Angelia, President of International Association of Schools of Social Work), Ms Fang (Christine, Chairperson of the Organising Committee), Professor Chan (Cecilia, Chairperson of the Programme Committee), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to join you all today. A very warm welcome to all our guests from overseas. My special warm welcome to Ambassador Sha who is a distinguished diplomat who served our motherland and is now devoting himself to the welfare of the international community. Ambassador Sha is an old friend and staunch supporter of Hong Kong. We are so glad that he can join us today.
Hong Kong is proud to be hosting the 2010 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development. My thanks to all the local and overseas organisations that have helped to bring this event to our city.
Since the start of the 21st century, societies across the globe have faced various unprecedented challenges. One thing we know for certain is that there will be more such challenges ahead – environmental challenges, natural disasters, economic fluctuations and more.
Policymakers and social advocates are tackling the emerging social problems that have accompanied the economic boom and bust years over the past decade or so. Each economy requires its own tailored response, but - in general - there are two overriding messages.
First, in almost all societies, policymakers and advocates increasingly highlight the value of promoting self-reliance.
And secondly, in an interconnected world, we need multi-pronged and cross-sectoral efforts to deal with increasingly complex social issues.
As both a major city in China and an international city, Hong Kong is fully plugged into the global village.
Our social programmes have been designed, built and implemented on the basis of our core values of concern for the family, commitment to self-improvement, self-reliance and social capital, as well as high respect for community support.
The Hong Kong Government provides a wide range of social services to the public, as well as a social security net to assist those who are in need. But our overall goal is to assist people in moving from welfare to self-reliance.
This does not represent a dwindling role of the Government in social welfare. In fact, Hong Kong has a highly developed system of social services and institutions, on par with international standards.
In the past 10 years, the Government's recurrent expenditure on social welfare has increased significantly by over 50%, outpacing expenditure increases in other policy area groups. This financial year, recurrent expenditure on social welfare alone represents some 17% of the Government's total recurrent expenditure, making it the second largest expenditure item after education.
My next message is simple and clear: a tripartite approach is the key. Social and economic progress has fostered, and will continue to foster, new aspirations among communities. People are no longer content with a basic level of provision. Everyone aspires to contribute to, and benefit from, the growth and vitality of economies. Governments or social services are unable to provide sustainable solutions on their own.
Only by pooling the efforts of various sectors of the community can we effectively help disadvantaged groups and build a more caring society. This involves collaboration between the community, the business sector and the Government.
One living example is the $400 million Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged that we launched in 2005. Together with matching donations from the business sector, the fund supports non-governmental organisations in implementing various welfare projects in conjunction with the business sector. These range from home visits to the elderly who live alone, skills training for unemployed youth, support groups for families of persons with disabilities, community activities to foster harmonious families, and many more.
So far some 650,000 disadvantaged persons, or around 10% of our population, have benefited from these projects.
Social enterprise is another initiative which is playing an increasingly useful role on our social development agenda.
In 2006, we launched a district-based programme to provide seed money for social enterprises that promote self-reliance of the disadvantaged. So far, the programme has helped create some 1,600 jobs for the disadvantaged. We have also introduced a partnership programme to help social enterprises to match up with companies for business advisory services in order to enhance their competitiveness.
In the wake of the global financial crisis, many of these social enterprises are still up and running and starting to establish their brand names, a clear demonstration of the success and sustainability of tripartite partnership and the principle of self-reliance.
Ladies and gentlemen, before I close I wish this conference every success in mapping out an action agenda for social work and social development in the new decade and beyond.
Our communities need it.
Thank you very much and have a great stay in Hong Kong.
Ends/Thursday, June 10, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:02
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