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Key Milestone


Community Investment and Inclusion Fund

In the 2001 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced the setting up of the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (CIIF). Thanks to the support of project teams and collaborators from various sectors of the community, CIIF has reaped great returns for its strenuous efforts in terms of countless candid smiles, neighbourhood friendship as well as unconditional love and care through mutual help, which cannot be measured in pecuniary terms. There is no doubt that mutual trust and help among people is a very important social capital, which is a key driver for the development of a modern society. It is exactly this human touch that enables us to tide over every hurdle and build up the city’s soft power of social capital.

Social Capital – Resilience and Sustainable Reciprocity

CIIF has actively responded to various social challenges in Hong Kong since its establishment, taking the long-term social benefits into consideration. CIIF’s achievements in social capital building have been widely recognised over the community:

Differences that We Made

CIIF has "created ever more differences" with the concerted efforts made by its project teams and collaborators. It successfully established different social capital development models. Some are also developed in response to the inter-generational poverty and provide alternative solutions:



2019

The Government injected an additional $500 million into the CIIF.

photo of CIIF

2018

In the 2018 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced that the Government would, through the CIIF, fund community network building projects, with the aim to regularise the support service for the new estate community to facilitate the integration of new residents and families into the community as soon as possible.

photo of CIIF

2017

The Government injected an additional $300 million into the CIIF.

photo of CIIF

2016

With the rapid ageing of our population, there is growing concern about the possible challenges faced by the elderly. The CIIF launched two successive batches of funding applications related to the elderly, encouraging the community to strengthen the elderly support networks.

photo of CIIF

2015

In the 2015 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced that the CIIF would plan to deploy resources in the next few years to build mutual help networks among residents of new public rental housing estates. In the same year, the CIIF launched a batch of funding applications on the theme of “New Communities New Networks”.

photo of CIIF

2013

The Government injected an additional $200 million into the CIIF.

photo of CIIF

2012

The City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) were commissioned to conduct an evaluation study of the CIIF. The study affirmed the CIIF’s effectiveness in promoting social capital development in Hong Kong. In particular, the report submitted by the PolyU indicated that the CIIF’s projects were successful in fostering mutual trust and acceptance among residents from different backgrounds, as well as in building neighbourhood support networks, etc.

photo of CIIF

2009

Under the impact of the financial tsunami, self-resilience and mutual help were adopted as the themes of two successive batches of CIIF applications, under which all sectors were encouraged to participate in the community to foster the spirit of mutual help and mutual benefits.

photo of CIIF

2008

In 2008, serious domestic tragedies in Tin Shui Wai prompted the CIIF to fund 13 social capital development projects, reaching the highest number of projects approved for one single district over the years.

photo of CIIF

2006

An Evaluation Consortium, formed by research teams led by scholars from five tertiary institutions, conducted a comprehensive assessment of more than 50 CIIF-funded projects. The findings affirmed effectiveness of the funded projects in enhancing personal capacity, promoting community networks and fostering cross-sectoral collaboration.

photo of CIIF

2003

The outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic caused widespread panic. The first batch of CIIF-funded projects was launched to promote the spirit of social capital such as solidarity in the community and mutual support in the neighbourhood.

photo of CIIF

2001

The Government announced an allocation of $300 million to establish the CIIF in 2002.

photo of CIIF