Annual Forum and Project Expo of CIIF ******************************************************** More than 800 people from different sectors today (November 2) participated in the Fourth Annual Forum and Project Expo of the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (CIIF). Speaking at the forum, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow pointed out that the Policy Address delivered by the Chief Executive last month had commended the CIIF for mobilising community resources and building mutual support networks at the district level, as well as bringing about new models of collaboration. "The commendation by the Chief Executive shows that the Government is fully supportive of the strategies promoted by the fund," he added. Dr Chow said the continual development of the fund needed the support and efforts of various sectors and strategic partners, including: * the cooperation of local groups, which could help bring about changes in culture and values at district levels; * the support and promotion by partners from the business and professional sector so as to further enhance the tripartite social partnership comprising the Government, the business community and the welfare sector; * the exchange with Asia and other parts of the world to deepen the understanding of the development of social capital; and * the active promotion of social capital by local academics. Looking ahead, Dr Chow considered that the fund should extend the impact at three levels, or "3P", through weaving social capital strategies into relevant policies for "policy integration", strengthening "partnerships" with the community to mainstream the impact, and strengthening through partnerships with academics, service agencies and practitioners to enhance "practices". The theme of the Fourth Forum cum Project Expo of the CIIF was "Social Capital – Sustainability and Development". Representatives of the welfare sector, professional and business partners, academia, policy makers and local personalities actively took part in the forum. Asian Development Bank (ADB) representative Ms Sonomi Tanaka and former Director of Poverty Reduction and Social Development from ADB, Dr Brahm Prakash, were the guest speakers in the plenary session of the forum. More than 60 projects also showcased their experience in the forum. Four concurrent workshops were organised in the morning session for in-depth discussion on hot topics including "community building", "new partnership models", "mentoring strategies" and "social capital and social work". Dr Chow and Acting CIIF chairperson, Ms Sophia Kao, presented awards to recognise projects for their contribution in building social capital. Awardees shared their experience as well as the critical success factors. Ms Kao said it was encouraging that an independent evaluation exercise conducted by the seven research teams from the five local universities had affirmed that the social capital strategies promoted by the CIIF had been effective. Tribute was paid to the late Dr Raymond Wu, the founding chair of the fund. At the plenary session in the afternoon, a recording of Dr Wu giving his last piece of advice to the fund was also broadcast. Dr Chow said Dr Wu had been working tirelessly and wholeheartedly in promoting the development of the fund to actualise the talents of the disadvantaged groups under his chairmanship since 2002. "This fully reflects Dr Wu's belief to put vision into action and selfless dedication to his work," Dr Chow said. Dr Chow said he was deeply moved by Dr Wu's firm belief and zeal. "In the last days of his life in hospital, he did not talk much about his health condition. Instead, he had earnestly outlined to me his long-term vision in developing social capital," he added. Dr Wu stressed the importance of the value that "people are equal", saying that no one should be valued differently on the bases of their intelligence, appearance, wealth or health. He believed that each one of us was blessed with some talents that could be put to good use, and that people should focus on actualising the potentials in all. While considering that it is more blessed to give than to receive, Dr Wu lamented that the contemporary values of the society had been distortedly preoccupied with materialism and consumerism that resulted in detached interpersonal relationships and withering social capital. Since the inception of the CIIF in 2002, a total of 116 projects had been approved. These projects were supported by over 2,700 collaborators, involving over 300,000 participants with more than 300 mutual help networks and turning some 20,000 recipients into volunteers. Ends/Thursday, November 2, 2006 Issued at HKT 15:50 NNNN