Social Enterprises and Enhancing SelfReliance Through District Partnership Programme

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Social Enterprises andEnhancing
Self-RelianceThrough District Partnership
Programme
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Content

• Contact Me
• Wealth Gap in Hong Kong
• Hong Kongs Labour Market
• Social Enterprises in Hong Kong
• Challenges of Poverty Prevention and Alleviation
• Support from the Business Sector

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Contact Me

• Professor CHEUNG Yan-leung, Stephen
• Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Enhancing
  Self-Reliance Through District Partnership
  Programme (the Programme) under the Home Affairs
  Department (HAD)
• Address Department of Economics and Finance
• Faculty of Business
• P7410, Purple Zone,
  Academic Building
• City University of Hong
  Kong
• Telephone no. 2788 7960
• Fax no. 2788 8040
• E-mail address efsteven_at_cityu.edu.hk

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Poverty Situation Gini Coefficient

• Gini Coefficient (based on household income
  before netting the effects of taxation and social
  benefits)
• Gini Coefficient (based on household income after
  netting the effects of taxation and social
  benefits )

Source Census and Statistics Department
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Profile of the Unemployed Population

• Higher unemployment rate among the younger age
  group
• Higher unemployment rate among the less educated
• The unemployed population comprises mainly of
  non-skilled workers, such as those from the
  construction and manufacturing industries
• Structural unemployment, making it difficult to
  find suitable jobs despite economic recovery

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Demand for Human Resources

• Decreasing demand for the less educated
• Increasing demand for professionals and
  paraprofessionals
• Service-led economy
• ? Mismatch of the skills of the unemployed and
  the
• demand of the job market
• ? Retraining

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Enhancing Self-Reliance Through District
Partnership Programme(the Programme)

• Background
• 2006-07 Budget
• 150 million over the following five years to
  strengthen district-based poverty alleviation
  work and assist socially disadvantaged groups to
  gain self-reliance
• HAD established the Programme in June 2006 to
  implement the above initative

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What is Social Enterprise?

• To run the business mainly through generating
  revenue from the provision of services or
  products
• Sustainable development and self-financing basis
• Social objectives
• Providing the needed services or products
• E.g. Support service for the elderly
• Creating employment and training opportunities
• Funding its other social service organisations
  through the profits earned
• To reinvest the profits earned principally in the
  business or in the community

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Objectives of the Programme

• Promote sustainable poverty prevention and
  alleviation efforts at the district level
• Helping enhance self-reliance,
• Targeting socially disadvantaged groups.
• Increasing the skills and capacities of the
  employable and providing opportunities for the
  disadvantaged and to be effectively integrated
  into the community

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Implementation

• Approximately 50 million to about 50 SE projects
  
• creating about 1 000 jobs for the socially
  disadvantaged.
• Many of them are implemented in less well-off
  districts
• Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and
  Tung Chung.
• Achieve social objectives
• Include enhancing the skills and employability of
  the socially disadvantaged and their
  self-confidence as well as promoting community
  integration

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Distribution of Businesses of the Approved
Projects
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Social Enterprise Case (1)The Salvation Army
Tuen Mun Family Store

• A grant of 900,000 from the Programme
• Creation of about 11 jobs
• A family store in Tuen Mun
• Sell at medium to low prices second-hand articles
  collected and goods donated by manufacturers
• Provide daily necessities to the elderly poor and
  Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA)
  recipients
• Social Objectives
• Provision of jobs, enhancing their employability
  and participating in social economic activities

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The officiating guests at the opening ceremony
The store of about 1 000 square feet provides a
wide variety of goods
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Social Enterprise Case (2) Tung Wah Group of
Hospitals Mrs Mc Dessert

• A grant of 960,000 from the Programme
• Creation of about 28 jobs
• Theme Dessert Shop
• Also selling McDull products and providing online
  retail and delivery services
• With the support of Regent Lane Ltd, the sole
  distributor of the Yellow Bus Magazine, McDull
  products are sold at wholesale price and McDull
  short videos are shown in the shop
• Concessionary rent offered by the Olympian City
  Management Company under the Sino Group

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• Mrs Mc Dessert
• in Olympian City

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Other Government Supports

• A pilot scheme is being implemented by the
  Government to facilitate SE
• Bidding 38 government cleansing contracts
• Cover all 18 districts and involve 19 departments
• Governments commitment to promoting the
  development of SE
• The contract sum amounts to about 17 million,
  providing more than 300 employment opportunities
  for SE

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Challenges of Poverty Prevention and Alleviation

• Government handouts ? Poverty alleviation
• Improper handouts Poverty creation
• Incentives for the unemployed to re-enter the job
  market
• Persistent inflation
• The poor, in particular, suffers from price
  inflation
• Inflation rate in January 2008 was 4.3

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Challenges of Poverty Prevention and Alleviation

• Widening wealth gap
• After netting the effects of taxation and social
  benefits on household income, the Gini
  Coefficient is still on the rise for the past
  decade
• Any prospect of upward social mobility?
• Hope for the poor
• Equal opportunities
• Reducing intergenerational poverty

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Challenges of Poverty Prevention and Alleviation

• Concerted efforts of the business sector, the
  Government, non-governmental organisations and
  individuals
• Business sector corporate social responsibility
• Government SE, retraining
• Individuals self enhancement

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Business Sectors Support for SE

• Support through the following channels
• Outsourcing to SE certain operations (e.g.
  cleansing services)
• Providing SE with concessionary rental of their
  property (e.g. shopping malls or factory
  premises)/vacant land (e.g. agricultural land for
  organic farming)
• Partnership with SE (e.g. technical support and
  staff training)
• Financial support to SE
• Mentorship Scheme providing SE with voluntary
  professional and business advisory services

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How can the Business Sector support SE

• The Social Enterprise Partnership Programme,
  currently launched by HAD
• Provides a matching forum through which business
  organisations interested in providing support
  services can partner with non-governmental
  organisations
• For information, please contact HAD

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Thank you!