SOCIAL WELFARE
200
Volunteerism
The Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service held a series of promotional and publicity programmes to promote volunteerism among students and youth, corporations and community organisations. To capitalise on the momentum already gained, the Campaign Evergreen 2003, one of the major initiatives of the Volunteer Movement, was organised to further cultivate the volunteer spirit and help in revitalising Hong Kong after the SARS outbreak. At year-end, 1 111 organisations and 442 710 individuals had registered to participate in volunteer service.
Staff Development and Training
In 2003, the department's Staff Development and Training Section organised 531 in-service training programmes for a total of 15 686 participants from the department and NGOs. In addition, to continue the promotion of cyber learning within the department, an upgraded version of the e-Learning Centre was launched in March, featuring a fully functional Learning Management System with more course-ware and other learning resources made accessible to all staff in the department.
Research and Statistics
The department conducts surveys and research studies, develops and maintains data systems and undertakes statistical compilation and estimation for the monitoring, planning, development and review of social welfare services.
Subvention and Service Monitoring
By year-end, recurrent subvention and capital grants had been given to 180 NGOs for the provision of social welfare services in accordance with government policies. Funding allocation for capital grants was administered by the department on the advice of the Lotteries Fund Advisory Committee.
To facilitate the smooth implementation of the continuing subvention reform, a Lump Sum Grant Steering Committee (with the Director of Social Welfare as Chairperson) advises on measures to achieve continuous improvement. The performance monitoring aspects of the reform have been implemented progressively since 1999 under the Service Performance Monitoring System. This assesses service performance on the basis of a set of well-defined Service Quality Standards and a Funding and Service Agreement developed for each specific service.
Information Technology
The Technical Infrastructure (TI) and the Client Information System (CIS) are the most significant information technology (IT) initiatives being taken by the department. The TI involves a corporate-wide network to support deployment of IT applications and joined-up initiatives. The CIS will provide a workflow-based database which collects and shares client data across the department for operational, management and planning purposes.
Information Technology Development Projects
At year-end, Lotteries Fund grants totalling about $202 million had been approved for implementing 27 IT projects in the department and a number of NGOs. The scope of these applications includes the development of Core Applications in Human Resource Management and Financial Management as well as the development of a