ENG-1955 — Page 168

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

The determined effort which the Government and various independent bodies are making to deal with the housing of refugees is discussed in the Review of the Year, and in the Housing Chapter. In formulating policy for the further development of welfare work, the Social Welfare Officer is assisted by the Colony's Social Welfare Advisory Committee, composed of representatives of voluntary agencies and members of the public chosen for their experience in social work. Some of the recommendations of its Sub-Committee on Welfare of the Blind have already been carried out; the proposals of its Sub-Committee on Child Care are being considered by the Government; and a detailed study of the problem of prostitution by its Moral Welfare Sub-Committee is nearing completion. This Committee is also responsible for the over-all coordination of existing welfare services, and for making recommendations on the amounts of Government subvention to be paid annually to voluntary organizations.

The unofficial Council of Social Service, on which the Labour, Education, and Medical Departments and the Social Welfare Office are represented by observers, fills an important rôle as the coordinating body of the 32 voluntary organizations affiliated to it. Meetings of representative member societies are held regularly, providing opportunities for discussion of welfare problems and encouragement of new projects.

Material relief, by way of supplementary food and medical supplies, is distributed by voluntary agencies in squatter, resettlement and other areas where it is badly needed. Above all, a promising trend can be seen in the provision, by welfare organizations, of centres in Resettlement Areas for social and educational activities. Two neighbourhood associations, or Kaifongs, formed in Shek Kip Mei and Ngau Tau Kok, a family case-work centre planned in Tai Hang Tung by the Church World Service and the Family Welfare Society, several clubs recently established by the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association and by the Social Welfare Office, and a number of schools run by voluntary associations in Resettlement Areas, are some of the amenities which will do much to weld these neighbourhoods into communities.

Infant and Child Welfare

Children deprived of a normal home-life are mainly looked after in voluntary homes, of which there are nineteen,