GIO-initiated relief fund shows results in tsunami-hit nations

Cheng Wen-tsang, head of the Government Information Office, said on Tuesday at a press conference that the "Hope for Tomorrow, Love from Taiwan" care and assistance program carried out by the GIO is nearly 60 percent complete, and that the entire program should be fully executed by September 30, 2008.

Cheng stressed that the GIO has cooperated with four NGOs, namely the Tzu Chi Foundation, the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, World Vision Taiwan, and the Child Welfare League Foundation, in providing assistance and aid to people in need. The funds were accumulated in a massive fund-raising campaign following the devastating tsunami that ravaged South Asian nations in late 2004. The GIO has commissioned the four NGOs to use the donated funds appropriately, and results from the initiative have already been seen. Cheng said that the cooperation between the government and the private sector in international relief is a good model for the future.

The GIO initiated the "Hope for Tomorrow, Love from Taiwan" activity in January 2005 to raise funds to assist those whose lives were thrown into turmoil after the tsunami. The fund-raising campaign was immensely successful in Taiwan, and a total of NT$407.5 million (US$13 million) in funds was raised. In an effort to increase monitoring of how the funds were being spent, the GIO established a special supervisory committee to oversee the spending. Members of the committee on November 15, 2006 made trips to places where the money has been spent, including Hambantota in Sri Lanka, and Nias Island and Banda Aceh in Indonesia. The group went reviewed the work that the NGOs have carried out using the funds provided to them. Each of the committee members and representatives from the NGOs delivered reports at a press conference held by the GIO to elaborate on what they saw and what is still going on.

In remarks to the gathering, the secretary general of the Buddha's Light International Association of the Republic of China, Master Chuehpei, said that his organization was involved in relief activities with other NGOs shortly after the tsunami occurred. He said he has a deep understanding of the sacrifices, contributions and hard work carried out by the NGOs. He added that the efforts made by the NGOs far exceeded that which the representatives of the NGOs described during the press conference. He added that his organization is highly appreciative of the benevolent deeds carried out by the GIO and all the NGOs.

Cheng said the accounts of the "Hope for Tomorrow, Love from Taiwan" activity are open for all to see and the spending of the funds has been done in an extremely transparent manner. All of the spending and initiatives carried out with the funds have been posted on the GIO's Web site for all people making donations to see and review.

Cheng said that when the donations activity was first held, the regulatory framework to hold the activity was not thorough enough, adding that this triggered various debates and discussions in some circles of society. As a result, the Executive Yuan has since drafted special clauses governing public fund-raising events and has sent the bill to the Legislative Yuan for screening. The bill was enacted in May 2006 and went into implementation shortly thereafter. Therefore, Cheng said, the "Hope for Tomorrow, Love from Taiwan" activity had an unexpected positive impact on Taiwanese society even beyond raising the money.

The GIO held a press conference to mark the two-year anniversary of the South Asian tsunami and to elaborate on the accomplishments of the "Hope for Tomorrow, Love from Taiwan" activity. Attending the press conference were the members of the supervisory committee as well as representatives of the four NGOs commissioned by the GIO to utilize the funds. These people included Hsieh Ching-kui, the deputy director of Tzu Chi Foundation's Religion Department, Wang Ming-jen, the executive director of the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, Tu Ming-han, the president of World Vision Taiwan, and Alicia Wang, the executive director of the Child Welfare League Foundation.

Others attending the press conference included representatives from companies and agencies that made significant donations, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mega Holdings, the Quanta Computer Group, the Wan Hai Lines Group, the Buddha's Light International Association of the Republic of China, the YFY Group, Taiwan Power Company, the Tsann Kuen 3C Group, the Chinatrust Foundation, Taishin Financial Holding, E.SUN Financial Holding, and Hua Nan Commercial Bank.