The Commission on Poverty has named Dr Law Chi-kwong to chair a new task force on district-based approaches to advise on long-term strategies to tackle poverty.

At its sixth meeting today, the Commission agreed additional funding, to be administered by the Home Affairs Bureau and Home Affairs Department, will be provided to districts to encourage local poverty alleviation initiatives.

Financial Secretary and Commission chairman Henry Tang said the additional funding will help encourage districts to focus their efforts on the priority work areas identified by the Commission, especially on helping people find jobs and become self-reliant.

The task force will oversee a study on the implementation of the district-based approach so far, and consider ways to energise district networks and resources.

To encourage worthwhile projects and cross-district collaboration, members agreed they should set relevant achievement targets and engage more people outside the Commission, including academics, professionals, business people and people familiar with district work, to help determine the allocation of the fund.  

The agenda and papers of the meeting are available at the Commission's website.