A group of activists yesterday submitted a petition to the Executive Yuan urging the government to provide resources to address the shortage of funds plaguing social welfare groups, amid a sharp decline in donations because of the economic downturn.
Holding banners and shouting slogans in front of the gates to the Executive Yuan, representatives of 30 civic groups called on Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) to heed their plea.
“The declining economic situation hurt not only businesses, but also welfare groups. While salvaging businesses has topped the agenda of the government, very little attention is paid to civic groups,” said Gary Chen (陳穎叡), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers.
Donations to civic welfare groups dropped by an average of 30 percent in the fourth quarter last year, compared with the same period a year earlier, Chen said.
“In this sluggish economy, small donations from individuals decreased, and it became more difficult for civic groups to raise funds from enterprises,” he said.
Despite being in a financial predicament, Garden of Hope Foundation executive director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said most welfare groups were trying not to lay off employees because “the bad economy has left a growing number of people in need of help.”
The number of people seeking help from welfare groups increased by between 10 percent and 20 percent in the latter half of last year compared with the same period a year earlier, she said.
“The government should not forget that civic welfare is also an industry and that the groups have made great contributions to the country. If the economy continues to deteriorate, social problems will emerge and the groups will become even more important,” she added.
Officials from the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Social Affairs received the petition on behalf of the government, but declined to respond to the demands.
“We asked the government to sponsor the salaries of two staffers in national civic welfare groups and one staffer at local civic welfare groups for a year to help them maintain operations, but the officials did not agree,” said Tsao Ai-lan (曹愛蘭), secretary-general of the Social Welfare Alliance of Taiwan.
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