Yeongdeungpo-gu Announces Social Welfare Project Proposal Contest... Up to 10 Million Won Support

[Seoul District News] Yeongdeungpo-gu Supports Young and Middle-aged Households, Non-face-to-face Social Welfare Projects, Learning and Cultural Activities Support, Health Management; Applications by May 6 via Mail, Email, or Visit to District Office Welfare Policy Division... Eunpyeong-gu Focuses on Customized Support for Single-person Households... Gangnam-gu Signs Senior Health Management MOU with Seoul National University College of Human Ecology... Jongno-gu Conducts '2022 Conflict of Interest Prevention and Anti-corruption Integrity Special Training' for All District Office Staff to Improve Integrity... Jung-gu Accepts 2023 Resident Proposal for Dong Resident Participatory Budget

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yeongdeungpo-gu is conducting the ‘2022 Social Welfare Planning Project Proposal Contest’ to discover innovative welfare ideas that can contribute to the promotion of community welfare and to support outstanding proposed projects.

The ‘Social Welfare Planning Project Proposal Contest’ is a fund allocation project by the Community Chest of Korea that solicits field-oriented welfare programs reflecting local characteristics and welfare needs from institutions and organizations active in the social welfare sector and supports them with project funds.

Last year, projects such as ▲Cooking classes for single middle-aged and older men ▲Care services for elderly living alone ▲Street counseling and self-support assistance for homeless and vulnerable groups were selected and implemented as contest projects, contributing to the improvement of local welfare services.

This year, the district plans to actively discover and support excellent welfare programs, working through public-private cooperation to eliminate blind spots in social welfare services and enhance welfare for vulnerable groups.

Eligible applicants for the contest include nonprofit corporations, institutions, organizations, and facilities engaged in social welfare activities, as well as consortia formed to solve community problems and working-level subcommittees of community security councils.

The contest fields include ▲Support for young and middle-aged households ▲Non-face-to-face social welfare projects to overcome COVID-19 ▲Support for safe living of vulnerable groups ▲Support for learning and cultural leisure activities ▲Support for healthy living, excluding simple distribution of goods or one-time projects.

The funds are provided from the 2022 Hope Ondol Warm Winter Fund, with up to 10 million KRW supported per institution.

Those wishing to apply can download the application form from the notice/announcement section of the Yeongdeungpo-gu Office website by May 6, fill it out, and submit it in person to the Welfare Policy Division of the district office, by mail, or via the responsible person’s email.

The district will evaluate the submitted documents through a written review by a panel of welfare experts and finalize the supported projects in May.

A district official said, “We hope that creative and effective welfare projects discovered and operated through this contest will provide practical help in improving the quality of life for residents facing difficulties.”

Eunpyeong-gu announced that it will promote a ‘Customized Support Policy for Single-Person Households’ to improve the quality of life for single-person households.

As of 2020, single-person households in Eunpyeong-gu account for 30.3% of all households, totaling 57,000 households, the largest proportion. This number has been increasing annually from 44,000 households in 2016.

In line with the increase in single-person households, the district plans to invest 8.3 billion KRW this year to implement 38 projects across five major areas. To ensure organic management and operation, 11 related departments will form a task force, focusing on intensive support for single-person households in five areas: safety, health, housing, isolation, and economy.

First, in the safety sector, to strengthen daily safety, the district will operate ▲Safe Village Security Guards and ▲Install and support ‘Safe Home 4-piece Sets’ for women living alone.

In the health sector, the district aims to care for the health of single-person households through ▲Visiting Health Management Projects and ▲Health Promotion Projects.

In the housing sector, support for housing stability includes ▲Providing the ‘Sweet Home’ service for improving the residential environment of single-person households and ▲Clean Home Care projects for single-person households.

In the isolation and economic sectors, the ‘Eunpyeong-gu Family Center’ operates various programs such as ▲Counseling ▲Education and leisure cultural programs ▲Support for social networks to strengthen the living capabilities and expand social networks of single-person households.

In the infrastructure sector, the district will ▲Strengthen the functions of the Single-Person Household Support Center and ▲Conduct surveys for policy establishment to build an infrastructure base for single-person households.

A district official said, “To alleviate anxiety and support a healthy life for single-person households, we will continue to collect diverse opinions and do our best to discover and implement policies that are practically needed by single-person households.”

Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) signed a business agreement with Seoul National University College of Human Ecology (Well-Aging and Senior Industry Advanced Course) at 10 a.m. on the 20th in the Health Center’s small conference room.

The signing ceremony was attended by eight people, including Yang Oh-seung, Director of Gangnam-gu Health Center, and Ha Ji-soo, Dean of Seoul National University College of Human Ecology.

At the meeting, the two institutions agreed to establish a community cooperation network related to the operation of the Gangnam-gu Well-Aging Center and to plan health, culture, and liberal arts education programs to support healthy and vibrant senior lives in Gangnam-gu.

Yang Oh-seung, Director of Gangnam-gu Health Center, said, “We will do our best to manage physical and cognitive health for seniors by preparing various specialized programs at the Well-Aging Center.”

Jongno District Office Employees Integrity Pledge Ceremony

Jongno-gu will conduct the ‘2022 Conflict of Interest Prevention Act and Anti-Corruption Integrity Special Training’ for all district office employees on April 26 and 27 to improve ‘integrity levels.’

This training, conducted online using the Zoom program, focuses on strengthening the integrity awareness essential for public officials and thoroughly preventing corruption.

For this purpose, Park Yeon-jeong, an instructor from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s Integrity Training Institute, will be invited to cover ▲Understanding the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, which will be enforced on May 19 ▲Understanding anti-corruption laws such as the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials ▲Sharing the current status and values of Jongno-gu’s integrity and anti-corruption policies ▲Q&A and integrity quizzes using the Zoom chat window.

Additionally, Jongno-gu has established an ‘Anti-Corruption and Integrity Education Operation Plan’ to spread an organizational culture practicing integrity and operates a ‘Self-Learning Integrity System’ twice a week. On the 20th of this month, integrity training was also held for those involved in ongoing construction projects in the area.

In May, anti-corruption and integrity training will be conducted directly by the Audit Officer for 10 departments related to four major corruption-prone tasks: subsidies, permits and approvals, construction management and supervision, and finance and taxation. In July, ‘Integrity Education for Senior Officials’ will be held to consider and learn about the role of integrity leaders.

Various customized learning sessions such as ‘Integrity Golden Bell’ and ‘Cyber Integrity Education’ are also planned throughout the year.

Jongno-gu established the ‘2022 Comprehensive Anti-Corruption and Integrity Policy Implementation Plan’ in January with the goal of improving overall integrity levels.

The plan includes 27 projects in three areas: creating an integrity ecosystem, improving comprehensive integrity, and spreading anti-corruption and integrity culture. Starting with an ‘Online Integrity Pledge Ceremony for All Departments’ earlier this year, various policies based on communication and empathy among members will be promoted.

A district official said, “We will do our best so that all employees can be confident in integrity and proud in the face of corruption.”

Jung-gu (District Mayor Seo Yang-ho) announced that it will operate a concentrated application period for resident proposal projects for the 2023 Resident Participatory Budget until July 29.

Anyone who is a local resident or an employee or student belonging to a company, organization, or school located in Jung-gu can participate. They can propose project ideas that they feel are necessary for resident convenience and regional development while living and residing in the area.

Project proposals can be submitted through Jung-gu’s online communication platform ‘Onttong Jung-gu,’ or by visiting or mailing the proposal form to the local community service center.

Proposed projects will undergo a review of appropriateness by the relevant department and then be screened by the Resident Participatory Budget Committee in August to select projects for voting. Subsequently, priority projects will be decided through resident voting and on-site voting at the residents’ general meeting. After the budget size for each district is determined in September, the final projects will be confirmed according to priority.

A district official said, “To guarantee practical resident participation and further enhance budget transparency, we have prepared several improvements this year.”

First, the district launched the online resident participation communication platform ‘Onttong Jung-gu’ in March to enable residents to easily participate from project proposal to resident voting. All processes, including project review, screening, and final budget reflection based on online general meeting results, can be checked in real time through Onttong Jung-gu. A text notification service is also provided upon request. The ‘Proposal Map’ menu by year allows residents to see the history and progress of resident proposal projects at a glance.

Meanwhile, to address the previous concentration of resident proposal projects in specific fields such as large-scale facility projects, a limit on the amount per project field will be set from this year. This aims to diversify proposed projects and discover more creative and differentiated projects suited to local characteristics. The limit will be decided by the Resident Participatory Budget Committee according to the conditions of each district.

Management and supervision of the process will also be strengthened. Monitoring, which was conducted only for projects over 100 million KRW until last year, will be expanded to all projects. Written and on-site monitoring will be conducted at each project stage, including project planning, contractor selection, and performance evaluation. The results will be disclosed quarterly on Onttong Jung-gu to enhance transparency and fairness.

Last year in Jung-gu, various resident participatory budget projects were born, such as ‘Visiting Education and Culture Program Operation’ in Sindang 5-dong, ‘Children’s Park Environment Improvement Project’ in Donghwa-dong, and ‘Book Cafe Creation’ in Hwanghak-dong. As residents’ long-standing wishes to change the area become reality, participation and response to resident participatory budget projects are gradually increasing.

Songpa-gu (District Mayor Park Seong-su) will provide the ‘Coming-of-Age Support Fund’ again this year to young people born in 2003 in Songpa-gu who are taking their first steps into society.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “Young people who have passed their adolescent years focused on studies and have become adults may feel confused by the sudden rights and responsibilities they face. Therefore, the ‘Coming-of-Age Support Fund’ project was started to show interest and support so that young people can establish themselves as responsible members of society.”

Mayor Park started the ‘Coming-of-Age Support Fund’ project nationwide for the first time last year, providing 200,000 KRW in mobile Songpa Love Gift Certificates per person to young adults. The first implementation was in September after a preparation period, with 4,307 recipients and a payment rate of 92%.

This year, the project will be implemented in May, when Coming-of-Age Day occurs, to reflect the purpose of the support fund. The expected number of recipients is 5,000.

Eligibility requires being a Songpa-gu resident born in 2003 (including those whose birthdays have not yet occurred this year). However, applicants must have been continuously registered and residing in Songpa-gu for at least one year from April 30, 2021, until the time of payment.

The application and reception period is from May 16 to July 15. Applicants can sign up on the Songpa-gu Office website and apply online through the ‘Coming-of-Age Support Fund’ menu. No additional documents are required.

The district will verify eligibility and decide on final payment. Selected applicants will receive 200,000 KRW in Songpa Love Gift Certificates (mobile local currency) per person.

For further inquiries, check the Songpa-gu website’s notices and FAQ from April 27 or contact the Job Policy Division of Songpa-gu Office.

Mayor Park Seong-su said, “The response to the Coming-of-Age Support Fund has been positive, and other local governments are benchmarking it, showing high interest. We will continue to actively discover policies with high youth perception to create a Songpa-gu where young people have opportunities and hope.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Park has focused on discovering ‘Youth Policies’ as a key project during the 7th local government term. Through ▲forming youth networks ▲youth grand debates to listen to youth voices ▲youth startup challenge projects ▲operating Songpa ICT Youth Startup Support Center and Munjeong Biz Valley Job Hub Center ▲constructing the Bangi 2-dong Youth Hub Building ▲assigning youth members to various committees, the district has implemented diverse projects from youth employment and entrepreneurship to expanding opportunities for policy participation.