Nowon-gu Wins Two Awards for Social Economy & Outreach Welfare Services

[Seoul District News] Nowon-gu Wins Awards in Two Categories at the 2022 Regional Welfare Project Evaluation by the Ministry of Health and Welfare & Grand Prize in Community Service Expansion and Social Economy Activation Led by Nowon Social Economy Support Center for Local Issue Resolution & Three Consecutive Years of Awards in Visiting Health and Welfare Services, This Year’s Top Prize... Nowon Smart Care Team and Bokji Deochaum Efforts to Address Welfare Blind Spots ... Geumcheon-gu Selected as Excellent District in Urban Agriculture for Four Consecutive Years & 15 Locations Including Schools, Daycare Centers, and Nursing Homes

Care Service Provider Training

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it has been recognized for excellence in the fields of social economy revitalization and visiting welfare services in the 'Local Welfare Project Evaluation' conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The Local Welfare Project Evaluation is a system conducted annually by the Ministry of Health and Welfare targeting 229 basic local governments nationwide to eliminate welfare blind spots and support socially vulnerable groups. This year, Nowon-gu won the grand prize in the 'Expansion of Community Services and Social Economy Revitalization' category and the highest award in the 'Provision of Visiting Health and Welfare Services' category, earning the honor of winning for three consecutive years.

This recognition is the result of the district's efforts working with about 190 social economy organizations within the region to revitalize the social economy, the 'Nowon Ddok Ddok Ddok Care Team' where neighbors care for neighbors, and the welfare rights relief system 'Bokji Deo Chaeum,' which were acknowledged as exemplary cases.

Currently, the district operates the 'Nowon Social Economy Support Center,' a dedicated social economy institution, by zones, and the 4th building is scheduled to open in March next year.

The center provides stable business spaces to social economy enterprises, creating local jobs and building social economy networks while carrying out various projects. Since 2013, it has been highly evaluated for discovering local agendas and promoting specialized projects aligned with agendas such as ▲care ▲food ▲resource circulation.

In particular, the district is forming a Nowon-type integrated social economy care model based on local demand. Seventeen care service providers have formed a consortium (an association or cooperative organized for a common purpose) and operate as the 'Our Neighborhood Together Care' project group, currently providing 13 services across six areas: medical care, visiting care, accompaniment support, housing convenience, meals, and emotional support.

The district is also making every effort to provide health and welfare services without blind spots. Representative examples are the 'Nowon Ddok Ddok Ddok Care Team' and the 'Bokji Deo Chaeum' system.

First, the 'Nowon Ddok Ddok Ddok Care Team' is a representative public-private cooperative welfare safety net where neighbors care for neighbors. Since its launch in 2021, the care team regularly checks on vulnerable households such as the elderly, disabled, and middle-aged single-person households, identifies households in crisis, and connects them to welfare resources. Composed of 200 residents, it cares for about 8,000 people monthly and has connected over 22,000 services this year alone.

The 'Bokji Deo Chaeum,' a welfare rights relief system implemented for the first time nationwide, is a system that reviews decisions of ineligibility for livelihood benefits and connects necessary services to residents who are practically struggling. As of October this year, a total of 862 people were reviewed, and 72 were relieved. This system was also selected as the best case of proactive administration in Seoul.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, "I am pleased that the welfare administration and social economy foundation projects that we have steadily promoted have been recognized externally. We will continue to build a public-private cooperation system to create a Nowon where no one is left out and everyone is happy."

Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon) was selected as an excellent autonomous district for the fourth consecutive year in the '2022 Urban Agriculture Excellent Autonomous District Evaluation' hosted by Seoul City.

The evaluation was conducted on urban agriculture project achievements from November last year to October this year, including ▲creation and management of urban gardens ▲securing and execution of urban agriculture budgets ▲promotion of urban agriculture events ▲other urban agriculture activities (support center operation, safety inspections) ▲participation rate in the Seoul Farmer Portal.

This year, Geumcheon-gu newly created a total of 1,270m² of gardens at 15 locations including schools, daycare centers, and nursing homes. In particular, shared gardens were created at Hyemyeong Nursing Home and Jari School, an alternative education entrusted institution, allowing local residents to cultivate gardens together and experience urban agriculture.

Additionally, the ecological rice paddy was expanded along the Anyangcheon Rural Landscape Trail, providing residents with sightseeing opportunities and urban agricultural experiences.

Moreover, through the operation of urban agriculture experience centers, distribution of planter boxes and companion gardens, and healing garden programs, about 2,000 residents experienced urban agriculture.

Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, "It is very meaningful that Geumcheon-gu, which has relatively little farmland, was selected as an excellent urban agriculture autonomous district for four consecutive years by promoting various urban agriculture projects. We will continue to develop and operate programs so that more residents can experience diverse urban agriculture."

Guro-gu (Mayor Moon Heon-il) was selected as an excellent institution in the '2022 Autonomous Internal Control Operation of Local Governments.'

This is another achievement following the attainment of the S grade, awarded to the top 5% of institutions nationwide, for four consecutive years from 2018 to 2021.

'Autonomous internal control' is a system designed to prevent errors and corruption that may occur during work processes by self-checking through systems, thereby enhancing transparency and efficiency in work.

From October 2021 to September 2022, an evaluation of internal control operation and activation was conducted targeting 243 local governments nationwide (17 metropolitan and 226 basic governments).

As a result of the evaluation, Guro-gu received excellent ratings across detailed items such as the 'Cheongbaek-System,' which continuously monitors various administrative information systems, the 'Self-Diagnosis System,' where work personnel conduct self-prechecks, and the 'Public Official Self-Management System' to improve employees' ethical awareness.

The district has been implementing various policies to prevent corruption and improve integrity.

To create a transparent organizational culture, it operates the 'Integrity Certification System,' which manages integrity tasks by individuals and departments year-round, and the 'Ombudsman Hearing Attendance System,' where an ombudsman attends hearings conducted before administrative sanctions. It also continuously conducts education to raise employees' integrity awareness. In addition, recall systems such as integrity text messages, mobile survey links, and integrity happy calls ensure fairness in work processing, and the integrity meal ticket system introduced to eradicate entertainment has enhanced trust in construction management, supervision, and contract fields.

A Guro-gu official said, "We are pleased that the efforts of all employees for transparent and fair district administration have led to this award. We will continue to do our best to become a 'Clean Guro' trusted by residents."

Meanwhile, having received the highest grade (S) for the past four years, the district was awarded the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award in 2021, the Prime Minister's Award in 2019, and the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award in 2018.

Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) announced that it won the Excellent District Award in three disaster management categories (Safety Korea Training, Integrated Support Headquarters, Intensive Safety Inspection) of Seoul City in 2022.

On November 24, Eunpyeong-gu conducted realistic discussion and field training during the disaster response Safety Korea Training. The district received high evaluations from Seoul City by carrying out various trainings such as the organic roles and mission execution of 13 practical teams of the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for complex disaster occurrences and life-saving using advanced technology.

Additionally, in the Integrated Support Headquarters category, which oversees and coordinates disaster sites, the district was selected as an excellent district due to active participation in training sessions in the first and second halves of the year and operation and response to various disaster accidents such as the Bukhansan mountain fire.

It was also selected as an excellent district in the Intensive Safety Inspection category, which discovers and inspects various social risk factors, and received a subsidy of 25 million KRW from the city.

The Intensive Safety Inspection was conducted from August 17 to October 14 on 179 facilities in the district, including steep slopes and construction sites. It focused on discovering 22 inspection targets through a resident application system and inspecting and resolving safety hazards using advanced technologies such as drones and the Internet of Things.

Furthermore, Eunpyeong-gu conducted inspection and maintenance projects for gas, electricity, boilers, and hoods in 1,150 safety-vulnerable households, including basic livelihood security recipients and disabled persons. Various support projects are being promoted to eliminate safety blind spots, such as fire extinguisher and fire detector installation support projects.

Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong-gu, said, "Eunpyeong-gu is the only district in Seoul to win the Excellent District Award in all three disaster management categories. We will continue to do our best to make Eunpyeong-gu safer."

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun District Office (left in the photo), and Kim Joo-won, President of the Korean Language Society (right in the photo), are taking a commemorative photo.

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) signed a business agreement on the correct use of public language with the Hangeul Society (President Kim Joo-won) on the afternoon of the 14th.

The 'Hangeul Society' is Korea's first academic organization that has worked for over 100 years for a better future of Hangeul, starting from the 'Korean Language Research Society' founded in 1908 by Mr. Ju Si-gyeong for the research, unification, and development of the Korean language.

This agreement was planned to promote the correct use of public language and establish a foundation for the development and preservation of the Korean language. The signing ceremony was held at 3 p.m. on the 14th in the Mayor's Reception Room on the 5th floor of Dongdaemun-gu Office, attended by Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, and Kim Joo-won, President of the Hangeul Society.

The main contents of the agreement include ▲consultation for easy and correct use of public language ▲provision of materials related to correct Korean language usage ▲special contributions on Hangeul Day to widely promote the excellence of Hangeul ▲and other mutually agreed matters for the correct use of Hangeul.

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, "Through this business agreement with the Hangeul Society on the correct use of public language, we will strengthen communication with residents by using public language easily and correctly, and also strive for the correct use of the Korean language by district residents."