The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has approved three grants totaling 5.79 million Hong Kong dollars (742,000 US dollars) for emergency relief to flood victims in the Chinese mainland.

An allocation of 2 million Hong Kong dollars has been approved for World Vision Hong Kong to help flood victims in Henan Province.

Another grant of 790,000 Hong Kong dollars has been approved for Oxfam Hong Kong to help flood victims in Yunnan and Hunan provinces.

A further grant of 3 million Hong Kong dollars has been approved for Hong Kong Red Cross to help flood victims in Henan, Yunnan, Hunan and Guangxi.

The HKSAR government accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee to grant the flood relief to the three organizations. The committee has expressed the hope that the grants could help provide immediate relief to the flood victims.

To ensure that the money will be used for the designated purposes, the committee will ask the three organizations to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after the relief projects have been completed.

The Disaster Relief Fund was established in December 1993 for emergency disaster relief in places outside Hong Kong. The Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee is responsible for advising the HKSAR government on the policy and practices regarding the disbursement of funds for disaster relief, advising on specific amounts to specific recipients, and monitoring the useof grants.

Editor: Olivia