Special report: Yunnan Civil Affairs Department endeavors to optimize services

Wang Shufen (right), director and Party chief of the Yunnan Civil Affairs Department, talks to an elderly citizen in a low-income family about her current needs.

Post-disaster re-construction, social welfare, nursing home management and the development of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are all topping the agenda in Yunnan this year.

Major commitments in these three pivotal sectors are among a raft of commitments unveiled by the southwestern province's Civil Affairs Department (CAD) this week.

The moves come following a tough year for the province, one of the most mountainous in China. The beginning of 2008 saw it hit by a wave of extreme weather, with nearly 12 million of its residents suffering the effects of the extreme cold. The excessively-low temperatures also damaged 800,000 hectares of crops and destroyed 39,000 homes, leading to the forced relocation of 288,000 people.

According to Wang Shufen, director and Party chief of the department, 2009 will be a very different year. Following a wide-ranging review, the department will increase its efforts into research on raising local living standards and develop a widesweeping range of policies and regulations aimed at boosting its effectiveness and transparency.

Wang said: "The department will endeavor to optimize its services and offer a tailored service to local people."

Among these new policies are new regulations on the care of veteran soldiers, village elections and social welfare. The department will also coordinate with other government bodies in order to improve public infrastructure, develop plans for more nursing homes, as well as the provision of greater numbers of children's welfare homes, mental illness facilities, cemeteries for war heroes and residential homes for veterans.

It will also establish a command center for disaster relief operations, coupled with a more effective public information service.

Community development is also high on its priority list and will see the Yunnan CAD looking to work more closely with model communities. It is also looking to enhance the infrastructure of communities and encourage more voluntary workers to participate locally.

Wang said: "We will try our best to set up service centers in 200 city-level communities and 100 village-level communities. Helping senior citizens is now one of our top concerns. The department is looking at new channels to secure funding for this vulnerable group."

"We are also aware that people's perception of the local government is affected by the performances of all of its employees. This year all of our staff will be working hard to give the public a better understanding of local government's values, commitments and policies."

In order to ensure greater communication between tax-payers and local government employees, the CAD has launched a series of workshops for its own staff members. These will include sessions on public management, disaster relief, social welfare, care for AIDS patients, marriage registration procedures, liaison with village heads and the nurturing of grassroots democracy. A performance assessment system will be also be implemented to monitor work efficiency.

The government will also be launching an initiative to attract more university students to work as community volunteers.

Commenting on the need for greater openness, Wang said: "We will also strengthen our publicity work, optimize information disclosure and host more press conferences.

"A digital information platform on civil affairs, covering the four levels of Yunnan, including province, prefecture (city), county and township (street), will also be launched. Additionally, more local statistical information will be made freely available.

"The department is also committed to combating embezzlement and abuse of authority. We encourage members of the public to contact the relavant anti-corruption departments should they have any concerns in this area."

Village community

Reflecting the geographical, economic and cultural strengths of the province, local government leaders have placed particular emphasis on the development of sustainable village communities.

By the end of 2007, the province had a total population of 45.14 million, with some 80.2 percent (36 million) living in village communities. The province has already injected a total of 12.6 billion yuan into rural construction, with the majority of it earmarked for the provision of library, sports and healthcare facilities and information services in outlying villages.

As part of its policy of helping local farmers, the CAD has a number of new initiatives in the pipeline.

These include the appointments of civil servants who have a greater rapport with the farming community. Their brief will be to maximize the uptake of legal and community resources within their appointed areas, as well as working with rural communities to secure funding and investment.

Disaster relief

In light of the province's vulnerability to climate excesses and natural phenomena, disaster prevention and relief remains a key role for the Yunnan CAD. This year it is funding greater research into natural disaster prevention and looking at means to more effectively monitor disaster reports and statistics.

Comprehensive contingency plans to manage disaster situations will also be put in place.

Last year's extreme weather conditions exhausted the province's disaster relief resources and these will now be replenished and enhanced under a new 5 million yuan program. The province will also continue the implementation of a five-year plan aimed at boosting emergency financial reserves and providing appropriate storage facilities for relief resources.

Social welfare

The department is already claiming remarkable achievements in its social welfare program. To date, a total of 81 city-level social welfare institutions have been established with some 5,000 beds. These include 64 social welfare centers, 12 children's welfare homes and five psychiatric facilities. A series of projects have also been launched in the province offering greater aid to senior citizens.

By the end of 2008, 1,602 disabled children in the province had received vital surgery, at a cost to the local government of some 23.6 million yuan.

A project to help children with cleft lips has also proved a huge success. By the end 2008, a total of 1,073 children patients had registered for the operation. Since then, a total of 557 of them have received successful treatment. This has seen Yunnan rise to the number two slot among all provinces in the treatment of this condition.

AIDS prevention is also on top of the department's work agenda. The province has now spent 26.1 million yuan setting up 27 specialist institutes to care for sufferers. It has also provided 2,000 compensation packages to child victims of the disease.

Provision of care for the disabled has also proved a success story for the province. By the end of 2008, a total of 523 facilities had been established, allowing 285,000 people in this category to secure employment.

Part of the province's success in this sector has been down to its ability to attract external funding from both domestic and international sources. Businesses in Wenshan, in eastern Yunnan, donated some 3 million yuan to launch the Wenshan Prefecture Social Welfare Institute.

Additionally, the Hong Kong Jianhua Foundation, in cooperation with the Yuanjiang County Civil Affairs Bureau, funded four "rainbow hope families," providing adoption opportunities for 25 orphans.

On top of this, the Kunming Children's Welfare Home has received more than 5 million yuan worth of sponsorship from organizations in the US, Netherlands and Britain.

The province has also been at pains to provide for low-income families and those out of work. By the end of 2008, the department had assisted a total of 875,422 people with an average subsidy of 152 yuan per month. The total funds provided to the group reached 1.32 billion yuan last year, according to figures released by the department.

(China Daily 04/20/2009 page10)