Message from the Convenor

March 23, 2009

Dear Supporters, Alumni and Colleagues,

In response to the Sichuan Earthquake, HKU community has been engaged not only in raising funds for emergency relief, but also involved in various volunteering tasks in which the University possesses expertise. Some academic colleagues have already kicked start initiatives in the affected sites since last summer. Apart from helping the victims, we also aim at capacity building and long-term knowledge transfer in catastrophe management.

With donations from alumni and the community, the University has set aside some internal seed funding to facilitate its academic colleagues to engage in research and service-oriented initiatives in the earthquake affected areas.

The first round of the internal seed funding exercise has been concluded. A total of 28 projects were received, of which 15 projects were approved with total funding amounts to HK$2.01 million. The projects cover a wide range of strategic areas including catastrophe health care, emergency engineering, capacity building and psychosocial care, and social service management. Click here for the list of funded projects.

Other related initiatives at HKU are underway and your continuous support is most appreciated!

Yours sincerely,

S P Chow (Prof)
Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Convenor, 512 Earthquake Roundtable Core Group