Tencent’s project has been selected as the world’s best poverty reduction case

On November 1, the 2023 Global Poverty Reduction Partnership Seminar was held in Beijing, and the list of winning cases of the 4th "Global Poverty Reduction Case Collection Activity" was released. Among them, the "Living Water Plan – Empowering Action of Grassroots Social Organizations in Counties" (hereinafter referred to as "Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan") jointly initiated by Tencent Charity Foundation and China Rural Revitalization Foundation was awarded the "4th Best Poverty Reduction Case in the World".

"The 4th Global Call for Poverty Reduction Cases" Award Certificate for Best Poverty Reduction Cases

In 2022, the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan" was initiated under the guidance of the Social Assistance Department of the National Rural Revitalization Bureau. Through the model innovation of strengthening capabilities, grasping projects, gathering resources, and expanding influence, it explores and systematically solves the common problems of limited funds, lack of talents, and insufficient capabilities of grass-roots social organizations in counties. At present, the project has supported grass-roots social organizations in 151 underdeveloped counties to carry out professional construction, implemented more than 200 public welfare projects, and raised a total of 178 million yuan through the Tencent Charity Internet Fundraising Information Platform, which has led to more than 2.67 million people’s loving support and effectively helped millions of people in need in 10 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country.

Liu Yong, vice president of Tencent, said that the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan" uses Internet technology to help grassroots social organizations, and gradually promotes the construction of government entities, assistance departments, social organizations, caring enterprises, social individuals and other multi-point efforts, all parties contribute, and work together. An awesome new ecology of rural revitalization, and strive to form a long-term mechanism for social organizations to help rural comprehensive revitalization.

Liu Yong, Vice President of Tencent, was invited to speak at the 2023 Global Poverty Reduction Partnership Symposium

Let enthusiastic grassroots philanthropists be more professional

At present, the development foundation of grass-roots social organizations in underdeveloped counties in our country is weak, which has become one of the shortcomings restricting the transfer of resources to underdeveloped areas in the third distribution. Data show that among social organizations in underdeveloped counties in our country, 52.55% have no professional team, 70% have no stable projects, and more than 50% of the annual donations received are less than 300,000 yuan.

In Danchang County, Gansu Province, until 2022, the 10-year-old Danchang County Human Love Volunteer Association will still be a "three noes" organization, with no full-time staff, no brand project of its own, and no sustainable financing channels.

The change happened in 2022, when the Volunteer Association of Love in the World joined the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Program" in May of that year. With the support of special project funds, the association has a small team of three people and a fixed office space. "After ten years of’wandering ‘, it finally looks like a serious unit." Cui Suying, the head of the association, said.

Through the comprehensive capacity building support of "model research, empowering training, supervision and companionship, and professional evaluation" provided by the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Program", the association learns by doing, designs projects by itself, conducts Internet fundraising, holds activities, does training, and builds networks, and quickly changes from "layman" to "expert".

"Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan" 2022 Rural Revitalization Key Assistance County Grassroots Social Organizations Empowered Action Training Session/Photo courtesy of China rural revitalization foundation

Since the implementation of the "Rural Revitalization and Living Water Plan" project, social organizations in more than 150 project counties have generally recruited about three full-time staff, basically realizing the transformation from part-time and part-time jobs to dedicated posts. "The whole process has improved the project design, operation and management capabilities of social organizations, and created a local standardized and professional team for grassroots social organizations in less developed counties," said Ge Yi, secretary general of Tencent Charity Foundation.

Let good projects truly solve people’s difficulties

Xingguo Happy Home Social Worker Visits He Dingliang Elderly/Xingguo Happy Home Social Worker

He Dingliang, a 96-year-old who lives in Luoxing Village, Gangzhen, Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, has been a big problem because of the inconvenience of legs and feet. In Xingguo County, 53% of the elderly like He have the need for home-based elderly meals.

Therefore, the social workers of Xingguo Happy Home launched the "Dream Plan for Helping the Elderly". According to Guo Xun, the general consultant of the project, with the support of the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan" to provide comprehensive capabilities such as training, supervision and fundraising, the plan has gradually launched integrated elderly care services in areas such as entertainment, medical assistance and school assistance based on buffet.

Volunteers from Runze Social Work Center give adolescent health classes to students/Photo courtesy of Runze Social Work Center

In Gongshan County, Yunnan Province, some adolescents are facing problems such as school weariness, puppy love and even early pregnancy due to the lack of professional adolescent health education and family psychological support. In 2022, with the support of the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Program" special project, Runze Social Work Center initiated the implementation of the "Keeping Flowers and Protecting Buds" program, opened adolescent health classes, distributed personal basic hygiene health kits and adolescent health kits for girls, carried out "whisper" letter writing activities, and planned themed growth camps…

Based on the urgent and practical needs of the disadvantaged groups in the project county, helping grass-roots social organizations in the county to build brand projects is one of the main tasks of the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan". "Only with our own public welfare brand projects can we better introduce external help resources," said Yan Zhitao, deputy secretary general of the China Rural Revitalization Foundation.

Today, the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Program" supports local grassroots social organizations in more than 150 project counties, focusing on "industrial development, rural construction, rural governance, and social undertakings" for professional project design, and has launched more than 200 public welfare brand projects to solve the difficulties of the people and serve rural revitalization, covering care for disadvantaged groups, education and employment for disadvantaged families, improvement of rural living environment, rural industrial development, and relocation and community resettlement services.

Let the living water of love gather through the Internet

550,000 yuan in 2020, 740,000 yuan in 2021, 2.25 million yuan in 2022… This is the Internet public welfare fundraising transcript handed over by Chunhui Public Welfare Association of Yanhe County, Guizhou Province in the "Living Water Plan Rural Revitalization Special", which has helped 508 students from disadvantaged families in the county.

In 2022, among the project counties that joined the "Rural Revitalization Living Water Plan", nearly 60% carried out Internet fundraising for the first time, that is, released projects, disclosed information, and updated progress on the Tencent Charity Internet fundraising information platform, and took the "99 Public Welfare Day" "Living Water Plan Rural Revitalization Special Public Welfare Day Activities" as the breakthrough point for online and offline activities, which combined the love and kindness of ordinary people inside and outside the county through the Internet bit by bit, matched and docked with local public welfare needs, and helped to achieve accurate public welfare, transparent public welfare, and public welfare for everyone.

While supporting grassroots social organizations in fundraising, WeChat Channels, Tencent News, QQ Browser, etc. have also fully participated in branding and disseminating public welfare projects in various counties to help introduce social assistance resources outside the county.

Yanhe Chunhui Public Welfare Association organizes volunteers to participate in the capacity building training of the Living Water Program through online meetings/Photo provided by Yanhe Chunhui Public Welfare Association

The "Global Poverty Reduction Case Collection Activity" was jointly launched by the China International Poverty Alleviation Center, the China Internet News Center, the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations World Food Program, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Asian Development Bank in 2018. By promoting and sharing the successful practices of poverty reduction in various countries, it provides poverty reduction models and implementation plans to institutions and people around the world who are concerned about poverty reduction. A total of 424 outstanding cases were selected in the four sessions, involving 67 countries and regions. This year, a total of 104 cases were selected worldwide, of which the Tencent project was selected for the first time.

Liu Yong, vice-president of Tencent, said that as a world-leading Internet technology company, Tencent has been adhering to the mission vision of "user-oriented, science and technology for good", promoting concept innovation, product innovation and model innovation with Internet technology and thinking, widely connecting and gathering social resources, narrowing and bridging the digital divide between urban and rural areas, and effectively helping rural revitalization. "In the future, we will continue to explore new ideas, new products and new models that the Internet can help rural revitalization through investment in core capabilities, talents and resources, and strive to make due contributions to global poverty reduction," Liu Yong said.