The new WEMP Foundation will benefit more than 10,000 underprivileged children and parents with support from medical, education, political and business experts
Not only have Hong Kong students’ education suffered from repeated school closures due to Covid-19 restrictions, many children from underprivileged families have also suffered from mental health problems of varying degrees throughout the pandemic.
To combat this, Adrian Cheng, the CEO of New World Development, has set up the WEMP Foundation, the city’s first NGO dedicated to early-childhood mental health, which launched on November 10. The foundation aims to create a nurturing environment for children across four key areas: wellbeing, emotional quotient (EQ), mental health and positive parenting with initiatives such as educational programmes and parental skills training.
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Cheng has banded together an advisory committee with 19 members, including experts in education, medicine, academic, political and business sectors; and leaders such as Professor Anthony Wu, the former chairman of Hospital Authority; Dr Ko Wing-man, the former Secretary for Food and Health; and Dr Rosanna Wong, senior advisor to The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.
At the moment, it can take as long as two years for children requiring mental health treatment to receive referral and care, according to Dr Phyllis Chan Kwok-ling. Chan is a consultant psychiatrist at Queen Mary Hospital, and the lead of WEMP Foundation’s workshops for parents from underprivileged families, and says “the situation is extremely worrying”.