United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

- A Public-private Partnership Welfare Services Model Designed to Meet Ever-changing Diverse Welfare Demands -
The Didimdol Project (which translated means the Project of Beautiful neighbors, Stepping Stones of Seoul) was launched to provide the less-privileged people in Seoul with customized welfare benefits, through local welfare facilities, by securing private donor resources. It is a public-private partnership welfare services model seeking a virtuous cycle of donor resources. Donated resources from the private sector are distributed in the form of online coupons (vouchers) and the beneficiaries are encouraged to engage in voluntary activities to help other underprivileged, thus creating a virtuous cycle.

The impact of the global financial crisis and changes in the demographical structure due to a low national birth rate and an aging population has led to escalating welfare demands; however, there is limit to what the government can do. Under the existing public institution-centered welfare system, it was difficult to respond effectively to the diverse welfare service demands of the less-privileged, such as those in the second/third lower-income brackets. Barriers included the ever-increasing welfare demands amid the increase in the number of people living below subsistence levels of the criteria for the selection of beneficiaries of the National Basic Security of the Livelihood (NBSL) program, a complicated procedure and limited budget. The NBSL program had its own blind spot. Once designated as beneficiaries, individuals continued to rely on governmental support, thus giving up any effort to improve their status. There was little public consensus on a philanthropic culture – many people thought that donations were something only the wealthy did.

- Need for Public-private Sector Cooperation for an Improved Welfare Service Centered on a Philanthropic Culture -
It was evident that the welfare service system had many problems that required solving and that it had to be linked to local welfare resources and the welfare service. It was also necessary to develop a new welfare service system that could create a virtuous cycle in which beneficiaries were encouraged to take participate in voluntary activities to help other underprivileged people.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
- Establishment of a New Local Community-centered Social Welfare Model - The City of Seoul launched a dedicated homepage (http://didimdol.welfare.seoul.kr) for more efficient operation of the Didimdol Project. Those interested in making a donation in the form of education, haircuts or provision of food found the homepage made putting their ideas into practice that much easier. The integration of diverse welfare services and the sharing of relevant information made it easier to identify the articles or services required by the needy. The beneficiaries were able to access the welfare service more easily, i.e., by using vouchers (service coupons) issued by nearby welfare facilities at nearby donor businesses. Unlike past welfare service systems and their complicated set up that actually hindered their response to the diverse demands of the less-privileged, the Didimdol Project made it possible for the beneficiaries, including senior citizens living alone or families where the children are the head of household, to use donated articles and services (i.e., everyday necessities or cultural, educational, medical services, etc) at any time and place. Thus, it has come a long way in expanding the scope of welfare services and establishing a more closely-knit social security network. A new local community-centered social welfare model, the Didimdol Project helps alleviate the local government’s financial burden associated with the rapidly increasing demand for welfare by bridging the donors to the needy. It also helps build a better local community by encouraging private businesses to fulfill their social responsibility. Compared to past welfare service systems in which the Government provided pecuniary aid unilaterally and uniformly, the Didimdol Project has helped to establish a new philanthropic culture that restores local communities by encouraging local businesses to partake in welfare service programs. It also has the merit of meeting the diverse welfare demands associated with the everyday lives of the needy through the articles and services provided by voluntary donors. In addition, it encourages welfare beneficiaries to take part in voluntary activities to help other less fortunate neighbors, thus helping them feel a sense of pride and giving them the willingness to stand on their own.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Didimdol Project was started at the Wolgye Social Welfare Center in Nowon-gu (with the largest number of people protected by the basic livelihood guarantee program among the 25 districts in Seoul), as a result of local residents’ voluntary participation, in 2005. The philanthropic project, which was voluntarily started by a local welfare facility, soon became a social campaign. Neighborhood stores, private teaching institutes, clinics and businesses joined the campaign and donated articles and services for less fortunate, and those who received aid joined in activities that helped develop the community and helped other needy neighbors. In August 2008, the City of Seoul decided to spread the campaign throughout the city. Initially, the scope of the activities was confined to everyday necessities and health/medical/hygiene services. The City of Seoul then expanded the reach of services to include education, mentoring, law, transportation, culture and the arts. When the Didimdol project began in Nowon-gu in 2005, a total of 51 businesses participated in the campaign for 540 people. By December 2009, it had been expanded to 2,319 donating businesses for 27,183 people.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The primary goal of the Didimdol Project was to establish a local community-led, self-reliant welfare system, with the government playing only a supportive role. In April 2008, the City of Seoul set up the basic plan of operations and held an explanatory session. The Didimdol Project was officially launched in August 2008 having secured 182 local private institutions that were capable of aiding with the project. The homepage (http://didimdol.welfare.seoul.kr) was also launched in connection with the need to find local donor resources and the needy to link them to each other. To help with the participation of welfare facilities, the City of Seoul provided them with operational manuals and held educational sessions for them. The “community” space on the homepage was offered to exchange trouble-shooting ideas and share the list of donor resources. From the beginning, the services were provided in a user-centric manner and the donation system focused on transparency in operation. The City of Seoul makes it a rule to provide a signboard marked “A donor for the Didimdol Project” to donor businesses so that they may feel proud for their contribution to the community. Donation receipts are issued for donors’ tax deductions. The key point of the project is to spread the culture of sharing with others. The City of Seoul continues to hold various events to publicize the Didimdol Project (including sessions for presentation of relevant cases and appointing popular entertainers as goodwill ambassadors, etc) and asks opinion leaders to write articles to encourage the masses to participate in the campaign.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The City of Seoul set up the basic plan, including how to operate the organization and its budget, for the Didimdol Project in April 2008. The relevant welfare facilities were selected with the focus on their ability to manage donor resources efficiently. The City of Seoul helped the selected welfare facilities familiarize themselves with the project and then moved forward with the activities efficiently by holding workshops for working-level employees and distributing the related manuals. The City of Seoul launched the relevant website (http://didimdol.welfare.seoul.kr) to help participants share pertinent information with each other and to make donations more easily, thus enabling the website manager to list various cases, share the list of donor resources with relevant parties, and spread exemplary cases. After these preparations, the City of Seoul officially launched the Didimdol Project in August 2008 with the aim of spreading the culture of sharing. PR posters and leaflets were distributed to local welfare facilities. The City of Seoul also held events to thank donor institutions (in December 2008) and present cases of donations (in June 2009) in an effort to spread the philanthropic culture. The City of Seoul signed donor agreements, with the following associations, in an effort to establish a network of donors: the Seoul Medical Association; the Seoul Dental Association; the Association Of Seoul Oriental Medicine; the Seoul Pharmaceutical Association; the Korea Restaurant Association; the Korea Barber`s Center Association; the Korean Cosmetologists` Association; the Korea Bakery Association; the Seoul Optometric Association; the Korea Central Esthetician`s Association, etc.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
- Difficulty in Overcoming the Prejudice Concerning Donations - In the beginning, it was very difficult to secure donor resources as many locals believed that donations should be left to the wealthy and many local small businesses were experiencing economic difficulties due to the worldwide financial crisis. The City of Seoul developed an online donation system to help interested people donate more easily, provided a signboard marked “A donor for the Didimdol Project” to donor businesses, and issued donation receipts for donors’ tax deduction, while carrying out PR activities. The number of businesses participating in the Project is increasing continuously. It appears that neighbors patronize them, regarding them as their good neighbors. - Spread of the Philanthropic culture by Means of Positive Public Relations(PR) - The City of Seoul also highlighted exemplary cases of donations via the mass media, signed donor agreements with businesses for donations and used well-known sports stars and entertainers for the purpose of publicity, thus successfully forming public consensus on the need for donations for the less-privileged.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The City of Seoul assigned three employees of the Health & Welfare Bureau the duties of making plans for the Didimdol Project, providing support for the welfare facilities, and running the homepage for the project. 353 million won was earmarked for the relevant PR, events and running the homepage in 2008 and 2009. As a result of such efforts, the City of Seoul laid the basis for a culture of donation with donor resources standing at 1 billion won. Besides such a visible result, participants saw local communities restored and trust was rebuilt among the members of the community. The City of Seoul did its best to publicize the project as a welfare program suited to the 21st century in which the private sector played a leading role. It appointed well-known sports stars and entertainers as goodwill ambassadors in an effort to encourage more businesses to donate. As a result, the Didimdol Project produced noticeable results in only a year. By December 2009, the number of relevant welfare facilities increased to 182, the number of private donor businesses to 2,319, the number of beneficiaries to 27,183, and the total amount of services provided to 1,092 million won. The Didimdol Project is now acclaimed as a successful love-thy-neighbor project throughout the city, with a continued increase in the number of donor businesses.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The Didimdol Project, which has now successfully been established, can be benchmarked by other local governments as a good model for public-private cooperation on the following points: first, from a financial perspective, a project benchmarking Didimdol can achieve a stellar result with only the initial outlay for the establishment of an infrastructure and minimum manpower input. Second, from a social perspective, if local leaders and opinion leaders are interested in spreading the culture of sharing with others, the way used in the Didimdol Project for systematic linkage between donor resources and beneficiaries can be easily adopted. Third, it is thought that the donation campaign can spread farther and wider if more incentives are given institutionally. Finally, the local government’s commitment to the provision of a welfare service, along with the objective of restoring the local community, is more important than anything else. Such an attitude is essential in securing the consensus of the civic groups.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
First, considering the perspective of welfare beneficiaries, the government (or public institution)-centered welfare service system had the following problems: it increased the government’s financial burden; could not meet the welfare demands due to inactive support programs; led to the deterioration of the welfare beneficiaries’ ability for self-reliance, their loss of pride and subsequent lack of solidarity as members of a local community; and welfare blind spots caused by particular procedures and conditions. As the 21st century-type customized welfare service, in which the private sector plays a leading role, and the local government plays a supportive role, the Didimdol Project could provide cultural, educational and legal services that had not been included in the scope of welfare services provided under a government-centered system. In addition to meeting diverse welfare demands, Didimdol encouraged welfare beneficiaries to do something for the local community, thus resulting in a stronger sense of solidarity among the members of the local community and a reinforced sense of pride. Second, donor businesses gain a sense of achievement from contributing to the local community. Their neighbors gain a better impression of them and patronize them. Even those who at first were reluctant to join in the campaign have been persuading their neighbors to participate. Third, a campaign to help needy neighbors builds trust in local communities and reduces social cost (such as an increase in the rate of crime). Fourth, Didimdol helps local governments to reduce their welfare expenditure in an era featuring a low birth rate and an aging population. The provision of private sector-led diverse and universal welfare services will enable local governments to save welfare expenditure and utilized the saved resources for other useful purposes.


Institution Name:		Welfare Policy Division, Seoul Metropolitan Government
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Oksim Kang
Title:		team member
Telephone/ Fax:		82-2-3707-9103
Institution's / Project's Website:		82-2-3707-9168
E-mail:		kang2549@seoul.go.kr
Address:		Korea Chamber of Commerce, 45, Namdaemunno 4-ga
Postal Code:		100-743
City:		Jung-gu
State/Province:		Seoul Metropolitan City
Country:

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information