Youth Development Commission convenes eighth meeting
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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, chaired the eighth meeting of the Youth Development Commission (YDC) today (May 21). At the meeting, members were briefed on government measures on youth development that are relevant to the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China and the Long-range Objectives Through the Year 2035” (the 14th Five-Year Plan), and discussed relevant measures to nurture young people’s positive thinking.
The 14th Five-Year Plan has mentioned, among other things, enabling Hong Kong and Macao youths to study, work and start businesses in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and establishing a brand of quality exchanges among the youths of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Members took note of the various measures introduced by the Government that aim at enabling Hong Kong young people to study, work, participate in internships and start businesses on the Mainland, including the Greater Bay Area, as well as enabling them to pursue development and live on the Mainland. Members agreed that development of the Greater Bay Area could provide Hong Kong young people with a wider room for development, and that the measures introduced by the Government were conducive to helping young people grasp opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, thereby better enabling their integration with the overall development of the country. Members suggested that the Government should strengthen the promotion and publicity work of the relevant measures with a view to enabling young people to grasp the relevant information more effectively and enhancing their understanding of the development of the Greater Bay Area.
Members were also briefed on the relevant policies and measures of the Government that aim at nurturing young people’s positive thinking, including measures supporting youth mental health, promoting outdoor adventure training activities, providing support in schools and through social welfare organisations, as well as relevant youth programmes offered by the disciplined services. In particular, as a new measure promulgated in the 2020 Policy Address, the YDC had earlier agreed that a new thematic funding scheme be introduced under the Youth Development Fund to subsidise eligible non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to collaborate with schools to provide systematic, quality and sizeable local outdoor adventure training activities for young people. After further deliberation on the details and a site visit, the YDC had decided to roll out the scheme on a pilot basis in collaboration with the Hong Kong Award for Young People. Subject to the development of the epidemic, the pilot scheme could be rolled out this summer at the earliest, targeting to benefit not fewer than 500 young participants.
In view of the importance of nurturing young people’s positive thinking in promoting youth development, and the need of cross-bureau and cross-sectoral collaboration in taking forward relevant work, the YDC agreed that the third policy thematic meeting should deliberate on the theme of “young people’s positive thinking”. It is hoped that, through focused discussion, the YDC could raise public awareness towards the promotion of young people’s positive thinking and their well-being. At the same time, through live broadcasts on social media, the YDC could also directly listen to the views of young people and relevant stakeholders, thereby facilitating the Government and the relevant sectors to further enhance the relevant work.
Members noted the progress of various youth development projects under the YDC. The YDC announced in February this year the list of funded NGOs of the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Entrepreneurship Scheme) and the Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In particular, the 16 funded NGOs under the Entrepreneurship Scheme were progressively rolling out their youth entrepreneurship projects and recruitment efforts, which so far have met with a positive response. To date, six funded NGOs have received a total of more than 1 200 applications, while the other 10 funded NGOs were currently accepting or would soon accept applications. Interested young people may visit the thematic website “We Venture” (www.weventure.gov.hk/en/) for details and directly approach the NGOs concerned for enquiries and applications.