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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (April 1) hosted a tea reception at Victoria House to exchange views with the participants of the youth network programmes organised by the Wong Tai Sin District Office and the Tai Po District Office.
Joining the tea reception were the Acting Director of Home Affairs, Mr Jack Chan; the District Officer (Wong Tai Sin), Mrs Angel Choi; the District Officer (Tai Po), Mr Bassanio So; young members of the programmes; principals of schools in both districts; and district personalities supporting the programmes in the districts.
Mrs Lam said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has all along been attaching great importance to youth work and is committed to providing young people with diversified development and learning opportunities. It will continue to strengthen networking and communication with youths at different levels.
Mrs Lam said she was pleased that the youth network programmes launched by the Wong Tai Sin District Office and the Tai Po District Office are running successfully and are well received by youths in the districts. She encouraged the programme participants to seize the opportunity and better equip themselves for contributing to society. She also thanked the participating organisations and district personalities for their support for the programmes. Mrs Lam met and exchanged views with participants of the youth network programme organised by the Eastern District Office in April last year.
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Department said that with additional resources since 2014-15, its 18 District Offices have strengthened the Government's networking and communication with young people at the district level, actively engaging youths in their districts through a series of activities and maintaining regular contact with them. The programmes aim at fostering among the youths a sense of belonging to their districts, heightening their civic awareness, and promoting whole-person development and a healthy lifestyle.
The Wong Tai Sin Youth Development Network, set up in 2014, organises the "Move It Up, WTS" programme, which is led by youths of the district and covers six areas, namely team building, life planning, understanding the district, caring for the community, contributing to society and overseas exchange. Through diversified activities, training and community service, it aims at turning the participating young people into youth pioneers, helping them to foster positive life values, broadening their horizons, promoting district development and enabling youths to be understood in the district positively.
The Tai Po Youth Network, named "iTai Po.net", has, since it was set up in 2014, organised a variety of activities, such as a business and career expo, a finance seminar, a training course conducted by a radio programme host, a Guangxi exchange tour and a forum on the Belt and Road Initiative. Its aim is to help members foster a sense of belonging to Tai Po District, as well as to develop multi-perspective thinking and different core competencies. To provide more opportunities for their development, some of the activities or programmes are even co-ordinated and promoted by members.
Ends/Friday, April 1, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:33
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