The following is issued on behalf of the Commission on Poverty:

      The Chief Secretary for Administration and the Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty (CoP), Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, officiated at the "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme 2017/18 launch ceremony today (November 4) for the "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme (the Scheme) in the new school year.

     Other officiating guests at the ceremony included members of the CoP and the Youth Education, Employment and Training Task Force, as well as representatives of the Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS) which supports the operation of the Scheme.

     About 500 representatives from government departments, public bodies, businesses and schools, mentors from the community and students joining the Scheme attended today's ceremony. At the sharing session, mentors from the mentor teams of New World Development Company Limited, Deacons Cares and the Immigration Department shared their experience of the Scheme in the past year together with their mentees. They also shared with mentors tips on activity planning and communicating with young people, and encouraged mentees to actively participate in the Scheme in the new year.

     The Scheme is a cross-sectoral upward mobility campaign for young people launched by the CoP. It aims to provide early workplace exposure to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and encourage them to develop a vision for the future through the guidance of experienced mentors, thereby helping them move upwards in society. Entering its second year, the Scheme has successfully enlisted the support of mentors from 44 different government departments, corporations and organisations, with five more supporting organisations than last year. Together with about 70 individual mentors from the community, they formed 58 mentor teams and were matched with local secondary schools to launch a year of school-based activities.

     In addition, the Scheme has created "job-tasting" activities during the summer holidays for two consecutive years. These activities have provided an opportunity for secondary school students to have hands-on work experience in a real-life work setting, as well as meeting with employees and watching them at work. During the last summer holiday, the Scheme provided more than 600 job-tasting opportunities with support from over 40 government departments, corporations and organisations. A short video capturing the experiences of some participants was premiered at the ceremony.

     Mr Cheung said in his speech that the collaboration of the community, the business sector, the Government and the education sector was key to the success and continued implementation of the Scheme. He thanked the Vice-Chairperson of the Youth Education, Employment and Training Task Force of the CoP, Dr Philemon Choi, the AVS, participating mentors, schools, and public and private organisations for their continuous support. The Government would strive to do its best for youth development in areas including education, career pursuit and home ownership as well as their participation in politics, public policy discussion and debate, he added. Mr Cheung will chair the Youth Development Commission, to be set up in the first half of 2018 with the aim of enhancing relevant policy co-ordination within the Government.

     Further details are available on the Scheme's website (www.lifebuddies.hk/en). The Scheme has also set up a social network page (www.facebook.com/lifebuddieshk) for sharing relevant information.

Ends/Saturday, November 4, 2017
Issued at HKT 13:42

NNNN