The Executive Yuan today announced the website for its youth advisory group: http://www.ey.gov.tw/yadvise/. Young adults who would like to apply for membership may register on the website any time from the first minute of June 7 until the last minute of June 17, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun stated today.
In principle, the youth advisory group will be made up of ROC citizens age 18 to 35 (inclusive) and will have 19 to 25 members.
The application process is open to the public, Sun pointed out. Any applicant needs only write a 1,000-word article stating his or her academic background, experiences, and aspirations as a future member of the advisory group and also upload a short film no more than 3 minutes long elucidating his or her opinions on current major policies or youth-related issues. Letters of recommendation may also be included with applications.
The panel responsible for selecting the members of the advisory group will be composed of six government officials and six private-sector representatives and will be set up by the Executive Yuan. The panelists will review and discuss the applicants' articles and films and base their selections on balancing representation of each gender and area of expertise.
"The Executive Yuan hopes young adults who are enthusiastic about public policy and aspire to put their ideals into practice will speedily apply," Sun stated. "If the process goes smoothly, it is expected the first meeting of the youth advisory group will be convened by the end of this month or in early July."
The establishment of the advisory group is expected to encourage young people to voice their views and promote the concept of deliberative democracy by providing a new channel and opportunity for policy suggestions, Sun stated. In addition, the government can through this platform hear more citizens' voices, further understand the views of young people and incorporate their suggestions.