Young adults age 18 to 35 (inclusive) who are enthusiastic about public policy and aspire to put their ideals into practice are welcome to apply for membership in a new youth advisory group being established by the Executive Yuan, Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun stated today.
The group will comprise 19 to 25 members and in principle will be made up of ROC citizens. Interested individuals may register online via self-recommendation or recommendation by others from June 7-17, with the website address to be announced by the Executive Yuan prior to the registration date.
The Executive Yuan plans to consult with the advisory group during policy formulation and hopes the group's establishment will help spark widespread dialogue between the government and public.
The idea for the group originated in President Ma Ying-jeou's proclamation May 20, 2014 commemorating the sixth anniversary of his first inauguration. In this speech, he encouraged youths to be proactive in national affairs and said he would like the administration to include them in the policy decision-making process.
"The future of Taiwanese youth has always been a major concern of the government," Sun said. "Every young generation has its own characteristics and ideals, and a pluralistic society helps inflame youth with creativity and potential. This new generation of young people is courageous in expression and daring in challenges and pursuance of ideals. It is also adept at electronic and new online media, and its proactive participation in public affairs will help make Taiwan a better place."
The application process will be both open and selective, Sun pointed out. Any interested individual needs only write a 1,000-word article stating his or her academic background, experiences and aspirations as a 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.
The panel responsible for selecting the members of the advisory group, which will be set up by the Executive Yuan, will be composed of six government officials and six private-sector representatives. 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 purpose of setting up the youth advisory group is to institute a platform for young people to participate in the government decision-making process, encourage them to voice their views and thus promote the concept of deliberative democracy via a channel for policy suggestions, Sun stated. In addition, the government can through this platform hear more citizens' voices, further understand the views of young people, incorporate their suggestions, and through cross-generation dialogue and efforts work together to create a better future for Taiwan.