The Government today began the seventh phase of recruitment under the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth, with applications due to close on September 10.

The Home & Youth Affairs Bureau highlighted that the number of participating committees has risen to 23, adding that each committee is generally offering two seats for appointment.

Participating committees include the Action Group on Youth Engagement under the Youth Development Commission, the Advisory Committee on Enhancing Self-Reliance Through District Partnership Programme, and the Advisory Committee on Gifted Education. 

The bureau said that young people aged 18 to 35 who want to serve the community should nominate themselves for appointment.

Applicants must write no more than 600 words, or provide a video or audio clip no longer than three minutes, to explain – in either Chinese or English – their suitability for the committee of their choosing.

Assessment panels will subsequently conduct interviews and consider applicants’ level of commitment to serving the community, their understanding of the policy area concerned, and their analytical and communication skills.

Subject to the number of applications received and progress in the assessment process, the exercise will be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

The bureau stressed that the scheme has been expanded with a view to tripling the number of participating advisory committees from around 60 in 2022 to no fewer than 180 within the current term of the Government.

Around 570 posts are currently held by young people who have been appointed to advisory and statutory bodies through the scheme.

The overall proportion of youth members in these bodies has risen from 7.8% in 2017 to 15.9% in 2023, the bureau added.