The Kowloon East Chaozhou People’s Association received a grant of NT$700,000 in 2019 to organize the “Explore and Experience Guangxi Culture” event. (Facebook photo)
It has been exactly ten years since the government launched the Youth Mainland Exchange Subsidy Scheme in November 2013. The program has continued to expand over the past decade, with the number of funded projects and amounts increasing year by year. According to the information provided by the Youth Affairs Bureau in its reply to the Legislative Council, the funding approved for subsidized groups ranges from tens of thousands to 700,000 yuan per project. Some groups receive multiple subsidies almost every year. Take the Hong Kong Scout Association as an example, 2018/ A total of eight projects were approved in the two years of 19 and 19 / 20, with a total amount of nearly 1.14 million yuan.
The Youth Affairs Bureau today (8th) responded to questions from members of the Legislative Council and disclosed the identity of the funded groups and the amount of funds approved for each project of the Youth Mainland Exchange Subsidy Program in the two years of 2018/19 and 19/20. Affected by the epidemic, the plan is suspended during 2020/21 and 22/23, and will be restarted at the beginning of this year.
Girl Guides Association receives approval of NT$1.96 million over two years
In 2018/19, the plan approved 291 projects, of which five projects were approved with NT$680,000. The organizers are the Hong Kong Maritime Youth Corps, New Home Association, New Youth Club, Hong Kong Girl Guides Association and Kowloon West District Associations . In 2019/20, the number of approved projects increased to 307, of which six projects were approved for NT$700,000. The organizers are the Kowloon East Chaozhou People’s Association, the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association, the Friends of Sichuan Association, the New Home Association, and the New Home Association. Tsing Hui and Kowloon West District Associations.
In 2019, the Shan De Foundation received public funding of NT$650,000 to host the “China Aerospace Journey 2019 – Beijing-Xi’an Aerospace Science and Technology Inspection Mission”. (Photo from Shan De Foundation website)
Some groups were approved for multiple projects in the same year. Taking the Hong Kong Scout Association as an example, a total of eight projects were approved in two years. The destinations for exchange activities include Shaoguan, Silk Road, Sichuan, Hubei, Guilin, Guangzhou and Xi’an. , a total amount of nearly 1.14 million yuan was approved; the Girl Guides Association was approved for four projects in the same period, with a total amount of more than 1.96 million yuan.
The Kowloon Federation of Societies and its affiliated associations also received approval for seven projects in the biennium, including “The Land of China: A Journey into Yunnan to Explore the Colorful Ethnic Groups”, “In-depth Sichuan Tour – Historical and Cultural Exploration Tour”, “One Belt “Roaming all the way to Xi’an Historical and Cultural Exchange Tour”, “Shanghai Culture: Shanghai Music and Art Exchange”, “The Land of China: A Journey into Yunnan to Explore National Integration”, “Inner Mongolia Historical and Cultural Tour” and “Beijing and Inner Mongolia Historical and Cultural Conservation Exchange Tour” ”, with a total approved amount of nearly 1.56 million yuan.
The project has been criticized by the Audit Commission for unclear funding standards
According to the Legislative Council document, the Youth Mainland Exchange Subsidy Scheme in 23/24 will fund more than 450 projects, lasting up to 14 days, covering all provinces and cities in the Mainland, and the quota will be increased to 34,000 people. According to the Audit Office’s 2018 report, the scheme covered 18,475 people in 2016/17 and $55.7 million has been spent. The report criticized that the funding standards in the funding code were unclear, resulting in an exchange group that had no exchange activities on the first and last two days but still received full-day funding.
In a written reply to questions from members, the Director of the Youth Affairs Bureau, Mak Mei-kuen, said that the Youth Affairs Bureau has been evaluating the effectiveness of the Youth Mainland Exchange Subsidy Program in each financial year. The Ethnic Affairs and Youth Affairs Bureau has been continuously reviewing the operation of the Youth Mainland Exchange Subsidy Scheme and introducing optimization measures when necessary. The details of the Youth Mainland Exchange Subsidy Scheme for 2024/25 are now being finalized, including considering a number of optimization measures, such as expanding participant qualifications to give non-governmental organizations more flexibility in recruiting participants, increasing the number of subsidized accompanying staff to strengthen Support younger participants, etc.
Associations from all walks of life in Kowloon West organized the Shanghai-Hong Kong Youth Exchange Summer Camp twice in 2018/19 and 2019/20, and received a total funding of NT$1.38 million.
2023-11-08 07:14:21
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