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Youth group looks at role played so far

Youths who participated in the Youth National Affairs Conference held annually since 2004 gathered in Taipei yesterday to share their experiences.

In a meeting with the young adults in 2004, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) promised to establish a platform on which young people could communicate with the government and contribute to policy decisions.

As a result, the Youth National Affairs Conference was first convened that same year.

"In addition to being a platform for communication between the government and youths, the conference also serves to promote youth participation in public affairs and to encourage rational discussion of public issues," said Shen Chuen-hua (沈春華), a chairwoman of the conference consulting committee.

Shen, who started as a simple participant in the 2005 conference, is now a rotating chairwoman on the committee, a body established last year to organize the annual conferences.

To hear what the nation's youths have to say, 15 local meetings and four regional meetings were held before the national conference this year, said Yen Chiang-lung (顏江龍), the current rotating chairman of the consulting committee.

Most opinions on public policies have been taken seriously by the government, he said.

"For example, we proposed to establish a youth advisory group within the Cabinet to help formulate youth-related policies -- it was accepted and the group is now operational," Yen said.

"We have also suggested that the voting age be lowered to 18 and again the Cabinet responded very positively by drafting a bill on it, although the draft bill is unfortunately still stuck in the legislature," he said.

Yen said that 95 percent of the policy suggestions made at the conference last year was accepted by the government.

However, some of the conference conclusions have yet to be accomplished.

For instance, the consulting committee wishes to establish a youth parliament that "not only makes policy suggestions but also tracks progress on government policies," Shen said.

Chen Wei-liang (陳威良), who participated in the 2004 conference, said he has "found a way to contribute to society" by participating in the conference. Originally an information science major in college, Chen decided to become a high school teacher instead, to raise younger people's interest in public affairs.

"I participated [in the conference] for the first time in 2005 when I was 18," Liao Pin-lan (廖品嵐) said. "I'm still here ... because I believe that, with our effort, our dreams will eventually come true."
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