The government-appointed Youth Affairs Committee announced yesterday that its annual Internship Programme at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which has been suspended since 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will gradually be resumed this year, according to a press conference after a plenary meeting of the committee at the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ).
The programme, co-organised by the Talent Development Committee (SCDT) and the public Macau Foundation (FM), started in 2017, covering positions in vocational and technical education, communication and project management at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and offices around the world, the press conference noted.
Yesterday’s press conference was jointly hosted by DSEDJ Youth Department Chief Cheong Man Fai and Functional Head Io Iok Fong, as well as Youth Development Division Chief Tam Sio Wa.
Further details about applications for the programme will be announced in due course, Cheong said.
In addition, with the aims of creating more international connection platforms for young local people, broadening their international horizons and enhancing their capabilities and space for their personal development, as well as promoting Macau’s sport and tourism to the outside world, Cheong said that the preparations for the International School Sport Federation’s (ISF) World School Basketball Championship are underway in conjunction with the Sports Bureau (ID), adding she expected that eight venues in Macau will be used for the 12-day-long tournament. More details about the competition, slated to be held between June and July next year, will be announced as soon as possible, Cheong noted.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau secured the right to host the 2024 ISF World School Basketball Championships on behalf of Macau and signed a framework agreement with the International School Sport Federation on May 29 this year to organise the tournament.
Meanwhile, Cheong revealed during the press conference that the findings of the “Social Research of Indicators on Youth in Macau 2022”, which targeted young people aged between 13 and 35, will be announced at the end of this month, pointing out that the results of the survey are different to those in the past. She did not elaborate.
According to Cheong, the survey, which was conducted between March and September last year, involved a period of school suspension due to the fact that a COVID-19 outbreak hit Macau in June last year.
Considering that last year’s survey respondents covered also Macau’s non-permanent residents including young foreigners, the findings of the survey will be available in Chinese, English and Portuguese.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau’s (DSEDJ) Youth Department Chief Cheong Man Fai (centre) and Functional Head Io Iok Fong (right), as well as Youth Development Division Chief Tam Sio Wa pose during yesterday’s press conference after a closed-door plenary meeting of the government-appointed Youth Affairs Committee at the bureau. – Photo: Yuki Lei
