The Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy yesterday called on newly elected officials to keep their promises to advance issues of concern to young people, including enacting a “youth basic act.”
Youth policy emerged as a key electoral issue in the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) both expressing concern for the well-being of young people, association head Alvin Chang (張育萌) said.
Despite young people enjoying apparent support across the political divide, national policy on issues affecting young Taiwanese is being made by ministries with little sign of coordination, he said.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
A basic act for youth affairs would help facilitate the process of bringing youth issues into the political mainstream and create long-term policies that are integrated and better coordinated, Chang said.
President-elect William Lai (賴清德) had pledged on the campaign trail that his administration would unveil a white paper on youth issues, he said.
The association believes the government should convene youth groups across the nation to ensure that their voices are heard before policies are written, he said.
The DPP has said that mainstream issues of concern to young people are a priority, while the KMT announced a program to cultivate young party leaders and the Taiwan People’s Party recently established a youth department, he said.
The association welcomes the development of an increasingly evident political consensus for drafting a basic youth act, and calls on the political parties to move things forward without delay, Chang said.
The youth basic act should include a mandate for local governments to set up youth departments, regularly publish a youth policy white paper and regularly convene a national youth summit, among others, he said.
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