ENG-2019 — Page 187

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Education

Sciences and the Dunhuang Academy, to offer four internship programmes to increase young Hong Kong people's knowledge of the relevant disciplines and professional fields and enhance their understanding of the country's developments. In view of remarkable achievements made. under the programmes since 2017, the bureau introduced another three new programmes in 2019: the Youth Internship Programme in Shandong on Marine Sciences, the Youth Internship Programme at Wuyishan on Biodiversity Conservation and the Youth Internship Programme at Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Taken together, the seven programmes provided more than 150 unique, in-depth and valuable thematic internship opportunities to young Hong Kong people during the year.

Children's Rights

The Children's Rights Forum is a platform for children's organisations, children and the government to exchange views on matters that concern children. It relays children's views on government initiatives to the Family Council for consideration in assessing the impact of government policies on the family. In 2019, the Children's Rights Education Funding Scheme supported NGOs to conduct 31 projects to enhance understanding of children's rights. enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Helping Ethnic Minorities Integrate into Community

The government commissions non-profit-making organisations to run six support service centres and two sub-centres for ethnic minorities, offering tailor-made classes, counselling and integration programmes. One of the centres, the Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents, provides free language interpretation on the telephone to help them use public services, with Vietnamese interpretation services introduced in 2019. The other support service centres also strengthened their services, particularly those catering for new arrivals and young people, during the year. New district-based programmes were launched to encourage interaction and communication between ethnic minorities and other local communities.

In addition, two government-sponsored community support teams offer special services for ethnic minorities through members of their own communities. The government funds radio programmes and publishes service guidebooks in a number of ethnic minority languages. Two ambassador schemes provide information about public services to ethnic minority families and young people, and make referrals where necessary. A team of publicity officers who are familiar with ethnic minority cultures and languages conducts talks and exhibitions to promote racial harmony in the community.

Committee on the Promotion of Racial Harmony

The committee advises the government on the promotion of racial harmony and equality, including the provision of support services for ethnic minorities, and on proposals for race-related public education and publicity. Secretariat support is provided by the Home Affairs Department's Race Relations Unit.

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