1469 CIN Government appointment for Director Youth Outreach
austraLasia 1469
Key Government appointment for Director of Youth
Outreach, Hong Kong
HONG KONG: 1st March 2006 -- The Hong Kong Education and
Manpower Bureau (EMB) today announces new appointments for its two year
old Task Force on Continuing Development and Employment-related
Training for Youth. Despite the hint of bureaucracy in these terms,
the appointment to the Task Force of Fr Peter Newbery SDB, director of
Youth Outreach in Hong Kong, is an important one. The Hong Kong
Government has long been able to witness the
Salesian contribution in general and this man's experience and
commitment in particular to what the HKSAR
now calls non-engaged youth.
Two years ago the incipient Task Force, which administers a Youth
Sustainable Development and Engagement Fund, recognised a submission by
Youth Outreach for its Hip Hop programme, a programme which has given
Youth Outreach worldwide recognition for its innovativeness and
effectiveness. Now the EMB wants the man behind it all to be part of
their team. Sitting on this group will involve, apart from the
administration of the Fund, monitoring, coordinating and evaluating
programmes for non-engaged youth, all with a view to re-engaging them,
obviously. The appointment, if it follows the same scheme as
previously, will be a two year one.
Fr Newbery, besides his high-profile work with young people on Hong
Kong's streets (but YO's influence extends into Mainland China
especially through its education programmes to 'train the trainers'),
teaches at Hong Kong's Chinese University. He began life, so to speak,
as a teacher of English, did a little re-training in psychology and
counselling to help out with school counselling, then worked for 10
years with the Correctional Services Department of the HK Government.
Now his qualifications include Criminology and Social Work. He has
received recognition for his work from the Queen (he is a British
Subject by birth and received a 'Badge of honour' in the 1992 Queen's
Birthday Honours list. In 1998 he received an SAR award from the Chief
Executive recognising the work done through Youth Outreach. In 1999 he
received the "Servitor Pacis" (Worker for Peace) award from a UN body
from New York (The Path to Peace Foundation). Fr Newbery is also the
author of several very practical books on youth work and youth
leadership as well as many scholarly articles on young people and their
problems.
GLOSSARY
HKSAR: Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region. Both HK and Macau are
SARs under the one country-two systems arrangement adopted by China.
non-engaged youth: HK terminology has gone through some
interesting evolution for what we tend to call marginalised youth. It
began with that term, then went to 'double-out youth' (out of school,
out of work), then to 'double-waiting youth' (for a place in school for
employment), then to 'hidden youth', and now to non-engaged youth. The
'hidden youth' term is of interest. Anyone see the UNICEF film All
the invisible children produced in Italy, premiered at 2005 Venice
Film Festival, and a compilation of seven pieces by seven of the
world's best film directors? The segment by John Woo of China is
particularly interesting.
_____________________
AustraLasia is an
email
service for
the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency
for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
