HONG KONG

Friends-International undertook a study on marginalized youth and existing services in Hong Kong in 2007. This study identified and assessed gaps in the delivery of existing social services to the most vulnerable children and youth, and has been used as a basis for designing a potential project for Hong Kong.

Current services for non-engaged youth are spread thinly across the city and lack coordination. This in part is due to the Government’s district-focused youth policy, as well as how these projects are funded, which often seems to involve focus on cost rather than effectiveness.

Many NGOs offer center-based projects that cater for large groups of different ages. In most cases, these are neither youth-centered nor friendly. In Hong Kong, children under 15 are quite well taken care of under the compulsory primary and secondary school system and in the large number of community-based centers that provide study space. But for thousands of children, the end of compulsory education means the end of structured daily activity. Thus, there is a need to focus on at-risk adolescents and youth, starting from the age of 14, so as to establish contact before the end of the compulsory school attendance period.

Friends-International has established a presence in Hong Kong (the office is registered and a team is being developed) and is now looking at to initiating a pilot project to ensure the protection of those youth that are least reached by existing services.