The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) today (15 June 2024) held a recognition ceremony of the Equal Opportunity Youth Ambassador Scheme 2023/24, presenting certificates to the 42 Youth Ambassadors who participated in the programme over the past six months. EOC Chairperson Ms Linda LAM Mei-sau was joined by EOC Members and representatives from tertiary institutions to celebrate the completion of the programme by the Youth Ambassadors.

As part of this year’s programme, the Youth Ambassadors launched initiatives to promote the anti-sexual harassment message. At the ceremony, the Youth Ambassadors also took a pledge to tackle sexual harassment on campuses. Under the slogan “Respect for all. Stop Sexual Harassment”, they vowed to promote a culture of mutual respect and foster a zero-harassment learning and living environment.

The EOC launched the inaugural Equal Opportunity Youth Ambassador Scheme in 2022, which received an enthusiastic response. Launched for the 2023/24 school year, the second edition of the Scheme recruited 42 Youth Ambassadors from 11 tertiary institutions. Through a range of experiential learning activities, the Scheme provided opportunities for them to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the values of diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI). By developing positive mindsets and values, the Scheme aims to equip the Youth Ambassadors to create an inclusive society and contribute to the development of the country and Hong Kong.

In her welcome remarks, EOC Chairperson Ms Linda Lam Mei-sau said, “The EOC is highly concerned about the situation of sexual harassment on campuses. Over the years, the EOC has proactively collaborated with various tertiary institutions to create equal, safe, and harassment-free learning environments through different measures, including providing online and in-person training. Previous studies we conducted showed that there is room for improvement in the understanding of sexual harassment among the tertiary students. Accordingly, we included training on sexual harassment prevention in this year’s Scheme to equip the Youth Ambassadors with the necessary knowledge to respond to and prevent such incidents. We also encouraged them to take action and initiate events to promote the message of anti-sexual harassment on campuses and among their peers.”

In addition to providing online and in-person sexual harassment prevention training for the Youth Ambassadors, the EOC also arranged for them to create anti-sexual harassment-related promotional materials or organise activities in the past few months to promote relevant message to their classmates and peers. The Youth Ambassadors, individually or in small groups, created 22 online and offline anti-sexual harassment publicity campaigns in total, including posters, leaflets, stickers and videos for instant messaging applications, as well as social media posts and short films.

Ms Lam said, “The promotional materials by the Youth Ambassadors show that they are not only full of creativity, but also have full grasp of the importance of preventing sexual harassment. Their creations are testament to the success of the collaboration between the EOC, tertiary institutions, and students in preventing sexual harassment on campuses. As young people take up the mantle of tackling sexual harassment, we hope the Youth Ambassadors will continue to champion the cause and promote the message on campuses, and even in the workplace in the future.”

Over the past six months, the Youth Ambassadors participated in various experiential learning activities, including training with athletes with disabilities and learning how to be guide runners for individuals with visual or hearing impairments, visiting a company to learn about DEI in the employment context, joining a multicultural tour to understand the culture, traditions, and religions of ethnic minorities, as well as collaborating with young people with special educational needs to explore the community and experience barrier-free environments.

The successful completion of this year’s Equal Opportunity Youth Ambassador Scheme was made possible by the support of various organisations, including several tertiary institutions, Hong Kong Network for the Promotion of Inclusive Society, Meta, TREATS, and WEDO Global. Ms Lam also expressed her gratitude to all the organisations and individuals who have provided support and advice for the Scheme, including the EOC Members who joined the activities and advised on the programme.

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Equal Opportunities Commission
15 June 2024

At the recognition ceremony of the Equal Opportunity Youth Ambassador Scheme 2023/24 organised by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), EOC Chairperson Ms Linda LAM Mei-sau (fifth from left, front row); Mr Gary WONG Chi-him, Convenor of the Community Participation and Publicity Committee (sixth from left, front row); Ms Queenie CHAN Lai-kwan, Deputy Convenor of the Community Participation and Publicity Committee (fifth from right, front row); EOC Members Dr Rizwan ULLAH (third from left, front row) and Dr Vincent WONG Wai-lun (second from left, front row); Dr Ferrick CHU Chung-man, Executive Director (Operations) (fourth from right, front row); Mr Niki KWOK Chung-weng, Principal Assistant Secretary (Constitutional & Mainland Affairs) (fourth from left, front row) were joined by representatives from tertiary institutions to celebrate the completion of the programme by the Youth Ambassadors, including the launch of initiatives to promote the anti-sexual harassment message. 

Joined by EOC Chairperson Ms Linda LAM Mei-sau (sixth from right, front row), EOC Members and representatives from tertiary institutions, the Equal Opportunity Youth Ambassadors pledged with the slogan “Respect for All. Stop Sexual Harassment”, to demonstrate their commitment to combating sexual harassment on campuses and promoting a culture of mutual respect in order to establish a harassment-free learning and living environment.