Revitalizing the Youth Center Plus
and Introducing a Youth Participatory Budgeting System
An Hyeongju, a member of the Seo-gu Council in Gwangju (representing Sangmu 2-dong, Seochang-dong, and Kumho 1·2-dong), announced on the 11th that he proposed changes to youth policies to attract and retain young people through a 'five-minute speech' at the 328th first plenary session.
According to the 'Seo-gu Youth Basic Ordinance', the proportion of young people aged 19 to 39 in Seo-gu has been continuously decreasing: 27.9% in 2022, 27.3% in 2023, and 26.7% in 2024. Among the five autonomous districts of Gwangju, Seo-gu has the highest net outflow of young people.
An stated, "To prevent the outflow and encourage the inflow of young people, changes in youth policies are urgently needed," adding, "I propose two measures to discover and support effective youth policies."
First, he suggested revitalizing the Youth Center Plus, which opened in June last year with a project budget of 2 billion KRW. Since its opening, there have been only 46 reservations and 301 users in total, indicating low accessibility and recognition in the local community, resulting in a low number of users.
In response, An argued, "It is necessary to establish both physical and human infrastructure so that young people can easily access the center, and to develop sustainable programs tailored to the characteristics of Seo-gu."
He also proposed introducing a youth participatory budgeting system, allowing young people to propose policies and participate in budget allocation. Last year, 48% of Seo-gu's youth policy budget was allocated to housing and welfare, 25% to jobs, 18% to culture and education, and only 7% to participation and rights.
An emphasized, "These figures show that interest and support for participation and rights are relatively insufficient," and added, "A unique youth participatory budgeting system should be established in Seo-gu so that the vision of the 'Seo-gu youth who create the life they desire on their own,' as outlined in Gwangju City's basic youth policy plan, can be realized."
He further requested, "For the future of Seo-gu, I ask both the executive and legislative branches to actively engage in discovering and supporting youth policies."
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