NTU iNGO Academy Connects Taiwan With International Society

On March 2, NTU held the NTU iNGO Academy Signing Ceremony to officially launch the NTU iNGO Academy. The ceremony was witnessed by Dr. Hsuch-Yu Chen (陳雪玉), Director-General of the Ministry of Education’s the Youth Development Administration, and Ms. Elvie Wu (吳竹君), Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s Department of NGO International Affairs. On behalf of NTU, President Wen-Chang Chen (陳文章), Executive Vice President Shih-Torng Ding (丁詩同), and Vice President for International Affairs Hsiao Wei Yuan (袁孝維) signed Letter of Intents with nine non-governmental organizations to cultivate sustainability talents together.

The Academy aims to cultivate talents and brings them into NGO industry. In addition to learning the knowledge and skills for a NGO worker in class through English, the students will also have to intern at one of those NGOs for 16 weeks. Through the combination of theory and practice, students will be able to acquire professional skills to connect to the global network after entering NGOs in the future and the ability to solve contemporary international issues.

Vice President for International Affairs Yuan said that NTU iNGO Academy has collaborated with Impact Hub Taipei and successfully matched 15 students from five countries and nine colleges for internships in different types of international NGOs. Among these international organizations, some have deeply rooted in Taiwan, such as the Good Neighbors Association and the Jane Goodall Institute Taiwan. Some organizations were established in Taiwan and offer services overseas, such as the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation. Other organizations focus on the interaction between Taiwan and the International community, such as the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation and One-Forty. Vice President Yuan expects students to find a way to dedicate themselves to international and sustainable development during the course and the internship process.

President Chen pointed out that so far NTU has established 40 school clubs offering social service. When a strong earthquake occurred in Nepal in 2017, students from the College of Social Sciences launched the “Calls for Ridges” initiative to help poor children who could not receive education under the strong earthquake in Nepal, which aroused enthusiastic responses. He said that NTU looks forward to cultivating talents with creativity, execution, leadership, charitable service, and global vision. NGO internships are in line with the goals of charitable service and global vision. International vision is not only about language ability, but also about respect and acceptance of different cultures. He hopes that this event is a start, and that in the future, more people will participate every year, turning NTU into a world-important SDGs and NGO talent cultivation hub.

Visit the official website of NTU iNGO Academy: https://www.ingoacademy.ntu.edu.tw/