Latest content: Society and young people

Remarks by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Hon. Shirley Botchwey, at the Commonwealth Cricket Celebration on 9th September 2026.

The Commonwealth Youth Ministers Task Force has endorsed a new framework to guide the delivery of the Commonwealth Youth Programme over the next three years to advance youth development across member countries.

Blog by Dr Laila Shahzad and Mxolisi Sibanda, Climate Change Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat 

The 12th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting (CSMM) will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, on 22 July 2026, in the margins of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Opening remarks by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Hon Shirley Botchwey, at the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards ceremony at Marlborough House on 25 June 2026.

Shifra Ainomugisha from Uganda is the 2026 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year for her climate-smart, AI-driven projects reducing food loss and hunger.

Twenty young people are in the running for the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards in recognition of their efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their communities.

When a doctor told 19-year-old Sidney in 2004 that he had cancer, he says time seemed to freeze. Sitting in a hospital room in Nairobi, Kenya, Sidney was blindsided by despair and struggled to process the diagnosis.

As the world gears up for global sporting events, the Commonwealth Secretariat convened an annual debate today to examine how sport can bring communities together and promote greater equality across countries.

A new report by the Commonwealth Secretariat warns that rising public debt and tighter budgets are forcing governments to prioritise loan repayments over investment in young people, limiting opportunities for the Commonwealth’s 1.5 billion young people.

The following statement was issued today by the Commonwealth Secretariat on the postponement of the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work Ceremony in London.

In the heart of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, where the sprawling Durumi Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp is home to thousands of people forced from their communities by conflict and chaos, a powerful new light known as the Lighthouse for Peace has dawned.

At the centre of this initiative is Stanley Anigbogu, a 26-year-old Nigerian energy innovator, who saw the IDP camp’s tangled walkways and makeshift shelters not just as hardship, but as an opportunity to foster hope and practical resilience through energy access.

Twenty outstanding young people from the five regions across the Commonwealth have been shortlisted as finalists for the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work.

Blog by Carla Qualtrough, former Minister of Persons with Disabilities in Canada on International Day of Persons with Disabilities

As the curtain closed on the 5th Global Youth Work Conference (GYWC2025) in Kuala Lumpur, the sense of possibility remained in the air—resonating through the lively conversations of delegates as they packed away their notes and said their goodbyes.

The following statement was issued on 25 November 2025 by Commonwealth Secretary-General Hon Shirley Botchwey on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.