Opening Remarks by Deputy Secretary-General (Programmes) Tanmaya Lal at the 14th Commonwealth Youth Forum

It is wonderful to join all of you at the opening of the 14th edition of the Commonwealth Youth Forum. It is great to be here and we appreciate the warm welcome by the government and people of this beautiful country. 

You represent sixty percent of Commonwealth citizens who are under 30. And a prosperous and resilient Commonwealth depends upon young people having the power to shape its future. 

We are living at a time of extraordinary flux. Our lives, education systems, workplaces, economies and societies are being transformed by powerful forces - of emerging disruptive technologies to climate change.  

Youth are the most impacted by these exponential changes – that pose significant challenges but also abundant opportunities. At the same time, today, more than ever, young people are more confident, self-aware and connected. You are not sitting idle. You are demanding and coming up with innovative approaches and solutions.   

The Commonwealth has been a pioneer in listening to and focusing attention on the youth. It started a dedicated Youth Programme more than 50 years ago in 1973. 

Commonwealth Youth Forum itself was launched nearly three decades ago to feed the concerns and priorities of the Youth directly to the Commonwealth leaders. The Commonwealth Youth Council has also now been working for more than a decade.  

Today the importance of engaging with the youth is understood more widely. From the United Nations and WHO to regional groupings such as the African Union, the CARICOM from the Caribbean and the SPC from the Pacific region – provide a voice to the young people. Commonwealth has developed partnerships with several such multilateral organizations to promote youth empowerment.  

The Commonwealth can be likened to a mini–United Nations as its membership is drawn – as equals - from across the globe – from the Pacific to Asia to Africa to Europe to the Caribbean and north America. This is quite a remarkable strength.  

It brings together on one platform – 56 members representing the entire range of global diversity - in terms of sizes of economies, populations, per capita incomes, technological capabilities, vulnerabilities, concerns & priorities.  

From large economies (four of the top 16 global economies) to Small States (33 out of 56). Nearly 50 of the 56 Commonwealth countries are coastal states. Members of G20, CARICOM, PIFS, ASEAN and the EU.  

You represent this remarkable diversity at this Forum.  

Governments and Young people across the Commonwealth, and indeed the world, are facing increasing challenges of securing jobs and skills for the changing workplace.  

The youth want a greater say in the decisions that affect them and the chance to turn their ideas into action. All of us have a responsibility to help fix that.  

This is why this Forum matters to all of us. It offers an excellent opportunity to share and discuss experiences from the different parts of the world that you come from.  

In line with the theme of this year’s International Youth Day – ‘Different Contexts, Shared Prosperity’ - share your concerns, your priorities, what has worked and what has not worked; what can be done to shape our collective future.  

Develop networks and build partnerships.  

It is good to see that this Forum provides a platform for a wide range of issues that the youth networks deliberate upon. From Climate Change to Entrepreneurship; Human Rights & Democracy to Gender Equality & Health and Disability; Digital Skills to Sports and the Arts to sustainability.  

Come up with new ideas that can feed into the leaders’ discourse. This brings fresh and positive perspective for both Advocacy and Action.  

Today’s youth are innovators and entrepreneurs.  

They are building satellites and launching rockets. They are transforming startups into unicorns. Young influencers command global reach on social media. The youth do not lack ideas; they often lack opportunities, networks and investment.Our role is to help close that gap.  

The Commonwealth has a long and varied legacy of working with young people – of advocacy and action. In 1990s a Youth Credit Initiative was launched to catalyze entrepreneurship.  

The Commonwealth Youth Awards, started in 2012, bring together and recognise some outstanding meaningful and impactful work being done by the youth across our countries. 

We are starting a new programme on Commonwealth Youth Negotiators Fellowship building upon a successful training held this year. Secretary General Hon. Shirley Botchwey is prioritising mobilization of resources to promote digital skills training at scale across the Commonwealth.  

We will continue to work closely with you to explore and develop innovative initiatives. In resonance with this Forum’s theme, which focuses on ‘Investing in youth agency for cocreating pathways towards shared prosperity’.  

Your enthusiasm, optimism and dynamism is a powerful reminder that multilateralism is very much alive, and that a better collective future can be built through international cooperation and partnerships.  

Thank you