Opening remarks by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Hon Shirley Botchwey, at the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards ceremony at Marlborough House on 25 June 2026.
Today, we celebrate outstanding individual achievements, and we celebrate the power of young people to turn urgency into agency, aspiration into action, ideas into impact, and hope into progress.
Across the Commonwealth, young leaders are already building the future we speak about in policy rooms. They are creating jobs, strengthening communities, widening access to health and education, advancing peace and justice, and protecting our planet.
This year’s finalists were selected from more than 900 applicants across our 56 member countries.
Their work reflects the extraordinary breadth of Commonwealth youth leadership: from climate-smart agriculture and water conservation, to public health, gender equality, peacebuilding and access to justice. The scale of that contribution is remarkable.
Commonwealth Youth Awards alumni have reached millions of people and created thousands of jobs. But behind every statistic is something even more important: a life improved, a community strengthened, and a new possibility opened.
Over the years, these awards have unlocked £400,000 of direct investment into grassroots youth-led enterprises. These investments have reached more than 12 million beneficiaries, generated over 4,250 jobs, and contributed to all 17 SDGs. Crucially, 40 per cent of our funding has supported women-led initiatives.
The awards show that recognition can provide credibility. It can attract partners and investment. It can help a local solution grow into a national model, and a national model to influence the world.
But recognition must also lead to responsibility.
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To our finalists: this platform is very far from the end.
It is an invitation to go further, to build stronger partnerships, to bring others with you, and to use your leadership with courage and integrity.
And to governments, businesses, foundations and development partners: young people do not lack ambition, ingenuity or commitment. Too often, they lack access — to finance, networks, technology and decision-making. Our task is not simply to applaud them. It is to back them.
The Commonwealth is at its strongest when it connects talent with opportunity and shared values with practical action. That is the spirit of this year’s theme: “Unlocking Opportunities Together.”
To every finalist, congratulations. You remind us that young people are not waiting for the future to arrive.
You are building it now.
Thank you.
