Commonwealth Youth Council

The Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) since its inception in 1973 by the Commonwealth Heads of Government has worked to engage and empower young people to enhance their contribution to development through effective participation. Guided by the realities facing young people in the Commonwealth and anchored in the belief that young people are: a force for peace, democracy, equality, and good governance; a catalyst for global consensus building; and an essential resource for sustainable development and poverty eradication; the CYP has facilitated and supported the work of the young people. After realizing a need for change in the current structure of youth leadership, the CYP is in support of the new undertaking of the Commonwealth youth; a Commonwealth Youth Council.

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The Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) will be the new official platform that represents the voice of young people in the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Youth Council will be the vehicle that integrates young people into the development work of the Commonwealth at national, regional, and Pan-Commonwealth levels.

The vision: An independent entity that promotes and facilitates youth led development; operated by young people for young people; a space where the youth democratically elect and hold to account their leaders; a space where young people serve as agents of change through meaningful participation, working side by side with governments, Commonwealth bodies, international partners, and other stakeholders.

The purpose: CYC will represent youth interests within the Commonwealth. The Council will support and promote issues relevant to young people to the Commonwealth Heads of Government and through the structures and mechanisms constituted to facilitate mutual dialogue.

The Council will:

• strengthen youth networks within the Commonwealth

• prepare reports/policy papers/research papers on youth issues, for submission to the Commonwealth Youth Ministers’ meetings and other relevant Commonwealth Ministers’ meetings

• provide a youth perspective on youth issues to the Board of Governors and Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat

• organize activities in the interests of Commonwealth young people

• promote mainstreaming of youth issues in the policies of the Commonwealth and other international bodies

• ensure active youth participation in decision making processes in the Commonwealth

In the current structure of CYP, 2 youth leaders from each member state of the Commonwealth are appointed by their respective youth ministries.

This RYC initiative is plagued by poor communication at all levels and there is limited accountability and M&E systems to measure their progress.
Moreover, some RYCs seem to have personal influence in their country but only a limited group influences the policy direction, leading to an insufficient impact in the decision making processes.

There are real challenges in the structure and design of the initiative. For example:

1. Uncertainty concerning legitimate working relationship between RYCs, Youth Ministries and CYP; who has primary responsibility in practice? Youth reps working as volunteers without stipends for basic travel and communication.

2. Weak policy/procedures framework

3. There is only a recommended (as opposed to a mandatory) selection criteria; adherence is the prerogative of the member countries. RYCs are often not selected from a democratic election process.

4. There is limited resource or support base to support the work and contribution of young people.

It is against this background that the youth leaders decided on action to reform their role and contribution in the Commonwealth. The decision to establish the Commonwealth Youth Council would in effect mean the end of the current RYC structure and the establishment of a democratic structure that would be driven and supported by National Youth Councils and National Youth bodies.

60% of the citizens of the Commonwealth are young people under the age of 30 years. The future of the Commonwealth rests with this vast majority. If the Commonwealth is able to engage them in a coordinated and structured manner, the future prospects of the Commonwealth would be assured. The issues facing young people have been brought to the centre of the development and democracy agenda in many member countries this year. Young people can be agents for positive change and the converse is also true. Investment in the young people must be real and practical, youth empowerment is more than a good concept- it can become the avenue through which the Commonwealth reinvigorates itself in the modern era.

The Commonwealth Youth Council, properly structured and supported, could fill this space in the Commonwealth and bring youth to the centre of the development.

The consultation process so far has included an in-house process of sharing and briefing to the Regional Youth Caucus representatives (RYCs) and Regional Centres in the first consultation phase. A wider consultation was carried out by the RYCs and the Commonwealth Youth Council sub-committee targeted at National and Regional Youth Councils, youth bodies and organizations, individual youth and student leaders, and government officials in all the four regions. A detailed session was also held with the Commonwealth Secretariat in August 2011; this meeting involved a thorough assessment from the Legal Advisors from Commonwealth.

The advisers reviewed the document to find any ambiguities and made recommendations to improve the document. The committee also conducted a consultation session with stakeholders with the Commonwealth Civil society organizations including the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council, Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and Royal Commonwealth Society etc. Their concerns and suggestions were noted and incorporated in the final draft from the meeting. A session was arranged with the Deputy Secretary General of Commonwealth who advised on the responsibilities and expectations resulting from the new structure.

The meeting ended with some final words from the Secretary General of the Commonwealth who gave critical advice to uphold the core principles of the Commonwealth in the structure.

For the third phase of consultation, youth sector in general have been involved online via facebook and blogs. A more inclusive round of consultations will be conducted over the next 12 months that will be at the national and regional levels and will involve innovative online consultation with young people using social media tools. Youth ministries and Youth Councils will also be involved for a more comprehensive review.

It is hoped that after this round of consultations the final framework document will be ratified at the next Commonwealth Youth Minsters Meeting (November, 2012), where the first session of the Commonwealth Youth Council, General Assembly will take place.