By Irene Gaitirira
Published July 15, 2019
Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials responsible for youth development in Commonwealth countries have held high level discussions aimed at implementation of youth policy in the 53 countries of the bloc.
Items on the agenda at the meeting held at the Commonwealth headquarters in London included policy recommendations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2020, regional specific strategies to promote youth development over the next 12 months in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, and the future of the Commonwealth for young people as it continues to build on 70 years of pioneering achievement for youth.
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Also attending the meeting that highlighted the issue of financing youth development, and also of having support for youth workers at grassroots level to tackle the major challenges facing their respective countries across the 2.4 billion people Commonwealth was Prince Harry in his capacity as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.
The Prince, now known as the Duke of Sussex and who was appointed to be Commonwealth Youth Ambassador in 2018, interacted with participants during the Roundtable Policy Discussion as they presented proposals for practical action to support young people in fulfilling their potential and realising their aspirations.
The meeting that was convened by Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, was part of the ongoing Commonwealth strategy to engage and support ministers and senior officials in the delivery of youth policy priorities as identified by young people themselves and by youth workers from throughout the Commonwealth.
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Saying that ‘Doing nothing is not an option, business as usual is not enough, we must identify and prioritise what needs to be done and move towards implementation of practical actions’, Baroness Patricia Scotland told the gathering that their input and involvement are critical to the successful implementation of the mandates from the London CHOGM of 2018, and that proposals generated at the roundtable discussion will be taken forward to the next CHOGM, to be held in 2020 in Rwanda.
The ministers and senior officials present at the roundtable discussion had participated in Accelerating Youth Policy Implementation, an inaugural two-week postgraduate executive course in strategic leadership and management.
