Commonwealth Youth Forum 2003

Download the Final Communique from CYF03

You can also read the executive summary below.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR CHOGM

Since the inception of the Commonwealth Youth Forum in 1997, young people of the Commonwealth have made important contributions to CHOGM by presenting their views and recommendations on issues which concern them and the people of the Commonwealth. Whilst progress has been made on many issues, a great deal more remains to be done. At this 4th CYF in Abuja, Nigeria, we have sought to address this and formulate aspirational yet realistic action plans for youth development. We have considered how young people can be used as a driving force for change and development, in collaboration with the Commonwealth, national governments, civil society and the business community. Our recommendations to governments are:

YOUNG PEOPLE’S PLATFORMS WITHIN THE COMMONWEALTH

Since the last CHOGM there have been a number of inspirational pan-Commonwealth meetings of young people. These have included the CitizenYou Citizenship Summit, the Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting, the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, and Creating Common Wealth Youth Enterprise Summit. We fully support the work of the young participants and endorse their recommendations, and urge Heads of Government to do the same. We ask that such fora, including the CYF, continue as a collaborative effort between the formal and informal Commonwealth, as requested by CHOGM in 2002, and that young people be given a platform to represent themselves to CHOGM. Finally we strongly believe that links with young people’s civil society organisations from suspended Commonwealth nations should be maintained. Mechanisms should be created to ensure the appropriate selection and safety of any representatives at Commonwealth fora.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Commonwealth nations should ensure the implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights. This implementation should be monitored through the establishment in each Commonwealth country of Human Rights Commissions independent of government. More education in and open dialogue about human rights is required to maintain religious and cultural identity while protecting and enforcing universal human rights. Fundamental human rights such as food, water and shelter must be provided to Commonwealth citizens. Furthermore Commonwealth nations should support each other in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Free education to secondary level should be a right for all young people and primary level education is a first step to achieving this.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACE BUILDING

Governments should work with civil society organisations to minimise conflict situations within and between their nations and to rebuild communities damaged by conflict, by encouraging and supporting youth exchanges between war-torn communities, and promoting peer education as a tool for peace building. The school curriculum should include education about conflicts, their resolution and the role that young people can play in avoiding them.

YOUTH PARTICIPATION

Governments should facilitate greater youth participation. This can be achieved through greater emphasis on life-skills acquisition in formal and informal education. They should build closer working relationships with national youth councils and enshrine them in law, and work with stakeholders to establish a Social Entrepreneurship Fund, which will provide start-up capital to promising social initiatives.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

To maintain stability and peace, governments need to ensure that nations are governed effectively with processes that are transparent and accountable. They should clearly separate legislative and judicial powers. They should develop and enforce freedom of information legislation, and use ICT as a tool for spreading information and increasing transparency. Lastly, they should establish commissions bringing together all stakeholders including young people to combat corruption.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Governments should ensure that all young people can take advantage of the development opportunities ICT offers. They should adopt liberalisation and tax reduction policies regarding ICT facilities. They should create ICT resource rooms in schools and youth centres. To ensure these are used effectively they should work with all partners to create ICT skills development training programmes.

YOUTH ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

Governments should create incentives and appropriate financial support, including loans, and grants to emerging youth enterprises. They should offer incentives for financial institutions to work with young people. Schemes like that of the successful Commonwealth Youth credit Initiative should be supported and replicated. They should also introduce enterprise development skills into the schools curriculum. We recommend a focus on enterprise development skills within the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan.

GLOBALISATION

Governments of developed nations should take further steps to actively support less developed nations (especially their young people) to take advantage of globalisation and mitigate its negative impacts. Governments should seek to remove all trade barriers between Commonwealth nations, while encouraging and supporting local industry and advocate for debt relief.

HIV/AIDS

Young people are agents for change in combating of the spread of HIV/AIDS, and in creating a supportive society for those affected by the virus. Governments should support young people’s organisations to work collaboratively with other partners to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS issues, including developing youth friendly information centres and introducing HIV/AIDS education into the school curriculum in all countries. They should create and enforce anti-discrimination legislation on the grounds of HIV status, and support this through campaigns to increase understanding and eradicate stigmatisation. We request that key government figures make a public commitment to these campaigns. Furthermore support should be demonstrated through a commitment from governments to increase funding for HIV/AIDS programmes, especially those targeted at young people. Nations should work together to ensure equitable pricing and distribution of anti-retroviral drugs. Lastly, we are impressed by the Young Ambassadors for Positive Living Programme, which we wish to see expanded.

COMMONWEALTH YOUTH FORUM

CYF has become an established and successful part of the CHOGM and it is vital that it continues. We look forward to working with the host nation for CHOGM 2005.