Youth Take Charge of the Commonwealth

KIGALI, RWANDA – Imagine hundreds of young people sharing their solutions for global issues in education, climate change, economics, and technology with world leaders. Well, that process has started through the Commonwealth Youth Forum.

The three-day gathering of young people from more 50 Commonwealth countries is just ahead of the gathering of World Leaders for The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda this week.

Out of the 2.4 billion people living in Commonwealth countries, 60 percent are under the age of 29.

In fact, one in three young people in the world between 15-29 years of age live in the Commonwealth.

Leading the Bahamian delegation in Kigali, Rwanda is the minister with youth as his portfolio.

Two years of COVID-19 created the largest disruption in history in education.

Add to that fears of another global recession, climate change, economic inequality, and a growing digital divide and you’ve got the list of discussion topics for this year’s forum here in Kigali.

The Bahamas has two youth delegates here – Rashard Ritchie and Shaquille Sands.

Kendell Vincent is the Chairperson of the Caribbean Youth Council.

It’s employment and opportunities for our region, that are capturing Vincent’s attention.

Along those same lines, Minister Mario Bowleg is on the speakers’ agenda here the CYA. We understand as a part of his presentation he will highlight some successful young Bahamian entrepreneurs doing well in spite of the global and common challenges of the pandemic.