Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC)

Address:

Marlborough House Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5HX UK

Telephone: (44) 20 7747 6388 / 7867 289 539

Fax: (44) 20 7747 6579

Email: commonwealthyouthcouncilcyc@gmail.com

Website: www.commonwealth youthcouncil.org

Year established: 2013

Number of staff: 7

Number of subscribing members: 1,567 institutions

Annual expenditure: £50,000 in 2014

Officers (2015):

Chairperson: Ahmed Adamu

Vice Chairpersons: Husni Mohammed (Inclusion and Engagement); Sadham Zarjahan (Parnership and Resources); Sudharshana Lakshmi (Policy and Advocacy)

Regional representatives: Kiziah Philbert (Africa and Europe); Tharika Dileepani (Asia); Royden Behhary (Caribbean and Americas); Harry O. James (Pacific); Shiromi Samarakoon (Special Interest Group)

Aims and objectives:

• To promote mutual collaboration among young people, and work in partnership with state and non-state actors in order to empower the young people of the Commonwealth, without distinction of race, ethnic origin, caste, colour, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, special needs, socio- economic status, marital status, language, religious belief or political opinion

• To be a global platform that mainstreams young people into the work of the Commonwealth at all levels, supporting and advocating for an enabling environment that facilitates the active participation and influence of young people in decision-making processes, and the consideration of youth-specific needs in all policy areas

• To be a centre for mobilising, harmonising, formalising, recognising, legitimising, utilising and prioritising the voices and actions of young people in the advancement of youth

• To be a unified voice for youth in the Commonwealth, and to encourage and extend assistance to Commonwealth countries, in particular small states, in the promotion and acceleration of their youth development strategies

• To advocate encourage governments to include young people in delegations to international functions and as members of, in particular, Commonwealth Ministerial Meetings, CHOGMs and United Nations meetings; and to support young people’s participation in election observer missions, Commonwealth Board of Governors and other Commonwealth meetings

• To be a centre for information on youth work and development, and accordingly collect, monitor, analyse and disseminate information including the exchange of experiences and best practice in youth-led development

• To provide a website and online resources, and to create project plans and campaigns so that young people can be integral in the achievement of the Commonwealth youth development agenda and sustainable development

• To partner with the Commonwealth Secretariat and other Commonwealth organisations with a focus on youth development, to ensure a relevant, impactful and unified youth development agenda across the Commonwealth

Main activities:

The CYC’s main activities involve providing support to its members, and institutionalising the council and secretariat setting and staffing.

Past activities have included:

• Spearheading efforts to meet the Campaign for Standalone goal for youth participation and development in post-2015 development framework

• Launching and implementing the Youth Campaign Against Election Violence

• Launching the 2015 Commonwealth Young Achievers Book