Speech at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Youth Forum
Date: 23 Nov 2005
Speaker: Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Location: Suncrest Hotel, Qawra, Malta
I am very pleased to be with you to draw this worthwhile forum to an end. In the last week, you have worked incredibly hard to give shape to our agenda for youth in the Commonwealth looking forward.
I am a passionate believer in harnessing the potential of young people. They are our future and any organisation that recognises the importance of investing in young people will deliver positive changes to our world. So, thank you for your efforts.
Two thirds of our modern Commonwealth are young people. They are a vital resource for the Commonwealth because they are instinctively innovative, ambitious, willing, energetic and optimistic. It is only their life experiences and the environments in which they live that reduce the scale and scope of their potential for being positive. It follows that all we do to limit the restrictions, to create the opportunities, and to improve their home environments will create great potential.
It is the young people of the world today that will ensure that the Commonwealth remains vibrant and credible in 15 to 20 to 30 years time.
Young people living on the front line of deprivation will tell you that there are many challenges ahead. But look in the eyes and you will see a determination to overcome the toughest challenges. What they need are the tools and space to engage and participate fully as partners in the development process.
The Commonwealth has dedicated itself to providing those tools and placing in the hands of young people the opportunity to make a difference.
The Commonwealth's Ambassadors for Positive Living, for instance, is one of those of which I am especially proud. Proud less in terms of what we do to support the programme, and more in terms of how uplifting those young Ambassadors are when confronted with such tough circumstances.
Despite living with HIV/AIDS, they reach out to their peers to inform them of the health implications, how to overcome the stigma, how not to pass it on, and to offer hope and encouragement to those diagnosed with the virus. The Ambassadors' message to those with HIV/AIDS in Africa , the Caribbean and the Pacific is that life can go on.
As I have travelled around the Commonwealth, I have witnessed how young people, working in partnership with the Commonwealth, are not only turning their lives around but improving the lives of their communities too.
The Youth Enterprise Development programme has been another success, tackling unemployment through the Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative. That Enterprise scheme offers training courses for young men and women, to give them the skills and tools they need to earn their way out of poverty.
We also encourage our young people to get involved in the democratic process through the Youth Networks and Governance programme. Young people have a valuable contribution to make to influence the development and implementation of public policy. The Commonwealth Youth Caucus gives young people a voice at national, regional and Pan-Commonwealth levels.
In London last week, I was invited to a function welcoming Commonwealth students to the UK . They are part of the Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows Programme which has, for over 40 years, helped students from developing Commonwealth countries to continue their studies.
A remark was made that, in amongst the gathering, could be future presidents or prime ministers. While this remark surprised many of the students, it didn't surprise me and it certainly made them think…that perhaps they could in years to come have more than just a small influence on improving the lives of their people back home.
It will not of course happen overnight, we know that. But embodied within the Commonwealth philosophy is that thought that youth are not passive beneficiaries of development or spectators to programmes and policies that affect their development. Rather, they are fully involved.
This year's CHOGM theme is 'Networking the Commonwealth for Development', and I am sure you will make the most of your own youth networks to enhance lives and livelihoods. Our Maltese hosts are rightly drawing attention to the value and importance of using information technology to meet development challenges. As I've also been saying, the beauty and value of our Commonwealth networks is that they operate in a whole range of ways. They can harness and promote ICTs for development, and they can also keep stretching on beyond the last telegraph pole.
Young people are especially adept at responding to new technology - I find it hard to keep up with my son's command of everything electronic in our house, and he's only 7 years old! I am sure young people will be inspired to use new, IT-based networks to make their voices heard not only for themselves, but for generations to come.
Let me conclude with a quick point about a matter that will be on the minds of Heads of Government later this week, that being tolerance. Terrorist attacks in recent times have brought tolerance to the top of the public agenda. That said, one cannot simply look at terrorism or its root causes in isolation or think there is one path to take in tackling it. The roots of terrorism may be found in faith, ethnicity, culture, nationality, socio-economic marginalisation, and even straightforward political beliefs and ends. On the other side of the coin is the need to tackle terrorism, extremism, and marginalisation in an equally varied way.
Tolerance must be an active, not a passive concept. There must be positive engagement among different groups, not simply indifference or grudging acceptance. The choice of language is important. Branding and associating extremism or terrorism with any one particular faith is irresponsible, dangerous and can make a bad situation worse. One must be careful not to tarnish entire racial groups or religions with the same brush.
Governments cannot dodge their responsibility to get the constitutional, legal and political frameworks right. At the end of the day, empowerment of people, particularly the marginalised - whether they be or feel in that state on the grounds of race, religion, geography, ethnicity or even income - is vital for stability.
Equally, civil society has a major role in promoting understanding and dialogue. Young people are central to this. If peace and goodwill and understanding can rule in the hearts and minds of Commonwealth youth, our world is destined to be a better place.
Thank you
Download the speech: 
Speech at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Youth Forum
delicious
digg
reddit
facebook
stumbleupon
News feeds