Young people learn about global issues affecting their lives

Young students from Blackburn College in Northern England now have better knowledge of debating skills and how they can participate in political issues that affect their lives.

At a Youth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Youth CHOGM) debate held at Blackburn Cathedral on 23 February 2007, about 80 young people exchanged views on democracy, freedom and inter-faith relations in the Commonwealth.

The Youth CHOGM was aimed at promoting understanding and integration among students at Blackburn College, which has a diverse student population, to raise greater awareness of global issues and ways to address them.

"We discussed a lot of topics on different issues that happen around the world. It shows that even if we are young, we have a lot to do," said one of the students after the debate. "We learned how to put across our points and argue. Most important of all is working together and respecting one another because everyone has different values and opinions, but we can try to help one another to promote freedom and democracy, which is important to us."

"Blackburn has a lot of culture, with different people. The meeting has fostered the importance of working together as a community," said another participant.

These college students aged 16 to 20 were joined by Commonwealth Youth Programme ambassadors from Trinidad and Tobago, Pakistan and New Zealand in a role-playing exercise as Commonwealth Heads of Government.

"Youth CHOGMs allow young people to enter into political debate, giving them the courage and skill to make change possible in their own lives and in the life of their communities," said Stuart Mole, Director-General of the Royal Commonwealth Society, which collaborated with Blackburn College to organise the Youth CHOGM.

Before the debate, young people also learned about the countries they were to represent, while developing skills for lobbying, debating, and brainstorming on how to bring the Commonwealth's work to the community. 

The objective of the Youth CHOGM was to enable young people to look at global concerns such as freedom of speech, poverty, inequality, and human rights. It also offered them a platform for open democratic debate while encouraging dialogue on religious harmony and sexual discrimination.

The outcomes of the training and debate will be reported back to local colleges, youth groups, politicians and Commonwealth non-governmental organisations before being presented to the actual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2007.

Secretariat Links:

• Commonwealth Youth Programme

Related Websites:

• Youth CHOGM