An HIV/AIDS awareness raising event in India

Commonwealth Youth Ministers, meeting in Botswana in 2003, mandated the CYP to focus on four strategic programme areas: youth enterprise development, youth networks and governance, youth participation, and youth work education and training. It has pursued this mandate by working at the pan-Commonwealth level and through region-specific programmes delivered by its four regional centres. These are located in Zambia (for Africa), India (for Asia), Guyana (for the Caribbean) and Solomon Islands (to which the South Pacific Centre was relocated from Australia in June 2005).

In pursuit of CYP objectives, the Secretariat works with member governments and a range of partner institutions, including development agencies and civil society organisations, at all levels of programme and service development and implementation.

Youth enterprise development

The Secretariat’s work in youth enterprise development is concerned with creating employment opportunities for young people as a means of reducing poverty. The Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI) provides credit, mentorship support and enterprise development training to young people. Over the last two years, the CYCI, in collaboration with partners around the Commonwealth, has enabled the establishment of more than 7,800 youth-oriented businesses.

The Secretariat has been consulting with the Governments of Cameroon, Mozambique, Seychelles and Sierra Leone to implement CYCI. Short-term training in enterprise development was provided in Ghana in January 2005 as the first phase of a national CYCI project there.

In response to the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster of December 2004, the CYCI project in Sri Lanka was restructured to cater to a target group affected by the disaster and develop income-generating activities for households headed by women, as well as skills training for young people.

Trainers were trained to provide mentorship and training to youth and community-based organisations in Dominica and St Lucia. The CYP Caribbean Centre is working with CSAP to mobilise credit experts and mentors to work as volunteers in both countries. Technical assistance was also provided to develop an action plan for the Dominican Youth Business Trust, creating an internet café for young entrepreneurs. In Guyana, the CYCI was expanded to include marginalised young people from rural communities. Young entrepreneurs started 15 micro-businesses after successful completion of CYCI training.

Some 150 indigenous young people were trained by the South Pacific Centre in the implementation of innovative business management strategies, in collaboration with public and private sector partners.

Under the Youth for the Future initiative, endorsed by Commonwealth leaders in 2002, a new model for utilising enterprise development as a strategy for reducing unemployment and poverty among young people was instituted. The Creating Common Wealth Forum, held in November 2003 in collaboration with the Government of Australia, brought together 270 delegates from 45 member countries to develop strategies and programmes to reduce youth unemployment. As a follow-up, short-term enterprise development training projects were held in various countries.

ICTs for youth development

Providing access to information and communication technology (ICT) to young people is another Commonwealth strategy to reduce poverty. Established at both the CYP Africa and Asia Regional Centres, CYP Technology Empowerment Centres (CYPTEC) provide young people with new ICT skills to access markets and improve the operation of their businesses. The project will be expanded to Pakistan during 2005-2006.

More than 3,000 young entrepreneurs in rural India have benefited from ‘CYPTEC on Wheels’, a mobile ICT training service. Another CYPTEC vehicle was delivered to the Government of Pakistan in June 2005.

The new ‘CYP on Line’ project completed its second phase in 2004-2005. It provides an effective method of outreach to CYP’s development partners by enabling young people and organisations from the Commonwealth to interact via the internet.

The CYP Asia Centre supported the development of an interactive website and marketing portal launched at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs of India in 2004 to increase the export of products produced by women entrepreneurs.

Youth networks and governance

	Children at an AIDS orphanage set up with Commonwealth support in Malawi

On the principle that young people have a fundamental right to determine how power and resources are used in their societies, the CYP works to enhance the capacity of young people and youth networks to influence good governance processes at all levels of society.

The CYP collaborates with youth affairs ministries and focal youth organisations to strengthen their capacity to implement the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment, which encourages the development and implementation of national youth policies.

The CYP Africa Centre has worked with the Governments of The Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho and Zambia on various aspects of the national youth policy review process. Government and youth NGO officials in the Asia region, trained in youth empowerment and environmental awareness, are now taking on leadership roles in their respective countries. A ‘Most Innovative Youth Business’ award was established in the Asia region.

Regional refresher courses held in collaboration with the Barbados Community College enabled some 25 youth workers from 10 Caribbean countries to enhance their skills and competencies in youth development.

Technical assistance was provided to restructure youth ministries and networks in Fiji and Solomon Islands, and to the Department of Youth Affairs in Tonga towards a national youth policy. The South Pacific Centre facilitated the participation of youth ministries from Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Cook Islands in a review of strategic plans, organised by the Government of Fiji Islands, to enhance their capacity to deliver quality programmes to young people.

The Youth Development Index (YDI) project focuses on the development of a web-based database system to collate information on youth development. With funding from the Organisation of American States, it will assist governments in the Caribbean and development agencies in developing appropriate youth programmes.

A key component of the CYP’s work is to develop the institutional capacity of national youth councils (NYCs) to enable them to participate in national development and governance processes and the delivery of youth development programmes. The Africa Centre has provided resources to the Governments of Sierra Leone and Swaziland to establish NYCs, and is currently working with NYCs in Tanzania and Zambia. The Asia Centre has produced a manual on NYC models in Asia and supported the development of a Disaster Management Coalition in India and an Asian Environment Network.

Youth participation

Young people can realise their potential as active citizens through participation in and contribution to development processes. A key CYP objective is to enhance the leadership capacity of young people and enable them to contribute effectively to combating HIV/AIDS. Under the Young Ambassadors for Positive Living programme, young people, many of whom are HIV positive, work as peer educators and counsellors. First implemented in the Africa region, the programme was expanded to the Asia and Caribbean regions in 2003-2005.

An evaluation of the ‘Ambassadors’ programme in Africa called for an increase in funding, the establishment of stronger linkages and partnership with donor agencies operating in the region, and mechanisms to ensure more local and country ownership of the programme.

A Regional Symposium on HIV/AIDS held by the Asia Centre in India in November 2004 enhanced knowledge of issues and strategies on HIV/AIDS and drug/substance abuse, the development of regional support networks, and the formulation of innovative, strategic programmes at the regional level.

In the Caribbean, the ‘Play It Safe’ initiative is an innovative project to raise awareness and community action on HIV/AIDS. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, and St Lucia, the project uses sports that are popular with young people, such as cricket, football and netball, to reach unattached young people in rural communities and encourage their involvement in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The project is also being implemented in Guyana.

A group of young people who are leading the dialogue on HIV/AIDS in the Pacific region participated in a joint CYP-UNICEF study tour programme to assess the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Africa. The ‘Ambassadors’ programme is now being developed for countries in the Pacific.

The CYP has strengthened the participation of young people in its own governance processes through their involvement in the meetings of Regional Advisory Boards, the Secretariat’s Board of Governors and Executive Committee, and Commonwealth Youth Ministers.

The Commonwealth Youth Caucus and Regional Youth Caucuses are important elements in CYP’s decision-making process. Caucus members were involved in the development of a Youth Handbook specifying the principles governing their operations. Workshops in Asia, Africa and the UK enabled Youth Caucus members to develop strategic plans, review the Youth Handbook and enhance the functioning of the Caucus.

The Regional Youth Caucus in Africa established an electronic chat forum for members to communicate on strategic and programming issues. A Commonwealth Youth Caucus website was also established. Youth Caucus members gained valuable skills on internships at Regional Centres and the Secretariat’s headquarters in London.

An adolescent participation project to be implemented in 160 countries was launched in May 2005. A collaborative effort involving CYP, UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA, the project included the production of a set of ‘how-to’ guides and interactive CDs on adolescent participation in development and decision-making.

Following the hurricane in Grenada in 2004 and floods in Guyana in 2005, the Caribbean Centre mobilised teams of skilled young builders and professionals to work on reconstruction and rehabilitation in these countries. The Asia Centre provided technical advice to the Government of Sri Lanka to enhance the institutional capacity of communities in the south of the country to respond to the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

The CYP Regional Youth Proficiency Awards programme recognises excellence in contributions to youth development work. In 2003-2005, 38 youth groups received Silver Awards and eight received Gold Awards under the programme.

Youth work education and training

	Computer training at the CYP Africa Centre in Lusaka, Zambia

A high priority is developing and promoting the profession of youth work. The CYP offers a Diploma in Youth in Development Work, a Certificate programme and short training courses to equip young people with the skills to implement youth development programmes.

The Diploma programme is now implemented in 42 member countries and six overseas territories, delivered through 28 partner institutions. Some 2,800 students were enrolled in the programme during its first cycle; many countries are now in their second or third cycles. The CYP Diploma is globally recognised as a best practice in both youth work training and continuing education.

In 2005, more than 60 youth workers graduated with the Diploma from universities in Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania.

The UWI commenced delivery of the Diploma in June 2004 in 12 countries in the Caribbean, with 201 students enrolled. The CYP is collaborating with UWI to introduce an Associate Degree in Youth in Development Work. Youth workers from Dominica and St Lucia have completed the Certificate course.

In Asia, at universities in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka more than 770 students are participating in the Diploma programme. In the Pacific, 142 students from Australia, Fiji Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Cook Islands have completed the Diploma and a review of the course has been undertaken. In Papua New Guinea, the Certificate programme was launched and tutors were trained.

The professionalisation of youth work was further advanced through the establishment of Associations of Professional Youth Workers and a Code of Practice for Youth Development. Other activities include an Asian Regional Workshop held at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Youth Development, India, to enhance the skills and competencies of youth development workers to work with young people at risk from such threats as substance abuse, crime, prostitution and HIV and AIDS.