OP-ED | Young people need our support; we must seize this tremendous opportunity

By Patricia Scotland, 
Commonwealth Secretary-General

(Guyana Chronicle) OUR world seems to be changing faster than ever – technologically, environmentally, socially – and in so many other ways. It is hard for any of us to keep up with the astonishing pace and scale of developments and their impact, for better or for worse, on our own lives and the ways in which they affect the future of our planet.

Yet too often it seems that those with the greatest stake in the future are least empowered to shape it: young people. This is something the Commonwealth has for more than 50 years been working hard to change; and never more so than today. Population growth means that there are now more young people in the Commonwealth than ever before, and this offers choices and challenges for all involved in planning and making policy, and for young people themselves. The combined population of the Commonwealth is now 2.4 billion, of which more than 60 per cent are aged 29 or under, and one in three between the ages of 15 and 29.

Through social media, young people are more connected, informed, engaged and globally aware than ever before. Even so, their potential to drive progress and innovation is often overlooked or remains untapped, despite pioneering Commonwealth leadership over the decades on inclusiveness and intergenerational connection. Since the 1970s, Commonwealth cooperation has supported member states with provision of education and training for youth workers, who have a central role to play in encouraging, enabling, and empowering young people. Practitioners may be of any age, and operate in many settings: youth clubs, parks, schools, prisons, hospitals, on the streets and in rural areas.

Commonwealth approaches and engagement recognise the dynamic role youth workers can play in addressing young people’s welfare and rights, and in connecting and involving them in the decision-making process at all levels. In some Commonwealth countries, youth work is a distinct profession, acknowledged in policy and legislation to deliver and certify quality of practice, including through education and training. In others, it is institutionalised less formally through custom and practice. In some countries there is little or no youth work activity — formal or informal.

Read more at: Guyana Chronicle

Source: CARICOM TODAY