The Commonwealth Secretary-Basic, the Rt Hon. Patricia Scotland KC, has launched a brand new web site, YourCommonwealth.org, for younger leaders to collaborate, promote their improvements and initiatives, and advocate for motion on youth improvement. Along with a extra trendy look, the web site continues to supply a devoted area for Younger Commonwealth Correspondents and now has devoted microsites for the Commonwealth’s 13 youth networks. 

Unveiling the brand new web site on the Commonwealth Youth Community Summit in London, the Secretary-Basic mentioned:

“This initiative is yet one more instance of our dedication to our younger leaders and the 1.5 billion younger folks they signify. This web site will present them with extra instruments to share their concepts and options to among the most difficult improvement points. As well as, they will obtain their objectives by combining their expertise, innovation and initiatives.”

She added: “This launch is a part of our celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Commonwealth Youth Programme. The web site may even play a crucial position in amplifying our Yr of Youth, a landmark declaration by our 56 Heads of Authorities at their summit final yr. At its coronary heart, it recognises the ability of our youth and acknowledges that we’ll actually fail to realize our sustainable improvement objectives if we don’t empower and have interaction our younger folks and prioritise them in all features of our improvement work.”

The brand new website is an improve of the long-running YourCommonwealth.org web site – a devoted platform for greater than 70 Younger Commonwealth correspondents, made up of commentators in addition to practising and aspiring journalists. To bolster its expertise pool,  the Commonwealth Secretariat is inviting younger folks, aged 15-29,  to use to change into a Commonwealth Younger Correspondent.

In 2012, the web site was named ‘Communicator of the Yr’ within the Nexus Commonwealth Awards. Head of Social Coverage, Layne Robinson, coordinated the web site in collaboration with younger folks from throughout the Commonwealth and workers members from the communications and youth divisions.

“The imaginative and prescient was to offer younger folks from everywhere in the Commonwealth the chance to air their views on occasions and challenges of their nation and globally. This provides us a novel perception into points and experiences on the bottom and the chance to reply with focused initiatives and programmes,” mentioned Mr Robinson.

Commonwealth Senior Communications and Engagement Officer Natricia Duncan, who labored with the youth leaders throughout the networks to handle the improve, mentioned the intention was to create a multimedia collaboration area.

She mentioned: “Although our 13 networks are every devoted to a distinct problem, corresponding to well being, training, incapacity and local weather change, collaboration amongst them is crucial to the success of their campaigns and initiatives. Due to this fact, we focussed the improve on creating the structure to accommodate extra multimedia and artistic content material and offering a platform the place the networks can synergise and co-create.”

Coordinator of the Commonwealth Correspondents, Chimaobi Omeye, mentioned the improve would increase an already highly effective platform.

He added: “We already have interaction 1000’s of younger folks by means of thought-provoking articles, and the instruments obtainable from this web site will allow us to multiply this quantity and prolong our attain. That is additionally a chance for youth networks throughout the Commonwealth to additional collaborate with the correspondents to share their voices, concepts tales, and hopes.”

Clare Keizer, the brand new editor of the web site, added: “We’re actually enthusiastic about this new platform as a result of it is a vital a part of our technique to hone the abilities of our correspondents, elevate the profile of our networks and enhance their membership. We are going to work to make sure that each younger particular person within the Commonwealth is conscious of this wonderful useful resource and the alternatives it gives.”