With EU funding, Erasmus+, the situations in Hungary and Syria, sustainable development, and Brexit on the agenda, it was of little surprise that the recent General Assembly meeting of the European Youth Forum ran over into the night. However, a very late dinner even by Italian standards was a sacrifice worth making to obtain something which in business and politics alike has as yet to be obtained, a continental consensus on at least some aspects of Brexit. This outcome could only be dreamed for as Lucia and I embarked on the task of creating a politically neutral paper outlining young peoples thoughts about Brexit in October 2017, using qualitative methods to create an ironclad representation of the mood of Britains youth.

The meeting itself, which takes place twice a year, was this time in Brussels and had a focus on the future of Europe with extensive discussion devoted to sustainability and what it meant to be European. At the beginning of the weekend, we were split into discussion groups of EU and non-EU countries, which is simpler said than done from a British perspective. In the end, I decided to venture into the unknown and join Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland etc in the aptly chosen ‘London’ conference room for the non-EU discussion, whereas Lucia joined in with the EU discussions next door. We all agreed that we must protect our planet, democracy and human rights, however I felt some unease in the proposition that programmes should be created to imbue children and young people with a greater sense of European identity. I couldn’t help exchanging ‘European’ with educating young people to be ‘British’ or ‘Scottish’, which in both cases could foster nationalism and a concept of exceptionalism. Really, as a rule we should always treat with extreme caution attempts by those in a position of power should educate young people on how to think politically. Rather than education to be good Europeans, we should focus on educating young people to be good human beings and think critically for themselves.

Before we got to our paper on Brexit, we discussed and voted on a few other quite necessary policy papers which proved considerably more controversial than our own. Weighing in at 56 pages the paper on the next multi-annual financial framework, essentially our ideas for the future budget of the EU, was passed with a commitment to Erasmusx10 and a focus on funding youth organisations. After this came a document on sustainable development which included fiery language concerning private ownership, wage labour, nationalisation, and broken democracy which sought to create a ‘new economy’ to transform the world and change our greedy ways. Certainly, it probably pushed the boundaries of remaining politically and ideologically neutral quite far beyond what would be expected in the UK and elsewhere, and as a result efforts were made to create more friendly language which in most cases succeeded. What concerned me most though were points demanding the education of children and young people in the ‘new economy’ (ending of private ownership, abolition of wage labour etc.) in schools and youth groups, which is as ludicrous an idea as it is dangerous. All in all though the vast majority of this paper had good intentions and sought to improve our relationship with the environment and each other which should always be championed.

Finally, after 3 days of workshops and discussions, already several hours behind schedule, it was time for the Brexit paper to be put before the meeting. Essentially this paper,  roughly covers the issues of discrimination, environment, northern Ireland border, an overview of the economy, erasmus+, free movement and our future role in withdrawal negotiations. However, representing young people across the UK both remainers and leavers we kept this paper with feet firmly planted in a space which the vast majority, if not nearly everyone, could agree with. As such, it includes demands such as remaining part of the Erasmus programme, or at very least match the funding it offers, maintain all environmental legislation currently in force or even enhance it, take greater steps to mitigate hate in the aftermath of the referendum, and to place continued peace as the top priority in the resolution of the northern Irish border dispute. But the most crucial point of all, hammered home time and time again in this paper, is that these concerns cannot be filled away and ignored but be listened to and acted upon by our government, and the EU governments, negotiation teams. This strikes at the heart of the reason for this paper being created, chiefly to amplify our voice beyond the saturated lobbying zone of London and across the channel to London where the action really is. However, without the anchorage of the youth forum in Brussels with its networks and expertise, we might as well be shouting it out from the cliffs of Dover. It is for this reason that I am delighted to report, after the controversy of the previous discussions, we were given from Iceland to Azerbaijan, Malta to Finland, a 100% approval for this paper to be taken forward as a motion of support opening the doors for many more exciting things to come both here in the UK and in the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, expectations for what this paper can achieve must be realistic, it is not a manifesto in which we foresee its objectives being ticked off one by one but rather a mission statement. We are young, but we can put forward our views with head as well as heart. If you speak to us, you may well find a new perspective that reinvigorates discussion and ideas, with our presence alone a stark reminder of the damaging repercussions every decision made could have for generations to come.

From the 6-8th April, Ewan and I were in Utrecht to attend the BICC meeting (Benelux, Islands, Central Cooperation) which held the theme of refugees.
Arriving in Utrecht, we were ready to meet the other National Youth Councils and begin the sessions. Led expertly by Coco Peet and Max van de Braggen, with help from other members of the NYC it was a professional and well thought out sessions that were treated with incredible respect and dignity.
What we found particularly moving were the talks given by refugees that have moved to Amsterdam, who gave insight into their experiences of moving from a country that wasn’t safe to their new country. Not assimilation but integration. From the discussions arose an interesting point, that whilst the children of refugee families are in school and can access help with language and mental health, the parents are often left forgotten at home with little connection to the outside world. Perhaps access to resources such as language can be looked at, in order to allow adult refugees to learn and feel a greater sense of stability.
We also met to discuss and analyse the result of our National dialogue sessions, where each NYC discussed with migrants of their own country the challenges and experiences they face in everyday life. We received feedback on the answers we gave and discussed the outcomes of the dialogue, and how opinions of migration differed in each country. The provision of help and the attitudes towards refugees differed from country to country and it was beneficial to hear these stories from the perspective of a migrant.

We also worked on two policy papers, giving our opinions to then be turned into amendments for consideration at the Council of Members meeting. The papers were 2020 MFF and a paper on Sustainable Development. Both meetings resulted in diverse and thorough questions to emerge, which will be put forward as amendments later this month.
Finally, we looked at the methods we could use in our own countries to increase help given to migrants and refugees. We split the challenges that most commonly arose from the national dialogue sessions into different categories and then each NYC contributed to the lists with their country’s policy in mind. This allows us to take actionable steps to improve our services for migrants and refugees in our respective countries.
This was an incredibly moving and insightful meeting, that I have taken many new ideas and opinions from. Hopefully, moving forward, we can make Britain a more welcoming and open place for all.

Lucia Jones
UKYA for the European Youth Forum

Commonwealth Youth Forum 2018

After tireless months of planning, late nights and sheer hard work, the Commonwealth Forums and subsequent Heads of Government Meeting is complete! It has been an incredible summit and it’s a shame it’s already over, but now the real work begins: continuing the legacy of CYF 2018.

Before we get to that, though, the Forum! CYF was an opportunity to really discuss issues that countries across the Commonwealth face, and building partnerships with delegates across the 53 member states to achieve a better society. What brings us together are the common problems that we have to address, like climate change.

Climate change has ravaged countries around the world. In fact, the only reason this summit is being hosted by the UK is because floods destroyed the island of Vanuatu. On top of that, species like the snow leopard are becoming extinct, the globe is warming and the Great Barrier Reef is dying. I was really glad the sustainability and blue-green economies formed the cornerstone of CHOGM 2018, because if we don’t look at ourselves in the mirror, then we’re at real risk of totally irreparable damage to the world.

But hey, I promise this blog isn’t too morbid! It was a refreshing experience and truly renewed my optimism towards the future.

The Forum (unofficially) began on Sunday. It was a day facilitated by the National Citizen Service, where delegates were able to explore London and initiate the conversation around issues before the grand opening the next day. Even though I’m from the UK, it was lovely walking around my beautiful city and enjoying its sights, and above all, seeing the looks of amazement on those who had travelled for hours upon hours to be here.

Then came the actual day we had all been looking forward to. I hadn’t been up for 6am in a long time, so this took some getting used to. The UK delegates arrived at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre to listen to keynote speeches for the opening of the Forum, with Prince Harry’s appearance being a highlight. It was amazing to hear him announce himself as the new Ambassador to the Commonwealth; I look forward to him championing that cause. After a day of workshops based on the four pillars of prosperity, sustainability, security and fairness, I attended the Welcome to London reception. Boy, what an event! From foods found across the Commonwealth to stunning performances (a huge shout out to Ellie Goulding) to an appearance out of nowhere by Prince William, it was a great opportunity to meet with delegates from the four forums and connect with other young people a more informal setting. Day 1 really set the precedent for the rest of the week.

Day 2 began with a inter-forum session. Andrew Holness, the Jamaican Prime Minister, delivered a rousing speech, reminding us about the damage that empire has caused globally. This was after the Prime Minister, Theresa May, spoke about the importance of the Commonwealth and how it remains relevant to this day. With pledges for funding to support Commonwealth states and to parts of the youth sector, it was a positive moment for youth empowerment and we’ll be sure to ensure these promises are delivered. And to top it all off, Bill Gates took the stage to point out how far the world has come in terms of child mortality, and how, despite all the horrors that seem to happen daily, we have progressed massively.

In between more insightful sessions, there was the ‘Big Lunch’, which celebrated cultures in the most universal way: food. This continued to a day full of policy planning, where delegates worked together to design ideas to include in the CYF communiqué. It was a pretty busy and exhausting day, but it climaxed with a magical concert hosted by Global Citizen Live. Featuring high-profile speakers such as the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the night highlighted the fantastic achievements by charities around the world, and culminated with Emeli Sandé lighting up the stage (also quite literally).

And then came the final day. This was primarily about the General Assembly, where each country’s voting delegates debated policy and procedural motions. It was a momentous moment for many reasons, including the British Overseas Territories obtaining voting rights and also Europe finally getting its own representative on the Commonwealth Youth Council! While the debate got heated, controversial, and outright awkward at times, it was great step forward for young people across the Commonwealth. A personal highlight was the adoption of mental health as a priority for the CYC. The CYC overall adopted policy recommendations that we will use as our basis for the legacy work we plan to do post-CYF, you can check them out here.

See, I love surprises as much as the next person, which basically mean I don’t. But the surprise of being invited to the majestic Sky Gardens to meet the Heads of State and Foreign Ministers of all the 53 Commonwealth countries was pretty unbelievable. It was an incredibly honour to promote ideas regarding young people to figures such as the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Boris Johnson, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau; the evening culminated in speaking to the Prime Minister of the UK about climate change and youth entrepreneurship.

And voilà! The curtain call. Sky Gardens brought an end to an exhilarating, draining and bright Forum to launch a drive for a stronger society. I want to say a huge thank you first and foremost to Ellen and Andrea, who made sure Thrinayani and I were fully equipped for the week. The entire Cabinet Office Team working mindblowing hours put in heroic effort to make this all happen, and for that we are incredibly grateful. And finally, a massive amount of appreciation must be placed on the inspirational delegates that attended this Forum in the hope of pursuing a better future for the generations now and to come, with particular praise for the 50 UK delegates who made their respective organisations and us proud.

That’s all from me. Stay tuned with the projects Thrinayani and I develop to continue the legacy of this very significant week. We refuse to let this to be a summit of empty promises and false hope, but rather a turning point for the UK, the Commonwealth and indeed the world.

Namir Rahim Chowdhury

UK Ambassador to the Commonwealth

This was my second internship working in international relations, but my first time working in the youth sector. Growing up I wasn’t very engaged in youth politics, so now having worked for the British Youth Council (BYC) it has showed me how accomplished the young people are that we work with and the amazing work BYC does for young people in the UK. Technically, I’m still a young person at 24, so this internship has supported both my personal and professional development.

The purpose of my internship was to help manage BYC’s Commonwealth work, which I coordinated with the Cabinet Office and the Commonwealth Secretariat. My knowledge of the Commonwealth before this internship was like many other people in the UK, I knew that it stemmed from the British Empire, the Queen is the head and there are the Commonwealth Games every four years. Through this internship, I learnt about the Commonwealth’s structure, governance and its work that supports the 53 Commonwealth countries. The Commonwealth’s work is particularly relevant to young people as 60% of the Commonwealth’s population is under 30. Thus the CYF and the participation of young people are essential to Commonwealth’s relevance in global matters.

During my six month internship, the key events I helped to organise were Commonwealth Day and the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) which were both successful, but a little stressful to organise at times. Commonwealth Day involved a Q&A at Number 10 Downing Street with Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and UN (and briefly Prime Minister Theresa May) then after a mixed faith service at Westminster Abbey. The CYF was a three-day conference as a part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London, this forum brings together young people from across the Commonwealth to network, debate and discuss action plans to help tackle the challenges in the Commonwealth.

I worked with a diverse group of young people from across the UK, who represented the UK and BYC member organisations as delegates at the CYF. My responsibilities included selecting delegates, booking transport, disseminating information and liaising with our delivery partners and relevant stakeholders. The best part of this job was working with young people who are passionate about youth participation and ensuring their voice is heard in international matters. This motivated me to make sure are young delegates were truly engaged with the CYF and the Commonwealth. This is why it is super important for youth-led organisations like BYC to be included at all levels of national and international politics to help ensure young people’s voices are heard.  Like many high-level international events, it is questionable whether they are spaces for meaningful engagement of young people with decision makers; however these Commonwealth events were at least spaces for young people to learn, develop and contribute their ideas. In reality, the real power of the Commonwealth is on the ground and with Commonwealth citizens; this was reflected throughout the young delegates’ stories at the CYF.

This internship has developed my understanding of international relations, advocacy, event management, logistics, project coordination and partnership building. The purpose of an internship is to learn, and this experience has been a huge learning curve for me. It has provided the opportunity to grow in my career by letting me take the lead on all my work. Also, my time at BYC wouldn’t have been as great if it weren’t for the amazing BYC team, every staff member and trustee has been more than welcoming and supportive, it’s impressive to see how a small team can make such a big impact.  I have developed transferable skills for my next role in international relations and development…whatever that may be.

Monday 12th March. That was the day we celebrated the annual Commonwealth Day, which recognises the unity of 2.3 billion people across the world, and their contribution to the Commonwealth of Nations. It remains a key date of the British calendar, with very high-profile people participating. I won’t lie, it wasn’t a nice day, not a nice day at all, but is there anything more quintessentially British than constant, light rainfall?

Despite the weather’s clear resentment towards us, the excitement of the UK young delegates to the upcoming Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) wasn’t going to be dampened. We arrived to an event that has been attributed great attention, given the current political climate and the importance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 (CHOGM). These discussions could really set a precedent for future global relationships and trade talks post-Brexit, not to be dramatic or anything. (I tried to not mention the “B” word but that effort clearly didn’t make much of a difference.)

Disclaimer: as you can see, this blog post is filled with acronyms, so I do apologise in advance.

The day started at 10 Downing Street. I was honoured to be moderating a conversation by-the-fireside with the Prime Minister, Theresa May and Lord Ahmad, the Minister for the Commonwealth, about the role of young people in these discussion. 

It was surreal to enter the house. Well, to call it a house wouldn’t do it justice; it was palatial, absolutely stunning. To walk up the steps alongside past prime ministers was an experience to say the least! After chatting to some of the amazing staff team within the Commonwealth Summit Unit (CSU), we began the Q+A, with the delegates asking probing questions on the relevance of the Commonwealth to daily life and the priorities of the UK within the Commonwealth.

It was refreshing to hear both ministers emphasise that young people are a core part of the work going on, especially as 60% of its citizens are under 30, but only time will tell whether real steps are taken to actually reflect this. Will young people be consulted? Will funding be allocated to facilitate this? We’ll find out come April, after the legacy of CHOGM takes shape.

I truly hope this Summit will be the foundation of real action to achieve a better world, not another forgotten gathering littered with unfulfilled promises and disenfranchised citizens.

8am Monday morning. We’ve already been at the QEII for an hour. Delegates are beginning to arrive, and the buzz of excitement and anticipation is rife in the air. That energy fades and is replaced with a crowd of early 20-somethings holding their breath as His Royal Highness Prince Harry is escorted in. But, I’m getting ahead of myself slightly. Rewind to another Monday morning, 7 months earlier; it’s October and another group of 20-somethings are nervously gathered in Marlborough House beginning the talks that will lead us to the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) 2018.

I’m Luke Oliver, I’m 23 and a member of the CYF International Taskforce. Back in October of 2017, I gathered with others to help plan the forum that was then delivered to around 300 delegates from across the Commonwealth. The International Taskforce was made up of about 15 young people because if you want to combat youth issues you can only do that by having youth involved. We were tasked with focusing the forum on four key areas designed to help improve the Commonwealth’s ‘Common Future’; these areas were sustainability, prosperity, fairness & security.

The work began by dividing the Taskforce into three main sub-teams: programmes, policy, and communications. The programmes team began by taking the four pillars as guidelines and then honing them to create areas of interest that affect the youth of the Commonwealth. This meant thinking about cyber security for an ever-growing world; equality for all minorities and acknowledging the richness that those minorities can bring to society, to climate change and the impact that is going to have on us as we inherit the Commonwealth but also the generations of Commonwealth youth to come; cyber security for an ever-growing world. Now, these weren’t thoughts that came from one meeting in October, they were ruminated over many months in the lead up to CHOGM in collaboration with the policy team who listened to the conceptual ideas and then wrote the communique that delegates got to work with, and create action plans for, during the forum. Meanwhile, the communications team aided with campaigns to raise the awareness and engagement of youth in the Commonwealth in the lead up to April.

It’s now April, CHOGM and the Commonwealth Youth Forum are here. All the delegates have arrived and now the work really begins. The forum has been split into two major strands of events: plenaries and break-out sessions. There were four plenaries, one for each pillar, containing young people who are experts in their fields discussing the work they’re doing in their communities across the Commonwealth in the hopes to share success stories, not so successful stories and best practice with the delegates and hopefully impart knowledge on how delegates can better improve their own communities. The second strand was the break-out sessions. This is where the 300 delegates were given the chance to be at the heart of affecting change and policy for the tens of millions of youth across the Commonwealth who couldn’t attend. This meant creating action plans for the policies which had been drafted in the communique. If the policy was ‘more funding for youth entrepreneurships’ the actions plans may have discussed ways in which young people can access that funding.  Both strands played a vital role in the forum, the plenaries were the calls to action and provided examples of the differences this year’s wave of delegates could make; the break-out sessions then created a space for the delegates to be instrumental in the way policy jargon can become physical change in communities across the world.

The three days of the forum became a productive blur with very little let up. On the Wednesday night, the action plans were added to the communique and then forwarded to all of the Heads of Governments from across the Commonwealth to discuss in the meetings at Windsor Castle. The youth agenda is usually something that is tokenistic and discussed in brief by middle-aged senior ministers. So, to be able to say that youth have been at the heart of this year’s CHOGM and the Commonwealth’s future is extremely special and something that I and all involved are tremendously proud to have achieved.

But it’s up to you! If you attended you have tools now to go back and implement change. If you didn’t attend there’s heaps online you can access to see exactly what happened behind the four walls of the QEII or contact people who did go, pick their brains about how they can lead you to make a difference too.

Luke Oliver, International Taskforce Communications Team 

Given that the Young Ambassadors are building research on the issues that young people find important for the future, we thought it would be a good idea to let people know what we got up to at our last conference in Tallinn, Estonia!

We arrived in Estonia on a chilly Monday afternoon in Tallinn after a long day of travel. Everyone there was a little wiped out after travelling from all across Europe; with representatives being sent from every EU nation, along with Switzerland, and the Eastern Partnership countries, many opening conversations began with comparisons of our travel hours! We began the conference with a dinner to welcome everyone, and give us an opportunity to meet with our fellow delegates, before a relatively early night, so we were all prepared to begin work in the morning.

The next morning we had breakfast, and then travelled to the conference centre, the amazing Tallinn Creative hub – or Kultuurikatel. It was a really cool and interesting workspace that was set in the former Tallinn City Central Power Station, and provided a great backdrop for our work. The conference opened with a brief speech from Jüri Ratas, Estonia’s Prime Minister, who gave a warm welcome to all the delegates, then was followed by a panel discussion which included fascinating speakers, such as the Head of Estonia’s European Commission representation, and the president of the European Youth Forum. Next came a video welcome from the Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament.

After this we went through the structure of the conference, then were given space to work in both small groups and on larger panels to discuss the issues that effect young people in our home nations and organisations. This was a fascinating discussion that allowed us to discuss the common issues effecting young people, along with our more specific issues on a national level. We finished working on this around half five, and after conference closing, we headed back to the hotel. We met with our fellow delegates again that evening for dinner and a performance by Estonian musician NOËP, which was a really cool experience!

The next day we had some reflection on what had been done the day before, which then led to our developing a number of issues which were prominent and emerged as important. Based on these, we self-organised into committees to discuss these issues in greater depth. I spent the day with a group that discussed mobility within Europe, and the Erasmus+ programme, which was an interesting and productive discussion. The content of these discussions was then collected and submitted to the conference research team. That night we had dinner and a reception in the Sea Plane Harbour museum, which was a stunning and fascinating venue. Before we ate there was a greeting speech from Kersti Kaljulaid, the current President of Estonia, who spoke to us about young people’s issues in Europe, as well as the Estonian presidency of the European Council, and we were delighted that she joined us. There was then a wonderful performance from Estonian musician IIRIS.

The next morning concluded the conference, and the conference researchers took us through their discoveries and conclusions from the past two days. We then had an insightful Q&A with Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, before the official hand over to the Bulgarian representation, who are hosting the next conference in April. We all had lunch before delegates began peeling off to get airport transfers, though those of us with some time left in Estonia took the opportunity to explore the beautiful city of Tallinn before finally heading home for some rest.

It was a packed and busy schedule, but we all gained some fascinating insights and were able to make important contributions. We are looking forward to building up our research and hearing what young people around the UK feel are the most important issues for them before our next conference

Bronagh Hughes, UK Youth Ambassador for Structured Dialogue and European Policy