The youth are being challenged to tap and embrace the opportunities that the Commonwealth Youth Forum which will bring together over 300 delegates from Commonwealth member states in Kigali, will present to them. The youth forum is one of the key events lined up as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). The call was made by Aimable Twahirwa, the Director General of Culture Promotion at the Ministry of Youth and Culture, in an event which brought young people from higher learning institutions to learn about the opportunities that CHOGM brings and how young people can be part of it. The CYF will convene young leaders from member countries to exchange ideas, build networks, identify and debate development issues, challenges, and opportunities, agree on youth-led initiatives to mitigate challenges facing young people and create opportunities to enhance their lives. Twahirwa said that the youth have an opportunity to discuss the unemployment issues and how they can solve by sharing innovative ideas and creating jobs, it will be a platform for the young people to connect. Mutavu Shenge, a second year student at Kigali Independent University (ULK) said that, this is an opportunity to get to know much about the commonwealth and the opportunities for the young people in the forum. She said she was looking forward to the forum, saying that she will be able to connect and network with her colleagues from other countries. “I used to think that it is not something that concerns me but I have come to appreciate that I have a role to play in policy making as well as contributing to the development of our bloc as the theme goes “Taking Charge of Our Future”. She added that, “this is an opportunity for the youth in Rwanda to contribute meaningfully in shaping the future they want for themselves, their respective countries and the Commonwealth”. Alice Niyigena, another student from ULK said that this is a big opportunity for them to learn from other young people, since different sectors of the economy will be represented. Niyigena added that Rwanda is a home to home-grown solutions, “so the CYF comes as a platform for us the youth to showcase what we do best and also learn from them what they do best.” According to Claude Rusibana the Vice Chancellor of the university said that, the meeting will bring together heads of governments from the 54 member states who will sit to discuss among other issues challenges faced by youth most commonly unemployment Rusibana said that member states are not at the same level of development some are more advanced in technology, adding that this is an opportunity for young people to get all this kind of information and embrace all the opportunities that CHOGM will present. Besides ULK students who attended the event physically, those from other universities attended virtually.
