At the recently concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2024 in Apia, Samoa, Thomas Mwesigye and Akeza Germaine Nkunzurwanda represented Rwanda and were elected to be part of the Commonwealth Youth Council. Held under the theme “One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth,” the forum brought together more than 3,000 delegates from the 56 member countries. Rwanda handed over the Chair-in-office position to Samoa for the next two years. The New Times’ Alice Kagina had an exclusive interview with Mwesigye who discussed more about what stood out during the forum, the opportunities for young Rwandans in the Commonwealth, and the way forward for young people in this organization. The excerpts: Tell us about the Commonwealth Youth Forum and your election to be part of it. What does this mean to you? The 2024 Commonwealth Youth Forum as part of the CHOGM events was an interesting platform for 350 youth leaders across the globe to discuss matters affecting youth in the Commonwealth. Decisions are taken as recommendations are raised and presented to the heads of state meetings via intergenerational dialogue. Akeza Germaine Nkunzurwanda and I were nominated to represent Rwanda in this global space by the Ministry of Youth and Arts. I do not take an opportunity to serve, learn, and represent my country for granted. From this, we only understand the strong commitment of our government leadership to prioritize, support, and empower young people. Since the day of nomination, my question has been, why should Rwanda be there, what should I prioritize in this meeting on behalf of my fellow young people, and what I should present to other youth leaders as lessons from Rwanda? Why should young Rwandans care about this? It is so important to Rwanda to have youth representatives get the opportunity to meet and network with counterparts from all over the world as they share issues youth are facing and their adaptive interventions. These global discussions aim to advocate for support that directly benefits young people in their areas of choice like climate change, and entrepreneurship. This platform not only amplifies Rwanda’s achievements in youth empowerment but also opens doors to resources, partnerships, and programs that enable skills, entrepreneurship, and leadership opportunities in Rwanda. By participating in the CYF, Rwandan youth gain exposure to diverse perspectives, inspiring greater civic engagement and creating a generation equipped to advocate for fellows. Our presence in these spaces often motivates us to improve what we do as we challenge the narrative and expose successful initiatives from Rwanda. What key things stood out to you during this year’s CHOGM? Discussing this year’s CHOGM, we immediately remember how often the commitment to climate action and financing was identified. There were urgent dialogues on funding and implementing sustainable practices, especially in developing nations. The inclusion of digital transformation discussions highlighted the need for equitable digital access and skills, and the intergenerational dialogue that connects youth perspectives directly with Heads of State is an impactful initiative, and ensuring young voices contribute to high-level decision-making. Of course, every CHOGM has its uniqueness. These five aspects made the 2024 CHOGM so special. It was the first time held in the Pacific region in Samoa. The experience was as interesting as each village in Samoa had a particular country it was named after with flags everywhere all over the 300,000 populated state. Rwanda was in the centre of Apia city. President Paul Kagame was appreciated for his leadership while the Prime minister of Samoa took office as the new Chairperson. During his [Kagame’s] leadership, the focus was the empowerment of young people as there was a commitment from the Heads of State to declare 2023 as a year for youth. Then there was the election of new Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, currently Ghana's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, as she took over the great work that has been driven by Patricia Scotland in the last four years of her mandate. Tell us more about the 2024 declaration on youth and how you intend to drive its implementation. The 13th CYF Declaration makes several recommendations across pillars to build an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous youth. These include developing youth-led digital democracy platforms to promote real-time civic engagement and integrate marginalized voices, bridging the digital divide and skills gap by providing affordable digital access for all youth, exploring the establishment of a Commonwealth Youth Climate Innovation Fund that empowers young innovators to lead solutions on combating climate change, and making mental health services accessible to all young people by 2030. In Rwanda, there is already a long journey covered as far as supporting the voices of youth and engaging them in decision-making processes as exemplified by the inclusion of young people in local district councils, parliament representation, and so on. We only need to follow up on the consideration of the most marginalized youth and help them to move on the same development pace as others. Our meaningful contributions towards this declaration were based on Rwanda’s existing youth supportive initiatives like Youth Connekt, SRHR Hanga pitch, iAccelerator programme, digital ambassadors programme, green projects like those in Gicumbi and Gisagara, and the vulnerable youth empowerment project, among others. We will mobilize young people to join existing Commonwealth youth networks as capacity-building platforms to exchange knowledge. What opportunities can Rwandan and African youth leverage within the Commonwealth? The Commonwealth has so many opportunities that youth can leverage including the Commonwealth scholarship program that enables youth to acquire further education, Commonwealth Youth Awards that supports youth-led projects, and the Commonwealth Innovation fund for funding to innovative initiatives within the member states through hackathons and innovation challenges. Networks created from this platform can ease trading among youth and mutual exchange and learning particularly under the 13 existing youth networks. There are also grants for environmental projects via the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, Fellowship programs promoting good governance and civic participation, and the Commonwealth Games that support youth athletes from various disciplines. What benefits do you observe to have been a result of Rwanda chairing the Commonwealth over the last two years? Rwanda chairing the Commonwealth over the past two years has brought several benefits, particularly in areas such as diplomacy and economic growth through trade and tourism. I felt so proud that Rwanda has added some influence and value to the Commonwealth after hearing what the delegates and speakers were saying during this CHOGM. In my observation, I consider that the presence of President Paul Kagame as the chair in the previous mandate has also contributed to having the next Commonwealth Secretary-General from Africa (Ghana). What can we expect from you, and your team, over the next two years? For the next two years, I would love to see most of these awards and trophies scooped by Rwandans, and I am ready to support my fellow youth willing to make this dream come true. I believe that young Rwandans are brilliant enough to seize global opportunities, owing to the discipline and support we receive to innovate solutions to global challenges. Therefore, we are going to invest efforts in connecting Rwandan youth to their counterparts in other countries, after supporting existing youth initiatives. We will focus on sharing with other member states the good practices that have influenced the lives and initiatives of our youth for them to adopt.
