• Four youth activists from India have been declared winners in a keenly contested election for posts in the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC).

• The election process concluded last week with keen participation from youth delegates across the 56 Commonwealth member countries.

• CYC is the official representative voice of the more than 1.2 billion young people across the 56 member countries of the organisation.

• While Gurdit Singh Vohra was elected vice chairperson of Partnerships and Resources, Falit Sijariya was named vice chairperson of Policy and Advocacy. 

• Youth empowerment campaigner Muskaan Anand was elected representative for Asia and Farhana Jan was named representative, Special Interest Groups, following the completion of the voting process. 

• The four Indians, alongside six other winners from across the Commonwealth, will be officially installed at a special ceremony during the Commonwealth Youth Forum 2024 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa next month.

Commonwealth Youth Council

• The CYC was first established in 2013 with the support of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Commonwealth Youth Programme. 

• It was endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their biennial summit in Sri Lanka as an ‘autonomous, youth-led organisation’.

• Led by a ten-member executive, the CYC acts as a coalition of national youth councils and other youth-led civil society and private sector bodies from across the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth.

• CYC aims to further advance the youth development agenda by integrating young people into the development work of the Commonwealth at national, regional, and pan-Commonwealth levels. 

• It also provides a sustainable platform for unified engagement with decision-makers and youth-led development initiatives.

• The CYC works to mobilise the voices of young people and advocate for governments to engage young people meaningfully. 

• It partners with the Commonwealth Secretariat and other youth-led organisations focusing on youth development.

What is the Commonwealth?

• The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries.

• It is home to 2.5 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. As many as 33 of its members are small States, including many island nations.

• India is the largest member state of the Commonwealth.

• The member States have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace.

• The Commonwealth’s roots go back to the British Empire. But today any country can join the modern Commonwealth. The last two countries to join the Commonwealth were Gabon and Togo in 2022.

• King Charles III is Head of the Commonwealth.

• The combined GDP of Commonwealth countries in 2021 was $13.1 trillion and is estimated to reach $19.5 trillion in 2027, almost doubling in ten years from $10.4 trillion in 2017.

• The Commonwealth is often described as a ‘family’ of nations.

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