3 April 2013
Awards
highlight contribution young people make to achieving development goals
The Commonwealth Youth Awards, which encourage and
sustain investment in youth-led development, are open for 2013 nominations.
Youth workers are encouraged to nominate young
people, who are driving innovative projects in any number of areas, including
agriculture, small enterprise, skills training, climate change/environment
protection, sustainable livelihoods and poverty reduction.
The Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP), promotes
the awards as an attempt to raise the profile and highlight the contribution of
young people who are integrally involved in the process of change and are
working side by side with decision-makers for a more secure future. The awards
also give international, regional and national recognition to the young men and
women who are selected.
CYP works with 54 Commonwealth member countries
through four regional centres based in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
There will be four finalists per Commonwealth region with the top entry from
each region receiving a regional winner award and the top regional winner
receiving the pan-Commonwealth award.
Winners are awarded grants to advance the work of
their projects and they also liaise closely with the CYP on the best way to use
the funding. Nominees for the awards should be aged between 15 and 29 years.
Applications close on 30 June 2013.
Evans Wadongo won both the
pan-Commonwealth and Africa region 2012 Commonwealth Youth Awards. He received a £5,000 grant for
the charity he founded, ‘Use solar, save lives’. Regional winners for Asia, the
Caribbean and the Pacific each won a £3,000 grant.
At 19, Mr Wadongo designed a solar-powered lantern
using recycled materials. Over 27,000 of these lanterns have been produced and
distributed across Kenya, providing a safer, cheaper and environmentally
friendly lighting alternative to kerosene lamps. His programme has expanded to
include building regional youth centres, which provide skills training for
young people.
For more information
on the 2013 awards:
2013 Commonwealth Youth Awards Brochure at: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/files/254078/FileName/CommonwealthYouthAwards2013Brochure.pdf
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