Young people are questioning whether multilateralism still serves them
Across the Commonwealth's vast and varied membership, twenty-three young people have been entrusted with something rare: the authority to shape the conversation before the conversation begins. Selected to design the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Forum in Antigua and Barbuda, this taskforce will craft the programme, the policy recommendations, and the conditions under which roughly 300 youth delegates speak directly to heads of government in November. At a moment when young people increasingly question whether multilateral institutions still serve them, this gathering asks whether those institutions can be remade, at least in part, by the generation that inherits them.
- Skepticism toward multilateral institutions is growing among young people globally, and the 2026 forum arrives precisely when that skepticism is sharpest.
- Twenty-three taskforce members — drawn from Kenya, Nigeria, Tuvalu, India, Canada, the Caribbean, and beyond — must translate the Commonwealth's staggering diversity into a coherent four-day programme.
- The taskforce is not merely advisory: it will produce policy recommendations that Commonwealth heads of government are expected to actually receive and consider.
- Co-chairs from Kenya and Antigua and Barbuda are framing the forum not as ceremony but as a genuine site of co-creation, where emerging leaders help design solutions rather than simply endorse them.
- With over 60 percent of the Commonwealth's 2.7 billion people under 30, the November gathering carries weight well beyond its 300 delegates — it is a test of whether the institution can make youth agency real rather than rhetorical.
Twenty-three young people from across the Commonwealth have been appointed to a taskforce charged with designing the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Forum, a four-day event set for early November in Antigua and Barbuda. The forum runs alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting — the organization's premier gathering of national leaders — and functions as a parallel space where youth speak directly to power.
The taskforce's responsibilities are concrete: shaping the programme, drafting policy recommendations that leaders will see, and managing the logistics of hosting around 300 delegates. They are working in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Youth Council, and the Antiguan and Barbudan government. The forum's theme — 'Investing in Youth Agency: Co-Creating Pathways towards Shared Prosperity' — signals an ambition beyond consultation: building systems where young people help design the solutions themselves.
The forum has existed since 2010, but the 2026 edition arrives at a charged moment. Geopolitical tensions are rising, and many young people are openly questioning whether multilateral institutions still serve them. Kenya-based co-chair Neema Sheikh Abdikadir Abdullahi named this tension directly, describing the forum as a space for young leaders to build skills and co-create solutions at a time of widespread skepticism toward the multilateral system.
The taskforce's geographic spread is deliberate. Its 23 members include nine from host nation Antigua and Barbuda, alongside representatives from Kenya, Nigeria, Tuvalu, Sri Lanka, Guyana, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, and elsewhere — a composition meant to reflect the Commonwealth's own breadth of 56 sovereign states and 2.7 billion people, more than 60 percent of whom are under 30. Antiguan co-chair Donte Walter spoke of representing not just his country but the wider Caribbean region, while Jennifer Namgyal of the Commonwealth Secretariat framed the taskforce's work as amplifying the aspirations of 1.6 billion young people on a global stage.
What the taskforce builds over the coming months will matter beyond the 300 delegates who attend. It will test whether the Commonwealth — spanning wealthy economies, developing nations, and many small island states — can make its investment in young people something more than symbolic at a moment when that investment feels increasingly urgent.
Twenty-three young people from across the Commonwealth have been named to a taskforce that will design and deliver the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Forum, a four-day gathering scheduled for early November in Antigua and Barbuda. The forum sits on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the organization's signature convening of national leaders. It is, in effect, a parallel space where youth get to speak directly to power.
The taskforce's work is substantial. Members will shape the forum's programme, craft policy recommendations that leaders will actually see, and handle the logistics of hosting roughly 300 youth delegates from member nations. They are working alongside the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Youth Council, and the Antigua and Barbuda government. The forum's theme—"Investing in Youth Agency: Co-Creating Pathways towards Shared Prosperity"—signals what the organizers believe is at stake: not just listening to young people, but building systems where they help design solutions to the challenges facing the Commonwealth's 1.6 billion young people.
The Commonwealth Youth Forum itself is not new. It was created in 2010 to ensure that governments actually consider what young people think and need. For sixteen years it has functioned as a critical platform, a moment when youth voices get amplified at the highest levels of Commonwealth governance. But the 2026 forum arrives at a particular moment. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Young people are questioning whether multilateral institutions—the forums, the councils, the secretariats—still serve them. The taskforce co-chairs framed this directly. Neema Sheikh Abdikadir Abdullahi, the Kenya-based co-chair and vice chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council, said the forum would allow young leaders to "build their skills and co-create solutions" at a time when many are skeptical of the multilateral system itself.
The taskforce is deliberately diverse. The 23 members come from across Commonwealth regions: nine from Antigua and Barbuda (the host nation), but also representatives from Kenya, Nigeria, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Guyana, the United Kingdom, Canada, and India. Some members hold dual or multiple national ties. This geographic spread reflects the Commonwealth's own structure—56 independent sovereign states, 2.7 billion people combined, more than 60 percent under 30 years old. The taskforce is meant to embody that breadth.
Donte Walter, the co-chair representing Antigua and Barbuda, spoke of being "deeply honoured" to represent "the voices and aspirations of young people" not just in his country but across the Caribbean region. His language—"transformative," "visionary," "resilience and capacity"—echoes what the forum is meant to accomplish: not a symbolic gesture, but a genuine space where emerging leaders help shape Commonwealth policy on sustainable development, prosperity, and investment.
Senator Shenella Govia, the Antigua and Barbuda government's Forum Lead, emphasized that the taskforce would "design and deliver a successful forum that reflects the diverse perspectives of our Commonwealth youth." Jennifer Namgyal, speaking for the Commonwealth Secretariat, framed the work more expansively: the taskforce is "amplifying the aspirations" of 1.6 billion young people by "highlighting their innovations, elevating their solutions to global challenges, and providing a global platform for their voices to be heard."
The forum runs from November 1 to 4, 2026. By then, the taskforce will have spent months in planning. What they build will matter not just for those 300 delegates who attend, but for how the Commonwealth—a voluntary association of nations spanning the globe, including both wealthy economies and developing countries, many of them small island states—decides to invest in and listen to its young people at a moment when that investment feels increasingly urgent.
Notable Quotes
At a time when young people are questioning multilateralism in the current geopolitical context, this CYF will enable young leaders and other stakeholders to build their skills and co-create solutions that will shape the future.— Neema Sheikh Abdikadir Abdullahi, co-chair of the taskforce and CYC Vice Chairperson
I am deeply honoured to serve as Co-Chair of the Taskforce, representing the voices and aspirations of young people in Antigua and Barbuda and across the wider Caribbean region.— Donte Walter, co-chair representing Antigua and Barbuda
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the Commonwealth need a separate youth forum at all? Why not just have young people in the main meeting?
Because power doesn't work that way. The heads of government meeting is where decisions get made, but it's also where the noise is loudest. A separate forum gives young people space to develop their own ideas without being drowned out, and then they bring those ideas to the table.
But 300 delegates out of 1.6 billion young people—that's a tiny fraction. Does it actually change anything?
It's not about the numbers in the room. It's about creating a moment where Commonwealth leaders have to listen. And it's about the 23 people on this taskforce—they're the ones shaping what gets discussed, what gets recommended. They're the ones deciding what 1.6 billion young people's voices sound like at the highest level.
The theme mentions "co-creating pathways." That's a buzzword. What does it actually mean?
It means young people aren't just being consulted—they're helping design the solutions. They're not sitting in chairs waiting to be asked questions. They're at the table saying, here's what we think sustainable development looks like, here's how we'd invest in prosperity.
Why does it matter that this is happening now, in 2026?
Because young people are losing faith in multilateralism. They're asking why these institutions matter when the world feels like it's fracturing. This forum is a chance to show them that their voices can actually move the needle, that these institutions can still be relevant to them.
And if it doesn't work? If the leaders ignore what comes out of the forum?
Then the Commonwealth learns something important about itself. But the taskforce members—they're betting it will work. They're betting that if you give young leaders real responsibility, real platform, real voice, something shifts.