Cameroon Youth Leverages Commonwealth Youth Award to Promote Peace

Achaleke Christian, a passionate advocate for peacebuilding and an impactful change-agent in his home country Cameroon, believes that being named Commonwealth Young Person of the year in 2016 had a profound and positive influence on both his professional and personal life.

Achaleke, who is also well-known internationally for his dedication and leadership, said the award, which he received through the Commonwealth Youth Awards (CYA) programme, changed many things in his life.

“I can write a book of my experience after the awards, if you have time, check about my life before the awards, you would appreciate. The awards changed a lot of things, not only about my career, but my personality and my family. Growing up I never did well in class and people did not understand why I volunteered. The award came as an inspiration and a beacon of hope.”

As a boy, Achaleke joined the Commonwealth Youth Clubs in his community where he benefited from workshops, summer school programmes and training. He was later appointed a Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassador.

In 2007, when he was 17, Achaleke started advocating against violence and crime within his conflict-hit community. His passion for peace building and serving humanity led him to begin to work with prisoners in collaboration with a local organization called Local Youth Corner.

Despite initial scepticism from his community and family about spending all his time on voluntary work rather than following a conventional career path, his commitment to serving humanity never wavered and he remained active in peace building initiatives in his local organization.

In 2016, he decided to showcase his work to the world and applied for the CYA. His pivotal moment came when he received the Commonwealth Youth Award, which strengthened the credibility of the work.

Following the award, Achaleke’s work flourished, with his organization growing from zero to 30 full-time staff and multiple projects annually. He invested his CYA grand prize in setting up his office and improving the administration of his organization.

His first project involved working with prisoners to promote entrepreneurial skills and other alternatives to violence. Just one year after receiving the award, the prisoner project was able to attract $200,000 in sponsorship. The project scaled up from working with 30 to 5,000 prisoners.

Achaleke’s work attracted several other awards. He was awarded the Luxembourg Peace Prize in 2018 and has been featured several times among the list of most influential young Africans.

Academically, Achaleke’s journey is equally inspiring. Despite being a third-class student with a 2.4 GPA, his impactful work experience earned him admission to the University of Birmingham and a prestigious Chevening scholarship to pursue a Master of Science degree in International Development (Conflict, Security and Development). He says the recognition from the Commonwealth greatly aided in this.

Achaleke’s continuous efforts in peacebuilding and advocacy have led to numerous roles and recognitions, including being named an EU Peace and Security Ambassador for Central Africa and a UNESCO Relief Hero in 2020.

He is also proud to serve the Commonwealth. “Because of the awards I am now able to serve the Commonwealth even bigger. In my country I was declared a national hero, and I was recognized by members of the government. And it changed everything and made me a better servant.”

Achaleke’s story is a good example of the power of the Commonwealth Youth Awards to change lives. His journey continues to inspire and drive positive change, demonstrating that with resilience and dedication, young people can indeed change the world.