Who we are
The Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) is the official representative voice of the more than 1.2 billion young people in the Commonwealth.
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 nine-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 54 member countries of the Commonwealth. The current CYC chairperson elected in 2021 is Kim Allen from Papua New Guinea.
What we do
It 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 meaningfully engage young people. It partners with the Commonwealth Secretariat and other organisations with a focus on youth development.