More efforts need to be invested in gearing up youth innovations and creating space for them to address some of the biggest challenges in the country. This is one of the views by multi-industry leaders who, on March 14, gathered in Rwanda to mark the Commonwealth Day to reflect on the role and opportunities that the youth have in delivering a common future. Grace Mugabekazi, the Senior Policy and Programs Advisor at YouthConnekt Africa, encouraged private and public sector players to reflect on whether they go miles in adopting young people’s innovations in the way they do businesses and deliver services after the phase of challenging them to come up with these innovations. Mugabekazi highlighted that young people come up with many innovations in education and technology, health and service delivery spheres. Earlier that day, Rwanda hoisted the Commonwealth flag at Kigali Convention Centre as it joined other 53 member countries to mark the day with a theme of ‘Delivering a Common Future: connecting, innovating, and transforming.’ Made up of 54 countries across six continents, 60 per cent of the 2.6 billion people of the Commonwealth family is aged 30 years and below. David Toovey, Environmental activist and Strategic Communications Consultant at Global Green Growth Institute, said that the youth need to take advantage of the crises that exist –pointing at the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate change crisis, and step up to offer innovative solutions. For the youth to be given the opportunity to take the wheel, Toovey said that “sometimes it requires the older ones to take a step back.” Isabelle Kamariza, the founder of Solid Africa –a non-governmental organisation that provides vulnerable patients in public hospitals with meals, rebuked the youth saying that they have no excuse to complain while they are not serving any solution to the matter. “Sometimes we think the youth are the future but they are the present. We have to harness the idea of them being bold to bring out their ideas and contribute in the now rather than wait when they will be advanced in age or in wealth,” she said. Rwanda was chosen to host the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) slated for the week of June 20 this year. On its margin, several meetings will be held bringing together representatives from Commonwealth networks for youth, women, civil society and business actors to discuss the current issues in economic, political, social, and environmental spheres. Rwanda will assume the role of Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth for the next two years.
