Deadline: October 17, 2022.

The awards, held each year in March, celebrate the outstanding contributions young people (aged 15-29) are making towards tackling global issues, improving lives and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Previous winners have enjoyed international acclaim, cash prizes and invaluable networking opportunities to help boost their projects.

Next year’s awards are even more special as 2023 has been declared ‘Year of the Youth’, in honour of the 50^th anniversary of the Commonwealth Youth Programme.

The main objectives of the Commonwealth Youth Awards are to:

• Highlight the contributions young people are making to development work in the Commonwealth, particularly through the Sustainable Development Goals;
• Create an environment which will encourage and sustain investments in youth-led development;
• Illustrate the depth and breadth of talent, commitment and creativity that exists among young people across the Commonwealth; and
• Motivate, encourage and challenge young people to set high standards for their work/service at community, national, regional or international levels.

ELIGIBILITY

To submit an entry, an applicant must be:

• a Commonwealth citizen;
• between the age of 15 to 29 years; and
• have been engaged in development work for at least 12 months as a professional or volunteer.
• Nominees must show a strong track record of implementing impactful development work which contributes to at least one of the 17 SDGs.
• To be eligible for the additional QCT prize, applicants must be aged 18 to 29 years old, and the founder or co-founder of a social enterprise.

PRIZES

• The jury will shortlist finalists, who will each receive a trophy, a certificate and £1,000 in cash, and from them, regional award winners will be chosen. These will receive an additional £2,000.
• One of the regional award recipients will be accorded further recognition as Commonwealth Young Person of the Year and a total cash prize of £5,000.
• For the second year running the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (QCT) has joined the Commonwealth Secretariat as a partner to offer one winner up to two years of flexible funding worth £20,000 a year, as well as coaching opportunities and organisational development support.

OFFICIAL LINK