CYP’s mission
The Commonwealth Youth Programme’s ‘mission statement’ is as follows:
CYP works to engage and empower young people to enhance their contribution to development. We do this in partnership with young people, governments and other key stakeholders.
Our mission is grounded within a rights-based approach, guided by the realities facing young people in the Commonwealth, and anchored in the belief that young people are:
- a force for peace, democracy, equality and good governance
- a catalyst for global consensus building, and
- an essential resource for sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Currently, the Commonwealth Youth Programme pursues this mission through three strategic areas of work: Youth Enterprise and Sustainable Livelihoods; Governance, Development and Youth Networks; and Youth Work Education and Training.
The CYP has four strategic goals:
- To empower young people to ensure that they are provided with and have access to opportunities that enable them to achieve sustainable livelihoods, and for them to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from good governance and development processes at national, regional and international levels.
- To work with governments, young people and other key stakeholders to mainstream a youth perspective into development planning.
- To advocate for the professionalisation of youth work in collaboration with educational institutions, governments and other stakeholders.
- To promote the use of applied and participatory research in youth development in order to contribute to the creation of a credible body of knowledge.