Last week I had the honour of representing the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the Commonwealth Alliance for Quality Youth Leadership at the 4th Commonwealth Conference on Youth Work which took place at the University of Reading, United Kingdom from 10-12 July 2023.
The bi-annual conference, a highlight event of the Commonwealth 2023 Year of Youth, brought together youth work practitioners, academics, and policymakers from across The Commonwealth to celebrate the power and potential of youth workers under the theme “The Power of Youth Work: Forging a sustainable and peaceful common future.”
With a focus on five sub themes: Celebration and promotion of Youth Work; Collaboration, locally, nationally and internationally; Collectivism and solidarity across geographies; Youth Work’s role in the encouragement and development of peace; and Development of appropriate training support and opportunities for learning; the hybrid conference offered a platform to inspire, equip and empower Youth Workers and partners to continue their vital work with young people to building a better, more peaceful world.
A meeting of the Stakeholders of the Commonwealth Youth Progarmme was also held to take stock of the 50-year journey of the programme and come up with a roadmap into the future. We also had an opportunity to visit the Armoured Heart sculpture and learn about Reading Council’s programme of outreach work to help educate Reading’s young people about knife crime. http://rdguk.info/h1YsP.
The outcomes of the conference will be presented to the Commonwealth Youth Ministers Minister later in September 2023. Read more about the conference at https://thecommonwealth.org/news/commonwealth-conference-celebrates-power-youth-work. You’ll also find some video highlights here: https://www.nya.org.uk/opening-ceremony-the-power-of-youth-work-conference/
Commonwealth Youth Council | National Youth Agency
#YouthWork23, #youthwork #commonwealth #nonformaleducation #learning #youth #youngpeople #scouts #leadership