Lagos — As the world marked the International Youth Day 2008, various governments of the world and other decision makers have been called upon to allow youths fully participate as agents of change to restore the planet earth.

The call was made by the Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus, Chair, Mr. Matthew Albert, and Director, Youth Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr. Fatiha Serour, at the recent celebration of the International Youth Day 2008, with the theme 'Youth And Climate Change: Time for Action'.

The International Youth Day (IYD) celebrated on August 12 of every year, gives the world an opportunity to recognise the potential of youth, to celebrate their achievements, and plan for ways to better engage young people to successfully take action in the development of their societies.

Albert said, "as young people, we have a particular interest in a sustainable future and a sustainable Commonwealth. We are the inheritors of the actions of those who have come before and the innovators who can rectify the consequences".

He averred that young people feel keenly the loss of environment for both livelihood and recreation, and expressed support for the call for every effort to be made by governments and international bodies towards climate stabilisation.

"We call on Commonwealth countries to follow the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE), the framework for Commonwealth action in youth affairs. We endorse PAYE 11 which encourages the engagement of young people to protect the environment by supporting educational opportunities".

The caucus also supported the Commonwealth Youth Forum 7's recommendation that the Commonwealth, in collaboration with its Secretariat, work towards the establishment of a separate Commonwealth Environmental Body to oversee Commonwealth programmes and initiatives related to sustainable development and climate change.

Also, attendees at the 14th Conference of the Parties to Climate Convention to be held in Poznan, Poland in December this year, were urged to involve the views and concerns of young people in their deliberations and consideration of good practices.

According to Albert and Serour, "we encourage governments to engage in programmes that address Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, which relates to environmental sustainability and access to safe drinking water. Young people can be the solution to many environmental concerns. Sixty per cent of the population of the Commonwealth are aged under 30 years".

"On this International Youth Day, we commit ourselves, as a Caucus of youth agenda advocates, to believing in generations beyond our own and to taking action now to ensure the world is cleaner for them".

Decision makers at topmost levels of government in the world over were also called upon to recognise and engage with young people to make positive change.

The Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus is a governance body of the Commonwealth Youth Programme. It is constituted by one representative aged under 30 from all Commonwealth member countries. The Commonwealth Youth Programme is the agency responsible for youth development within the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Youth Forum is a biennial meeting of youth advocates from across the Commonwealth that is held in the week preceding the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It delivers a communiqué to the Heads of Government at the end of the Forum. The 7th Commonwealth Youth Forum was held in Entebbe, Uganda.