(Commonwealth)__The Commonwealth Secretariat has called for nominations for the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, aimed at recognizing and rewarding young people doing good things for society.
Granted by the Commonwealth Youth Programme, the awards recognize exceptional changemakers between the ages of 15 and 29 years old from the 56 member states of the Commonwealth who are engaged in gigantic development initiatives that are contributing towards the resolution of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is one global winner who is the Commonwealth Young Person of the Year, and regional winners are chosen for Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Canada, Europe, and the Pacific.
On International Youth Day, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s YouTube channel will live stream the formal opening of the 2026 awards. The online event will welcome some of the past award winners to describe how the award facilitated their work being extended, building new partners, and receiving more visibility for their project.
The 2026 awards are another milestone since they will be offered in partnership with the Commonwealth Association for the first time ever. The alliance is a confirmation of a strong commitment to building networks that foster active young leaders in a range of sectors, such as business leadership and environmental protection, health activism, and human rights.
The awards have, nonetheless, in previous years rewarded many young entrepreneurs, inventors, environmentalists, women’s rights activists, health activists, and political activists. The award not only gave international visibility but also monetary support in the shape of grants and opportunities to further develop prosperous business ventures.
The winners of the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards will be announced in March 2026, which is Commonwealth Day, and will take place for a week. All the finalists will receive a certificate, a trophy, and a £1,000 development grant to fund their development work. Regional winners will be given an additional £2,000, taking their award to £3,000. An additional £2,000 will be given to the Commonwealth Young Person of the Year, whose total award will be £5,000.
Apart from the funding, the awards also aim to provide an international stage on which young innovators can share their work and interact with networks from which they can gain greater impact. With the publicity of successful youth projects, the Commonwealth aims to motivate more youth to address issues in their societies as well as in the world.
The general public can submit nominations and applications using the nomination portal, and applications need to be submitted online by 23:59 GMT on October 17, 2025. The nominee should fall in the age bracket of 15 to 29 years, should be a citizen of a member state of the Commonwealth, and should have established a track record of contributing development work towards the realization of one or more of the SDGs.
The awards are only part of the overall activity of the Commonwealth in youth development, the mission of which is to construct young individuals to lead the solution to problems on the international agenda. The scheme also seeks to construct participation among young leaders and powerful institutions like governments, non-governmental institutions, and private sector partners.
The announcement of the 2026 nominations is how the Commonwealth is marking International Youth Day (IYD) 2025. This year’s IYD is also important because it’s the 10th anniversary of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s adoption in 2015. The anniversary is a reminder of the significant role that young people play in leading to achieving the SDGs and constructing a more sustainable and equitable world.
By bringing the spotlight to the success of youth leaders and backing them with financial and institutional patronage, the Commonwealth Youth Awards aim to encourage the next generation of youth to push their ideas from the idea stage to the stage of implementation. The program continues to be a pipeline for youth innovation and the goals of global development, rendering the voice of the youth relevant and heard globally.
