Calls for greater influence for women and young people in public decisions, improved access to investment and practical action on barriers to their participation marked the opening of the Commonwealth Women’s and Youth Forums in Antigua and Barbuda on November 2.
The forums, held alongside the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), will develop recommendations to inform leaders’ discussions and commitments.
Opening the fifth Women’s Forum, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (Corporate) Tania Baumann said institutions must do more to support women’s leadership and enable more women and girls to participate in economic and public life.
“The Commonwealth cannot fulfil its promise while women and girls are denied theirs,” she said.
Baumann told delegates that women were already leading in communities, businesses, organisations and governments. The challenge, she said, was to ensure that policies and institutions supported that leadership and widened opportunities.
“Women are anchors of resilient societies. Their safety, economic independence and influence over public decisions are closely connected,” she stated.
Over three days, delegates from government, business, civil society and the women’s movement will examine women’s influence on public policy, access to investment and climate finance, and the potential of digital tools, including artificial intelligence, to open markets and attract investment.
Baumann said women must have a genuine voice in shaping the policies, markets and institutions affecting their lives.
Safety, she stressed, was fundamental to that participation, including protection from discrimination, violence and abuse enabled or amplified by technology.
She pointed to Antigua and Barbuda’s ratification in 2022 of International Labour Organization Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work, describing the country as the first in the Caribbean to take that step.
Preventing violence and supporting survivors helped women participate fully in economic and public life, she said, adding that men and boys had a role in challenging harmful ideas about masculinity and building respectful relationships.
Baumann also acknowledged the work of Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey, the first African woman to hold the office, and the Queen’s advocacy against domestic and sexual violence.
Drawing on the example of Team Antigua Island Girls, who became the first all-Black team to row across an ocean in 2019, Baumann urged delegates to work towards common goals.
“Let us speak frankly, listen to one another and leave with clear, practical commitments — ones that women and girls can recognise in their own lives through greater safety, opportunity and control over their futures,” she said.
Meanwhile, more than 300 national youth delegates from five Commonwealth regions gathered at the University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus, for the 14th Commonwealth Youth Forum, according to a Commonwealth Secretariat release.
Running from November 2 to 4 under the theme “Investing in Youth Agency: Co-Creating Pathways Towards Shared Prosperity”, the forum is examining how young people can participate as equal partners in addressing challenges and influencing Commonwealth decisions.
Opening the event, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (Programmes) Tanmaya Lal said young people’s capacity for innovation was often constrained by inadequate opportunities and support.
“The youth do not lack ideas; they often lack opportunities, networks and investment. Our role is to help close that gap,” he said.
Lal urged delegates to develop ideas that could contribute to leaders’ discussions and support both advocacy and action.
The opening day’s plenaries and workshops addressed participation in governance, digital skills and artificial intelligence, climate action, and financing for youth-led ventures.
The programme was developed by an international taskforce of 23 young leaders working with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Antigua and Barbuda’s government, the Commonwealth Youth Council and local youth organisations.
Senator Shenella Govia, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Works and Housing and the forum lead, said hosting the gathering reflected a commitment to young people helping shape decisions about their future.
She said the aim was to strengthen youth leadership, build partnerships and turn ideas into tangible action, with benefits extending beyond the forum’s closing ceremony.
Taskforce co-chairs Neema Sheikh Abdikadir Abdullahi and Donte Walter similarly called for young people to be placed at the centre of solutions.
“The Commonwealth Youth Forum matters now because our generation is ready to move beyond talk; we’re here to act,” they said in a joint message.
Youth advocate Ashley Lashley urged delegates to challenge barriers and amplify the experiences of people with disabilities and others excluded from opportunities.
Caribbean Development Bank President Daniel Best also joined discussions on access to capital, investment networks and support for youth-led businesses.
The Secretariat said the forum’s recommendations would be presented to Commonwealth leaders, while delegates were encouraged to measure its success by the outcomes they could implement in their own countries.
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