Winners of Commonwealth Youth Awards announced
London, 13 March 2013 ‒ Four young
development workers from Australia, Barbados, Kenya and Sri Lanka, were today
awarded £14,000 between them for their projects.
Evans Wadongo, who won both the pan-Commonwealth
and Africa region Commonwealth Youth Award, received a £5,000 grant for the
charity he founded, ‘Use solar, save lives’.
At 19, Mr Wadongo designed a solar-powered
lantern using recycled materials. Over 27,000 of these lanterns have been
produced and distributed across Kenya, providing a safer, cheaper and
environmentally-friendly lighting alternative to kerosene lamps. His programme
has expanded to include building regional youth centres, which provide skills
training for young people.
Regional winners for Asia, the Caribbean and the
Pacific each won a £3,000 grant.
Eco-entrepreneur Anoka Primrose Abeyrathne from
Sri Lanka designed a programme that provides young people with skills to
increase their employability, including training in how to write a resume,
eco-tourism and computing. Her project is being replicated in Bangladesh and
India.
As Chairman and President of The Barbados Vagrants and Homeless
Society, Kemar Saffrey provides access to food, clothing,
shelter and rehabilitation for those in need.
Julian O’Shea, Director of the
Engineers Without Borders Institute,
delivers education and technology projects across South Asia and within
Aboriginal communities in Australia. He also encourages engineering students to
undertake research projects focused on technologically sustainable development.
Welcoming guests to the awards
ceremony in London on 12 March, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma
said: “The objectives of the awards are to acknowledge the outstanding
contributions of young people in the areas of development and democracy and to
encourage sustainable investment in the depth and breadth of talent that exists
across the Commonwealth.
“The future of the
Commonwealth is bright because it is in the hands of these young people and the
contributions they are making.”
Speaking afterwards about his
win, Mr Wadongo said: “This award will go a long way in helping me to inspire
other young people in Africa where opportunities are limited, not because of a
lack of knowledge, but a lack of resources. I am interested in solutions that
can be replicated across societies in the Commonwealth and that will impact as
many lives as possible.”
The awards follow Commonwealth
Day on Monday, 11 March, when this year’s Commonwealth theme ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’ was
launched at events around the globe. The theme celebrates the innovation and
dedication of Commonwealth citizens, whose ideas are helping their communities
and countries to prosper.
Young people from more than 36
countries across the Commonwealth were nominated for the awards, which are run
by the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Youth Affairs Division. The division manages
the Commonwealth Youth Programme.
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