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MALTA, Nov 25 2015 – Two Caribbean nationals have been elected to the Commonwealth Youth Council, representing national youth bodies from 53 countries.

Nikoli Jean-Paul Edwards from Trinidad and Tobago will serve as Vice Chairperson, Policy, Advocacy and Projects while Sujae Boswell from Jamaica will serve as Regional Representative, Caribbean and the Americas.

Kishva Ambigapathy, a youth leader and engineering student from Malaysia, was chosen as Chairperson, and will be supported by an executive committee of other elected youth leaders including representatives of Africa and Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, and Pacific regions.

The Commonwealth Youth Council is a coalition of national youth councils and other youth-led bodies and the recognised voice of the more than 1.2 billion young people aged 29 or under in Commonwealth member countries.

The nine-person executive is responsible for advocating on behalf of young people on issues such as employment, equality and climate change, and encouraging youth-led action on development challenges throughout the Commonwealth. Their two-year mandate runs until 2017.

One of the new executive’s first tasks will be to present the recommendations and priorities of the 400 youth leaders who attended the Youth Forum and General Assembly to Commonwealth leaders.

The other elected candidates are:

Vice Chairperson, Partnerships and Resources – Faith Manthi from Kenya

Vice Chairperson, Inclusion and Engagement – Angelique Pouponneau from Seychelles

Regional Representative, Africa and Europe – Sharonice Davinnia Busch from Namibia

Regional Representative, Asia – Pravin Nikam from India

Regional Representative, Pacific – Christina Giwe from Papua New Guinea

Representative, Special Interest Groups – David Aoneaka from Papua New Guinea

The Commonwealth Youth Council was first established in 2013 with the support of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It was endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their biennial summit in Sri Lanka that year as an autonomous, youth-led organisation.