The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2003 will be hosted by Nigeria under the theme Democracy and Development: Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. An exciting innovation at recent CHOGMs has been parallel meetings, one of the most important of which is the Commonwealth Youth Forum.

Young people represent two-thirds of the population of the Commonwealth and they are key to the development of all our communities and the future of the Commonwealth Association.

The overall theme of Commonwealth Youth Forum 4 is Commonwealth Youth and the Challenges for Development. At Abuja, it is intended that young people will explore this theme through the following broad sub-themes:

	Youth, Democracy, Good Governance and Human Rights
	Youths as Instruments for Socio-economic Development
	HIV/AIDS and Youth Reproductive Health

It is also anticipated that a number of cross-cutting issues will be addressed under each of the sub-themes. These include:

	Youth and Nation Building
	Sustainable Development
	Gender
	Youth Response to International Terrorism

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the Forum is to challenge young people to identify development strategies that can implement in their communities on their return home. Specifically, the Forum will:

Enable young people to identify their vision for the Commonwealth and its future; Address issues of concern to young people throughout the Commonwealth and assist in developing community action plans; Progress knowledge and understanding of the role of the Commonwealth through sharing information and exchanging ideas; Encourage delegates to promote the outcomes of the CYP to their communities on their return home.