Young people constitute over 50 per cent of the population of the Commonwealth.
This in itself already highlights the significance of engaging young people in the discussions and processes aimed at addressing some of the most pressing issues facing humanity.
The fact that a large percentage of these people are adversely affected by unemployment, poverty, HIV/AIDS and illiteracy adds to the importance of integrating them in discussions about these issues and in processes of decision-making.
This means that young people should not be kept merely on the receiving end. Dialogue and representation should give the necessary space to their influence and participation.
Young people's ability to generate ideas, to critically assess issues and to constructively propose solutions should be encouraged and augmented through education. Their input should be strengthened by appropriate consultation structures and mechanisms at all levels.
The Commonwealth, through the youth programme within the Commonwealth Secretariat, its youth ministers' meetings and its non-governmental associations, such as the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council, has long endorsed this vision.
Since the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Edinburgh in 1997, a Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) has been hosted by the country where CHOGM is held. The fifth Commonwealth Youth Forum opened yesterday.
The CYF will be discussing a number of key issues under the overall theme of Networking For Development, which coincides with the theme of CHOGM chosen by Malta.
The forum's agenda includes discussions on good governance and active citizenship, health and sexuality, sustainable livelihoods, enterprise, ICT, education and human rights.
It is important to note that delegates at the forum will not be focusing exclusively on youth affairs, even though youth policy development and related issues will also be raised.
The CYF, in line with its objectives, offers an excellent opportunity for dialogue.
It is because the issues under discussion are so universal that the voice of young people deserves to be listened to attentively and taken into consideration.
As networking is an innovative model of governance based on the model of networks in ICT, it is very important that young people are "connected" with the discussions taking place in other fora.
Networking is a word commonly used in the youth sector to denote contact making and joint initiatives.
One hopes the Malta CYF will offer the possibility for its delegates to discuss the deeper meaning of networking as a model of governance, to promote it across the Commonwealth and to ensure they are part of this model. The model of networking is also a useful tool with which to approach most of the themes outlined above.
The Malta CYF also provides an opportunity for delegates to reflect on the past eight years and look ahead as the CYF slowly leaves its infancy. Now that CYF has established itself as one of the major events held during every CHOGM, ensuring continuity from one forum to the next in terms of both the organisation of the event and its follow-up appear as immediate goals.
In this regard, the overall theme of "networking" will prove most helpful in establishing a structure which is flexible enough to consolidate what has hitherto been a rather ad hoc structure, while not falling into the trap of excessive institutionalisation based on traditional pyramid-like models.
The outcome of the discussions held during the CYF will be presented in the form of a communiqué to the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon and to Education Minister Louis Galea, on behalf of the Maltese government.
They will in turn transmit the communiqué to the Heads of Government Meeting a few days later.
The document will be presented to the foreign ministers' meeting in Malta next Wednesday.
On Tuesday, delegates to the CYF will hold a joint session with the Commonwealth People's Forum to discuss issues of mutual interest. This also highlights the fact that even though young people will be meeting at a separate forum, they remain an integral part of civil society.
The CYF, therefore, serves to network young people and their organisations among themselves, while connecting them to wider networks of governments and civil society organisations.
It is through the proper functioning of this larger network that we can ensure adequate strategies for sustainable development encompassing all the themes outlined above and many others. This is an example of how the theme Networking For Development can be actuated.
Mr De Lucca chairs the Commonwealth Youth Forum 2005 planning team and is a member of the Commonwealth People's Forum steering committee.