As a lead speaker at the Commonwealth Youth Forum of November 2013, Salma Yusuf, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Sri Lanka, had a unique opportunity to reflect on youth’s role in reconciliation and policy-making. It was indeed an honour to address emerging leaders of Commonwealth nations hailing from four of the world’s inhabited continents. What was …

“Youth that is not wasted on the young” Read More »

In post-war Sri Lanka, a robust policy on diaspora engagement remains critical to domestic stability and international relations, writes Salma Yusuf, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s three-decade-long conflict was externalized due to a combination of factors ranging from the presence of an active expatriate community abroad, the involvement of foreign facilitators in …

“A policy on engagement for Sri Lanka's diaspora ” Read More »

Salma Yusuf, a Sri Lankan based human rights lawyer, lecturer and Commonwealth Correspondent, outlines from a youth perspective how to achieve a socially cohesive society, and why it is critical for young people to be on board. She notes that this can be done through inter-ethnic and inter-faith exchanges, as well as empowering women to …

“Sri Lanka needs an equal and equitable society” Read More »

An overheard conversation leads Abasifreke Godwin Edem, 22, a Correspondent from Uyo in Nigeria, to speak up about the need to work for reconciliation and peace. Sitting back on a cushion seat of a mini bus right behind the driver’s seat and looking through the glass window, I was trying to meditate on what was …

“We should have learned from the first one” Read More »