Pakistan gained independence on 14th Aug 1947 as a dominion within the Commonwealth. In 1972 despite the advice of then Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto pulled Pakistan out of the Commonwealth. However, Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth in August 1989. Commonwealth countries share many links outside the government ambit, notably in sports, culture, education, law and charity.

The Commonwealth Games is a mega sport event which is held after every four years. The 2018 Commonwealth Games were held in Gold Coast, Australia. The 2022 Games were held in Birmingham, UK. Australia will again hold the 2026 Commonwealth Games, this time in Victoria, for which the preparations are underway.

While Commonwealth Games provide healthy and a very high standard of competition among the participating nations the scope of Commonwealth Games is far broader. Fully understanding the power of sports the Commonwealth sports secretariat uses sports as a tool of advancing the youth development in member states.

Interestingly, 60 percent of the population in Commonwealth countries is under 30 years of age. The issues faced by youth are complex and cross-cutting in nature, making them a priority population sector within many separate Commonwealth policy areas, including health, education and gender equality. The Commonwealth describes youth empowerment and development as crucial not only in terms of social inclusion but also in terms of young people's role as positive change agents and in overall nation-building.

The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE- 2007- 2015) produced by Commonwealth Secretariat's Youth Programme (CYP) focuses on commitment to youth development as a part of broader development efforts. The plan identifies action points under three strategic programme areas which are sustainable livelihoods for young people, education and training and engaging young people in governance and development efforts (CYP-2007).

In many Commonwealth countries young people obtain some experience of sport participation, in particular if sport is part of the education system. In other situations, large numbers of young people choose to take part in sport when they have the opportunity to do so in informal settings.

Sports also has a high media profile, with major sporting events such as Commonwealth Games, Olympics and Asian Games drawing large audiences. This popularity makes sports a valuable tool for advocacy and engagement that can be used to support a number of aspects of work for development and peace. For instance, in Pakistan, PCB should use cricket not only for making good business but also to promote various social initiatives like health and education for all and promote messages to fight against communicable diseases, control the unchecked population explosion and discourage smoking and drugs use among the youth.

As per Commonwealth Youth Policy Priority areas many sports programmes are based on the principle of peer leadership, providing young people with chances to take leadership and organisational roles in their communities. Young people who become peer leaders are given greater opportunities to develop leadership and organisational skills through sports.

As per Commonwealth PAYE action plan, the government must provide sports facilities to schools and extend community sport facilities and opportunities of club sports to youth and community groups because it helps in enhancing their social skills and networks. Sport is encouraged as a medium to promote empowerment and inclusion among young people, including those with disabilities and women.

According to PAYE action points, sport and physical education should be used to support the provision of "education for all" by helping to engage young people in educational opportunities. To achieve this objective, the Commonwealth emphasises maximising the provision of safe spaces for play and access to sporting opportunities in schools and educational institutions.

In Bangladesh the National School Sports Strategy (2011) is now fully in place to create future leaders and sports champions. The initiative aims to develop leadership, communication and administrative skills by giving young people the opportunity to be involved in sport festival delivery.

The PYKKA programme also aims to improve accessibility to sport in the rural areas of India. This is achieved by building the capacity of a cadre of Kridashree or sports volunteers in local communities and providing infrastructure, coaching and competition. An important component of this initiative is to increase the participation of women and people with disabilities to help dispel the prejudices about these groups through sports. The training includes rights based approaches and coaches and teachers are often involved in community mobilisation around local issues. Many of these activities take place in schools and a number of the coaches are also teachers.

Like Bangladesh and India, the Namibian government under NAM-VIP is using sports volunteering to develop the leadership skills of young people. The programme is led by Sub-Saharan African Sports Coaches, Outreach (SCORE) Namibia and delivered in partnership with the Namibian government. The programme trains young volunteers to organise and deliver community sports activities.

It's heartening to see that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has launched the Prime Minister's Youth Sports Initiative and is also establishing a Sports Endowment Fund for the development of sports. Though the effort is mostly geared up to develop international standard sports facilities for elite sportsperson in the country, there is a need to develop grassroots sports in education institutions, and build capacities of sports delivery mechanism, without which most resources will either go waste or will be consumed by a few opportunists well anchored in our incapacitated sports system.

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