The Commonwealth Association

Third Patsy Robertson Memorial Lecture held in person at Marlborough House

Cherisse Francis makes passionate appeal on behalf of Commonwealth youth

In the Commonwealth Year of Youth 2023, as declared by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2022,  the Commonwealth Association partnered with the Commonwealth Youth Programme for the delivery of its annual Patsy Robertson Memorial Lecture.

The 2023 commemorative lecture was delivered by Cherisse Francis*, a dynamic Barbadian legal professional, researcher, educator and youth activist. In her passionate and wide-ranging lecture entitled ‘Can the Commonwealth be You(th)?, Cherisse highlighted the significant role young people are playing in realising the core values and principles of the Commonwealth, including democracy, human rights and gender equality, as set out in the Commonwealth Charter.  Cherisse underscored the significance of investing in and inclusion of young people in decision-making to successfully address development challenges across the Commonwealth. This much applauded lecture was followed by a lively Q & A session.

By clicking on the Youtube screen above, you can watch the lecture, including the introductory remarks by Dr Stuart Mole, Chair, the Commonwealth Association and Layne Robinson, Head of Social Policy Development at the Commonwealth Secretariat, who also read out a message from the Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland, the lecture itself and the subsequent discussion.

Photographs of the event can be viewed through the link below.

Photographs of the 2023 Patsy Robertson Memorial Lecture

(*Cherisse Francis holds an LLB from the University of the West Indies, a Legal Education Certificate from Hugh Wooding Law School and an LLM in Human Rights and Criminal Justice from the University of Aberdeen. She completed this latter degree as a Commonwealth Scholar in 2018.   Since being called to the Barbadian legal bar in the same year she has interacted with the Caribbean legal sector in both governmental and non-governmental capacities. Presently, she is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Warwick researching trafficking in persons in the Caribbean.)