During his Remarks at the 14th Commonwealth Youth Forum, in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, on November 2, 2026, Prime Minister the Hon. Philip Davis pointed out to Heads of Government and Commonwealth young leaders present that he was there to speak to them about three things: a promise broken, a man from St. Lucia, and “what we owe you”.

When referring to the promise that was broken, he said, “For decades, my generation told yours: stay in school, qualify yourself, and jobs will be waiting for you. For many, it was true. For too many, it was not.”

Prime Minister Davis added: “A qualification should be a passport to opportunity. Yet, too many young people have done everything we asked of them, only to arrive at a closed door. They have earned their qualifications; but we have yet to build an economy that gives their talent somewhere to go.”

He was speaking in what was termed a “High-Level Intergenerational Dialogue” and on the topic “Investing in Youth Agency: Co-Creating Pathways towards Shared Prosperity”. Prime Minister Davis noted that, across the Caribbean at that time, young people “have certificates on their walls and no work in their hands”.

“Six in 10 people in the Commonwealth are under 30,” Prime Minister Davis stated. “Roughly one in four young people is not working, studying or training. In many of our countries, two children in three have no internet at home.”

He noted that, meanwhile, artificial intelligence was “changing work faster than our education systems can prepare young people for it, and a single hurricane can erase years of an island’s progress”.

“Some disruptions pass,” Prime Minister Davis said. “Others change the economy for good.

“We must equip our young people to earn a living through both.”

Turning to ‘the man from St Lucia’, he related the following anecdote.

He said: “In the early 1930s, a young man there wanted to become an engineer. He quickly realised that no government department and no company in the colonial Caribbean would hire a Black engineer. So he changed his course of study. He studied economics, won a scholarship to London, went on to lead the University of the West Indies, and in 1979 won the Nobel Prize in Economics.

“His name was Sir Arthur Lewis.”

Prime Minister Davis stated that Sir Arthur succeeded despite the system he was born into.

“His story should inspire us,” he said. “It should also trouble us, because too many talented young people today still have to succeed despite the system that we have.”

“Our task is to make sure the next Arthur Lewis never has to change course to get through the door.”

Prime Minister Davis added that this brought him to speak on “what we owe you”.

“Here I speak to my fellow Heads of Government as much as to you,” he said.

Prime Minister Davis stated that his first point was “let skills travel”, noting that qualification earned in Nassau should count in Kingston, Accra or Toronto, without starting again at every border.

“Two: connect every young person,” he said. “For island nations, the internet carries the classroom, the marketplace and the job interview.”

Prime Minister Davis added: “We must invest in reliable, affordable connections that reach every community. A student in Saint Vincent should be able to take the same online courses as a student in London or Canberra, with the same chance to succeed.”

His third point was to invest in young people.

“Too many small states face an impossible choice between servicing their debts and funding the classrooms their children need,” Prime Minister Davis said.

“When Heads discuss reform of the global financial system tomorrow, we must put education at the centre of that discussion,” he added. “Every year a young person spends without the chance to learn or work carries a cost that lasts far beyond a budget cycle.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that, in The Bahamas, his Government had sought to put those principles into practice.

“A year ago this month, I launched Upskill Bahamas, offering Bahamians aged 16 and over free certified online courses leading to recognised certificates, with access to learning from world-leading universities, including Harvard, Oxford and MIT,” he pointed out.

Prime Minister Davis added: “We initially provided 8000 places. More than 10000 people sought to enroll in the first month, prompting us to expand the programme to 15000 places. Among the most popular subjects were digital marketing, business finance and artificial intelligence. In April, we celebrated our first 1000 graduates. The youngest was 16. The eldest was 67.”

He noted that three in four graduates were women, which “tells us we must work harder to reach our young men”.

“I have called this closing the possibility gap: the gap between what your skills allow you to do and what you dream of doing,” Prime Minister Davis said.

He added: “A certificate alone will not close that gap. So through our Opportunity Hub, again another initiative of mine, we are connecting graduates to employers and supporting small businesses. We will judge Upskill Bahamas, and we should be judged by how many of those graduates find work. We invite Commonwealth countries to look at Upskill as a model for their countries.”

Prime Minister Davis urged his Colleague Heads of Government to heed what the young people in that room said they needed.

“The responsibility to act now rests with us,” he stated.

Prime Minister Davis said: “Let us leave Antigua with a clear task for our ministers: agree how qualifications will be recognised across our countries, set targets for affordable internet access, and identify the funding to bring more young people into training and paid work. Young people must help shape these plans and hold us accountable for delivering them.”

“At our next meeting, let us report how many young people have gained a connection, how many have had their skills recognised, and how many have moved from training into a livelihood,” he added. “That is how we will know whether our promises are working.”

Prime Minister Davis noted that he spoke earlier of a qualification as a passport to opportunity.

“Our young people have worked hard to earn that passport,” he said. “We, as leaders, must ensure it takes them somewhere.”

Prime Minister Davis added: “The next Arthur Lewis may be sitting in this room. Let us build a Commonwealth in which that young person can pursue their calling, with the opportunity and support to see it through.”

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