The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA) is the Asian Regional Centre of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Through this initiative, COL-CEMCA is creating a Commonwealth-wide platform for young people to contribute to AI policy, ethics and governance.

The initiative grew from the Lisbon Forum 2025, held on 28–29 October, where the workshop “Inclusive and Multicultural AI: Perspectives from Global Dialogue” brought together COL-CEMCA and GPAI Expert Centres from Canada, France and Japan to explore a global student community model.

Building on existing student communities in Canada, France and Japan, the model expanded to the Global South with the launch of the India Student Community for AI on 16 February 2026 at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

On 18 February, the India community held a Mini-Innovation Workshop with 62 students from 20+ universities across six countries, working on five themes: AI in Education, Language and Culture, Access to Resources, Information Integrity, and AI Skills and Training. Students developed findings and policy recommendations. On 11 April, the community reconvened to plan its next phase and subsequently formed student-led working groups around priority areas.

Building on the India experience, COL-CEMCA expanded the initiative as Voice of the Youth in Global AI Governance, welcoming new student cohorts across Commonwealth countries and regions between 4 and 21 August 2026.

The next phase will connect these national communities through a Global Virtual Conclave in late September or early October, bringing together student perspectives across four areas: Labour and the Future of Work, Local Languages, Transparency and Data Sovereignty, and Sustainability. Their contributions will shape a Youth CHOGM Communiqué for AI Governance, which will be refined and taken forward through national diplomatic engagement in October.

The journey will continue in November 2026 at CHOGM in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, where a selected student delegation will formally present the collective Youth CHOGM Communiqué.

The vision is to build a community of communities where young people are not merely users of AI, but active contributors, innovators and co-creators in shaping how AI is developed, used and governed across the Commonwealth.