On 16 April the ‘InterYes! 4.0’ International Forum on Public Diplomacy took place in Ulyanovsk in a hybrid format.
The Forum aims to attract the attention of young people from BRICS countries to the opportunities offered by Track II Diplomacy, which involves building horizontal ties between representatives of the youth community. The ‘InterYes! 4.0’ Forum was organized by the Russia–BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation, which was created on the basis of the Creative Industries Fund of the Ulyanovsk Region with the support of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Foundation. The Forum is included in the plan of events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship in 2024, which was managed by the Roscongress Foundation.
Ulyanovsk Region Governor Alexey Russkikh delivered a welcome address to the Forum participants: “This is a landmark year for our country. In 2024, Russia is chairing BRICS. Like-minded people from this organization’s new member countries are joining the community of our alliance’s young leaders. I firmly believe that young people from these countries will be able to find common and promising topics, despite linguistic, historical, and cultural differences. We hope that the BRICS Youth Summit 2024 will be held at a suitable level. I am happy to invite youth representatives from BRICS countries to Ulyanovsk this July to participate in the summit.”
Young people from 49 countries registered for ‘InterYes! 4.0’, a record figure for the entire history of the Forum. Around 150 participants learned about the practices of BRICS public diplomacy and analysed the cases of young activists and NPOs from different countries.
The event opened with a welcome address by Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia’s Sous-Sherpa for BRICS Pavel Knyazev and Director of the International Activities Department of the Directorate of Youth Projects and Programmes of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Valeria Chernogorodova.
“Public diplomacy is a unique channel for interacting with representatives of the younger generation and facilitating expert discussions on key issues on the BRICS agenda. We value the tradition of holding the Forum in the “BRICS plus” format, which helps strengthen contacts between BRICS and its friends. We will continue to promote all aspects of the BRICS partnership in politics and security, economics and finance, as well as culture and the humanitarian sphere. Strengthening friendly ties between the young people of BRICS countries is one of the main priorities this year,” Pavel Knyazev said.
Russia's Sous-Sherpa emphasized that over the last 15 years BRICS has managed to transform into a unique format of interstate cooperation that unites different cultures and civilizations.
Experts taking part in the Forum included Associate Professor of the College of Science and Mathematics at China Agricultural University Zhang Yunfei, Joint Secretary of the Department of Youth Affairs of the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Nitesh Kumar Mishra, Assistant to the Egyptian Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Abdullah Elbatesh, Director of the Department for Youth Policy Coordination of the Brazilian National Youth Secretariat Nilson Florentino Jr., Executive Director of “Forty-Two” Magazine and Second Deputy for International Affairs of the Islamic Coalition Party of Iran Mohammad TinaiTehrani, SABYA Director of Stakeholder Relations Tshepo Morobane (South Africa), Director of the Academic Programme of Bonga University, PhD Yericho Berhanu Meshesha (Ethiopia) and others.
A key part of the event was the creation of a bank of ideas that will be subsequently implemented in youth multinational teams. The Forum participants proposed two dozen ideas. The priority interests among young people are educational projects, sports, youth exchanges, cultural events, and research work.
The moderators of the event were deputy directors from the Russia–BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation, Diana Kovela (Russia) and Akil Mohammad (India).
“Each year, after the ‘InterYes!’ Forum, the international youth community enters a new level of cooperation and communication. I am happy to note that the proposals made by young people are being taken into account by the authorities, which subsequently influences positive changes in youth policy. Ideas come to fruition due to the high level of expertise of young people in terms of preparing grant applications and their victories in grant competitions,” Kovela said.
The ‘InterYes! 4.0’ International Forum is part of the programme of events of the BRICS Expert School, which is being held in Ulyanovsk on 15–20 April 2024.