The Results of "InterYES! 3.0": Strong Ideas For Youth Development
For two days, more than 150 young leaders from 29 countries had been working to form a bank of ideas capable of solving many global challenges.
The International Youth Forum of Public Diplomacy "InterYes! 3.0", aimed at strengthening international relations in difficult modern economic and geopolitical conditions, was organized by the Russia-BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation, created on the basis of the Creative Industries Foundation of the Ulyanovsk Region (Russia) with the support of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs "Rosmolodezh".
The moderators were Diana Kovela (Russia) and Akil Mohammad (India), Deputy Heads of the Russia-BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation.
"Such projects are very important, they strengthen interstate ties. Through them, young people learn more about public diplomacy and why it is so important. I know this firsthand. Having started as a participant of the first InterYes in 2021, I have come a long way to personally moderate such a large-scale event. It seems to me that this is a great success that can inspire many young people to follow my example: to create their own project, and then grow from a participant to a moderator," Akil Mohammad said.
The participants and experts of the online forum focused on topics related to public diplomacy and strengthening international cooperation in the BRICS+ countries.
For two days, young leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Finland, India, South Africa, Mongolia, Chad, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Mali, Kenya, Morocco, Iraq, Slovakia, Nigeria, Cyprus, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Haiti and Russia had been exchanging best practices and ideas in the field of intercultural dialogue and project management. The forum delegates were welcomed by the Governor of the Ulyanovsk region Alexey Russkikh.
So, on April 11, the participants got acquainted with each other and made a self-presentation of their non-profit organizations, attended a case session, as well as an expert session, during which the participants of the forum were expected to dive into the conceptual field of public diplomacy.
During the forecast session held on April 12, the participants had an opportunity to create their project ideas and represent them in order to receive feedback and recommendations from each other, the trainer and the experts. An important part of the event was the facilitation session, which was held by an international trainer on intercultural communication and non-formal education Lyubov Savelyeva.
"Taking into account the identified challenges and trends, the participants in the intercultural teams started to develop possible youth initiatives, presenting 11 ideas as a result. For example, the creation of a single media platform "BRICS+ platform", the implementation of the "BRICS Solidarity Program" – an educational exchange program for teachers from BRICS countries, "BRICS+ Narratives Against Disinformation" – the creation of a media platform that exposes fake news and promotes fact-checking, "Edu-BRICS" – a program of a single educational space of the BRICS countries, which will allow to receive general and secondary education according to uniform standards in accredited educational institutions of the BRICS countries, "BRICSology" – the program of exchange of scientific research of young scientists devoted to the study of various aspects of the BRICS countries, a series of events within the framework of the world youth festival on the BRICS topic "Global Youth Event "BRICSofication", exchange programs for teenagers "BRICS teens" and others. The enthusiasm with which the participants presented their ideas inspires confidence that all of them will definitely be implemented. This is confirmed by the experts of the forum, who confirmed their readiness to provide consulting support to the participants," Lyubov Savelyeva noted.
According to the coordinator of the Russia-BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation, Kira Ivanova, the vision of the participants of the “InterYes! 3.0" Forum coincides with the plans of the Project office. So, in particular, some ideas related to the media sphere, to which the work of the third BRICS Youth Camp, planned to be held in August this year, will be devoted. The fact that this topic is heard from foreign participants eloquently suggests that the urgency of this problem is felt not only in Russia, but also in the BRICS+ countries.
Other speakers and experts who told the participants about public diplomacy, its basics, as well as grant competitions were the Chairman of the One Globe Forum, National Secretary of the Indian National Congress Dalbir Singh, Head of the International Activities Department of the Department of Youth Projects and Programs of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Russia) Valeria Chernogorodova, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) Dmitry Polikanov, General Director of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives Roman Karmanov, Program Manager of International Department of All-China Youth Federation Han Yueying, Founder and Executive Chairman of SABYA (South African BRICS Youth Association) Raymond Matlala, East Africa Community Youth Ambassador & Entrepreneur Jessica Julius Mshama, Winner of the international competition "Leader of People's Diplomacy", Teacher of Russian language and literature in V.Jinishyans Secondary School of Teghenik village in the Kotayk region of the Republic of Armenia, author of the Telegram channel CREATIVE TEACHERS Vahan Sahakyan, President of «Commonwealth of Sport Diplomacy», Teacher of MGIMO University Business School, Specialist in organizing multisport events, sport diplomat Anna Subbotina, Lead specialist-expert of the Department of International Activities of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Russia) Anastasia Ilyushina and Lead specialist of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund Sergey Orlov.
As the organizers noted, the International Youth Forum on Public Diplomacy "InterYes! 3.0" is a vivid illustration of how many countries want to be closer to the BRICS alliance, whose values are fundamental and understandable throughout the world, and whose positive image and influence are invariably stable.