"InterYES 2.0" has started in Ulyanovsk

The second International Youth Forum of Public Diplomacy "InterYES 2.0" has started in Ulyanovsk

The online forum started on April 11 with a plenary session, the main topic of which was youth policy as a means of implementing the principles of public diplomacy.

The forum was organized by the Russia-BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation together with the Creative Technologies Foundation "Ulyanovsk – Capital of Culture" under the support of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs "Rosmolodezh".

The landmark event, which brought together almost 100 participants from eleven countries, such as Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Russia, has become an important step in strengthening international relations in the face of severe sanctions and global crisis.

The forum delegates were welcomed by the Governor of the Ulyanovsk region Alexey Russkikh.

"I want to emphasize that in this difficult and tense time, we have gathered the youth of Brazil, Russia, India, China, the Republic of South Africa and other partner countries for a dialogue in the name of strengthening international cooperation. The BRICS association is a truly unique multilateral format, a vivid example of network diplomacy. I am proud that the youth of the Ulyanovsk region is aimed at serious relations with foreign colleagues and non-profit organizations. I have no doubt that the projects that will be born after the forum will not just be implemented, but will become a good example of partnership, exchange of experience and strengthening of interaction between peoples in the modern world," the head of the region said.

The President of the Regional Public Organization "BRICS. World of Traditions" Lyudmila Sekacheva, Director of Relations with State and Public Organizations of the National Committee for BRICS Research Valeria Gorbacheva, President of the ANO Center for Support and Development of Public Initiatives – "Creative Diplomacy" Natalia Burlinova, head of the South African BRICS Youth Association Raymond Matlala, representative of Hunan First Normal University Chen Ge and others took part at the plenary session as speakers. The head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Evgeny Primakov, sent a welcome address to the participants of the event.

According to Diana Kovela, Deputy Director of the Ulyanovsk – Capital of Culture Foundation, the forum program will be divided into two parts. The opening day is dedicated to the business program: experts will immerse participants in the conceptual field and give examples of the most vivid and successful cases on public diplomacy implemented at sites in different countries, as well as analyze projects illustrating youth cooperation in the territory of the BRICS countries. The following days will become a project workshop where participants from different countries will create new joint projects, describe and demonstrate their results to the audience – organizers and experts will help these ideas be put into practice.

As Valeria Chernogorodova, Head of the Department of International Activities of the Department of Youth Projects and Programs of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, noted, the main goal of the forum is to give young people the opportunity to act and offer their solutions to existing problems, communicating with each other and helping to turn interesting ideas into concrete projects.

"We welcome the InterYes Forum as a platform for promoting the development of humanitarian contacts through BRICS. I would like to note that the ray of hope in these dark times of chaos and turmoil is the BRICS, which is the "gold standard" of multilateral cooperation, which is a vivid example of building partnerships between countries with their unique culture and traditions, history and priceless heritage," said Vladimir Poluektov, Second Secretary of the Department of Foreign Policy Planning of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The result of the forum, which will last until April 15, will be the development of international youth projects on public diplomacy.

Sessions were moderated by Diana Kovela, Program Director of InterYes 2.0 and Deputy Director – Head of the International Relations Department, “Ulyanovsk – Capital of Culture” and Akil Mohammad– Founder and Chairman of the International Youth Edu-Skills Foundation, President of the Association of Asian Students (RUDN University), Vice-President of RPO "BRICS. World of Traditions", Deputy to President for Asian countries of the Association of Foreign Students in Russia.

International Youth Edu-Skills Foundation and RPO "BRICS. World of Traditions" are also the partners of the international youth forum of public diplomacy "InterYes 2.0".

“InterYes gave me a wonderful opportunity to meet many new people. During many workshops and team building activities we identified our interests, and we were able to form an international team. Then main task was to convert our idea to project. Experts and coaches of the InterYes guided us on different aspects of the projects and prepared us pitch the project in a perfect way. We were so influenced and encouraged with the InterYes that we wanted to realize our projects, so we decided to give application for the grant competition. We defended our project and won the grant to realize our dream project. So now it’s your turn to get inspiration from InterYes 2.0, develop your own projects and implement them. Wherever you need guidance and assistance Organizers of the InterYes 2.0 will be there to support you”, - Akil Mohammad said with great enthusiasm and get a big inspiration to participants in the case session.

Full video from first day