The unique event was held online. It was organized by the Russia-BRICS Project Office for the International Youth Cooperation. The conference was attended by representatives of active youth from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the CIS and Asian countries participated there as well.
Diana Kovela, Program Director of the Russia–BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation, and Valeria Chernogorodova, Head of the International Activities Department of the Youth Projects and Programs Department of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), welcomed the participants from the BRICS+ countries.
"Globally, volunteerism is increasingly recognized as a powerful means of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. What is especially important, for millions of young people, volunteering becomes the first step towards a career, as it helps to gain practical skills, try yourself in different roles, working in a team, and establishing a network of contacts. We also need to strengthen cooperation between our countries through volunteering,"Valeria Chernogorodova said.
For two days, more than fifty participants and experts discussed international cooperation in the field of volunteerism and improving the quality of international youth events, as well as shared their experience in this area.
The main goal of the conference was to create a community of volunteers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to work at the venues of the BRICS events. The youth were told about the intercultural peculiarities of the "five" countries, basic communication skills with foreigners, principles of benevolence.The participants talked about volunteering in their country and shared their experience of participating in major projects.
In addition to interactive modules and expert sessions, the participants discussed problematic issues and exchanged initiatives and ideas. During the brainstorming session "My vision of the BRICS Youth Camp-2022", young leaders proposed topics for the future work of the camp, such as "Cultural exchange of the BRICS countries" and "The impact of information technologies on youth".
On the second day of the conference, the head of the NGO "AVENTURA Volunteer Agency of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra" Elvira Ten conducted a training "International youth camps in the BRICS countries". A student of the National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I.Lobachevsky Busisive Marta Dube (South Africa) presented a project called "BRICS LAX", senior lecturer of the Department of Foreign Languages of the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University Ekaterina Sennitskaya presented a project of the intercultural speaking club "Free Talks", and a media creator Julia Kazakova presented her project called "BRICS Modern Tales".
The main result of the project was the unanimous adoption of the BRICS Volunteer Code. It is worth saying that BRICS volunteers have always had documents regulating their work, but the basic document for BRICS volunteers did not exist until this conference.
An equally important outcome of the conference was the formation of an international team of BRICS volunteers to participate in future projects.
"Volunteering of the XXI century is an opportunity to participate in the life of society. Nowadays, the volunteer movement is of enormous importance for social development. Volunteer work contributes to the improvement of personality, provides an opportunity to gain new experience and knowledge. Volunteer activity creates favorable conditions for the development of the country, helps to solve social problems. Today, in the context of global tensions, the prospects for the development of the volunteer movement are growing,"said Diana Kovela.
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