The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional international organization. On December 8, 1991 the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine signed the Agreement on its establishment.

On December 21, 1991 in Alma-Ata the heads of eleven states adopted the Protocol to this Agreement. It states the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan and Ukraine form the Commonwealth of Independent States on an equal footing. Georgia became a Member of the CIS in 1993 and withdrew from it on August 18, 2009.

On January 22, 1993 the Charter of the Commonwealth was adopted. It was not signed by Turkmenistan and Ukraine, which are not de jure Member States, but are considered the Participating States of the CIS. In May 2018 Ukraine withdrew its representatives from the statutory bodies of the CIS, and on August 10, 2018 it officially terminated the activities of its permanent representative office in Minsk.

In accordance with the Charter, the objectives of the Commonwealth are:

• implementation of cooperation in the political, economic, environmental, humanitarian, cultural and other fields, 
• comprehensive and balanced economic and social development of the Member States within the framework of the common economic space, interstate cooperation and integration, 
• ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, the OSCE documents, 
• cooperation between Member States in ensuring international peace and security, the implementation of effective measures to reduce armaments and military spending, eliminating nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction, achievement of general and complete disarmament, 
• assistance to citizens of Member States in free communication, contacting in the Commonwealth, 
• mutual legal assistance and cooperation in other areas of legal relations, 
• peaceful resolution of disputes and conflicts between the CIS Member States.

The working language of the CIS is Russian.

The mechanisms created within the framework of the CIS make it possible to take into account the different degrees of readiness of countries for integration and provide an opportunity for each of them to participate in those areas of cooperation and to the extent that they meet their national interests.

The Council of Heads of State of the CIS is the supreme body. There decisions on strategic issues related to the activities of the Member States in the areas of their common interests are made. 

The Council of Heads of Government coordinates the interaction of the authorities of the CIS Member States in the economic, social and other areas of common interests.

The Council of Foreign Ministers is the main executive body ensuring cooperation in the foreign policy activities of the CIS Member States on issues of mutual interest.

The Interparliamentary Assembly conducts interparliamentary consultations, discusses issues of cooperation within the CIS, develops proposals in the areas of activity of national parliaments.

The single permanent executive, administrative and coordinating body is the CIS Executive Committee with headquarters in Minsk and a branch in Moscow.

Youth cooperation within the CIS is carried out in bilateral and multilateral formats in accordance with the goals and objectives set out in the Agreement of the CIS Member States on cooperation in the field of youth work of November 25, 2005 and the Strategy for International Youth Cooperation of the CIS Member States for the period up to 2030 year as well as action plans for the implementation of this Strategy.

The main goals of international youth cooperation in the CIS are creating conditions for successful self-realization, socialization and comprehensive development of youth, directing its potential to strengthening friendship, mutual understanding and interaction between the CIS Member States as well as maintaining and sustainable development of cooperation in the CIS.

The active involvement of Russian youth in the process of strengthening the common humanitarian space of the CIS is one of the priorities of the international cooperation of the Russian Federation in the field of youth policy (Fundamentals of State Youth Policy in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025).

The development of international youth cooperation in the CIS space is facilitated by:

• the permanent Council for Youth Affairs of the CIS Member States uniting representatives of state authorities and large youth associations involved in the implementation of state youth policy, 
• creation of the Youth Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States, 
• creation of the basic organization of the CIS Member States for working with youth and the basic organization of the CIS Member States for the development of youth entrepreneurship, 
• regulatory framework, including model laws, 
• preparation and periodical publication by the Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund of the collection "Youth in the CIS" which gives an opportunity to create a holistic statistical portrait of youth of the CIS, 
• creation of platforms for regular communication between youth of the CIS Member States (including the Forum of Youth Organizations of the CIS Member States, the CIS Youth Interparliamentary Forum, bilateral youth forums and other events), 
• implementation on a permanent basis of the International Youth Project of the CIS Member States "100 Ideas for the CIS", 
• development of the movement of student teams, including the organization of their work at the facilities of another CIS Member State and the creation of joint student teams, 
• expanding the practice of determining youth capitals in the CIS Member States, 
• implementation of the project "E-library of a youth worker in the CIS" (since 2022 – e-library "Youth of the CIS"), 
• organization of advanced training for youth workers in the CIS, 
• organizing internships for youth workers and leaders of youth public associations of the CIS Member States, 
• opportunities for support (co-financing) of events and projects by the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States.

As part of the practice of holding thematic years in the CIS, 2009 was declared the "Year of Youth". The Action Plan of the Year of Youth formed using the proposals from the CIS Member States and approved at a meeting of the Council for Youth Affairs of the CIS Member States included more than 30 large-scale projects aimed at developing youth cooperation in the CIS.

Since 2002 in accordance with the decision of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS, the Delphic Games of the CIS Member States have been held.

The Council for Youth Affairs of the CIS Member States was established in accordance with the Agreement of the CIS Member States on cooperation in the field of youth work of November 25, 2005. The Russian Federation in the Council for Youth Affairs of the CIS Member States is represented by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the National Youth Council of Russia. 

The Federal Agency for Youth Affairs participates in the development of youth cooperation in the CIS within the framework of the implementation of bilateral interdepartmental agreements.

The powers of the basic organization of the CIS Member States for working with youth are performed by MIREA – Russian Technological University in accordance with the decision of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS dated June 7, 2016. The goal of the basic organization of the CIS Member States for working with youth is to improve the scientific, analytical, information and methodological support of youth workers in order to increase the effectiveness of youth policy in the CIS Member States.

The powers of the basic organization of the CIS Member States for the development of youth entrepreneurship are carried out by the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Centre for Assistance to Young Professionals" (a subordinate institution of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs). The purpose of the basic organization of the CIS Member States for the development of youth entrepreneurship is to improve the scientific, analytical, information and methodological support of youth entrepreneurship in the CIS Member States.

The Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund and the Information and Analytical Centre for the Study of Socio-Political Processes in the Post-Soviet Space at Lomonosov Moscow State University (IAC MSU) are also involved in the development of youth cooperation in the CIS.