On March 1-3 the 1st Forum of Youth Initiatives of Russia and Azerbaijan was held in the Azerbaijani city of Gusar.
The program of the forum was aimed at intensifying youth relations between two countries. Within the framework of the forum meetings were held at 9 discussion platforms and training sessions.
100 people were participants - 50 from each country - aged 18-35 years. They are young specialists and volunteers from two countries.
The detailed reportage covering the forum was conducted by Sputnik Azerbaijan:
“During the grand opening of the forum, the greeting addresses of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin, respectively, were read out.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Polad Bulbul Ogly reminded the forum participants of the long history of relations between two countries.
“We have been living side by side as sovereign states for 30 years. 30 years is a short period for history, but it is a very serious marathon for human life.
The first agreement on friendship and cooperation was signed in 1997 between Azerbaijan and Russia. Now, 25 years after, literally quite recently, on February 22, 2022, our presidents signed the very important document on allied cooperation,” he said.
According to him, this is a very essential document that opens up new horizons and new opportunities for us.
“And it is against this background that young people meet today. It is foremost. Now, in the new conditions, on the new platform, this interaction becomes very meaningful, because the future is yours, in the future you will promote the ideas of friendship, tolerance and interaction,” the diplomat noticed.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov, in turn, also stressed the importance of holding the 1st Forum of Youth Initiatives right now.
“Our relationship is entering a new phase. It really is. With the signing of the declaration on allied cooperation, our collaboration acquires the new quality, the new character. We will all work to ensure that it is filled with practical content,” the diplomat said.
The Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Natalia Bocharova believes that every area of youth interaction is extremely important.
She urged the forum participants to exchange best practices that each country has today in terms of volunteering and helping relatives.
“It seems to me extremely necessary to remain in the same good relationships that have been built by our ancestors. And now it's all in your hands. By creating joint projects, you are not only working on the politics and economics of the future of our countries, but you are also working on staying in this human and spiritual connection that exists between our countries,” Natalia Bocharova said.
Her colleague Firudin Gurbanov, the Deputy Minister of Education of Azerbaijan, emphasized that within the framework of the Forum it is planned to hold discussion sessions on the wide range of topical issues, best practices and initiatives in various areas of youth activity, including the field of education, will be presented.
“In Azerbaijan, at the state level, great importance is attached to the issues of teaching and learning in Russian, and this was formulated at the meeting of the presidents,” he said.
Andrey Platonov, the Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, noted an interesting list of the Forum participants.
“We have participants from the Russian side from Irkutsk and Surgut to Smolensk and St. Petersburg. People are interested in doing joint projects, people have already come not only with ideas but also with specific proposals. From Azerbaijan, youth also gathered from all over the country, and this will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas, thoughts, projects and build the roadmap for joint decisions and ideas,” he said.
The 1st Forum of Youth Initiatives of Azerbaijan and Russia has become the starting point for building further roadmaps. There will be many more events to come in Russia and Azerbaijan. Currently, the work is underway to form a joint volunteer council of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation.
Volunteer centers in Azerbaijani universities and specialized secondary schools are ready to join Russian projects. We are talking not only about cross-border cooperation but also about joint entrepreneurial and creative youth projects at the federal level.
Indira Hajiyeva, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, stated with regret that the previous two years due to the pandemic participants in the youth initiatives could not meet in person. The working meeting was conducted via videoconference.
“Russia is also our neighbor. In youth policy in their country as well as and in our country there are many interesting innovative projects related to humanitarian cooperation, educational projects, personal growth, both for specialists and for all young people. Some practices, of course, can be adopted by both sides,” she said.
Indira Hajiyeva also called projects related to youth employment, the creation of the correct algorithm for determining the unemployed, involving them in work and providing them with employment the interesting practice of cooperation.
Diaz Akhmedzhanov, the chairman of the Yashlek Center for Tatar Youth in Azerbaijan, noted that state support helps a lot in further cooperation. He announced the visit of the large delegation from the Russian Federation in March.
Director of the Davam Center for Sustainable Development Niyaz Aliyev spoke about joint projects with the Russian Federation
“I personally took part in the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, our volunteers of the Davam Center participated in the New Generation Forum in Orenburg and in other cities and regions of Russia. We work, and we have good relations with the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Azerbaijan, with the Russian House in Baku. We work from the minimum to the maximum for the benefit of youth,” he said.
Niyaz Aliyev shared plans for the joint project with Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russian Geographical Society.
“Yes, we are planning such project with the Russian Geographical Society. It will take place in the regions of Azerbaijan. Summer camps for the youth of Russia and Azerbaijan, social projects in this area will be organized. I think everything will be fine,” he said.
Anastasia Lavrina, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Community of Azerbaijan, believes that holding of the Forum is very important, expedient and timely.
“This is the unique platform that allows young people from both countries, those who have already found their way in life and those who are just starting to realize their potential, to share initiatives and views. For example, how we can develop and strengthen integration ties between the youth of the two countries,” she stressed.
Ekaterina Zhukovskaya, the manager for work with international organizations of the Association of Volunteer Centers of Russia, noted that it is important not only to share your experience but also to learn from the experience of colleagues.
“It's no secret that we have been friends for a long time and have been cooperating for a long time with various representatives of volunteer organizations in Azerbaijan - this is the Baku Volunteer Center, the ASAN volunteer movement, and event volunteers. It is very important for us not only to share our experience, but also to learn from the experience of colleagues. For example, “Formula 1″ in Baku is such a high-profile event, and we are always happy not only to adopt some skills and techniques, but also to help in any way we can – send our volunteers, that is why we have very close cooperation here,” she said.
According to her, it is very important to look at each other, to discuss something, because more ideas are born during personal contact.
“We really want not only to send our volunteers to Azerbaijan, but also to attract your volunteers to us to share the practices of various projects in the field of ecology, culture, and social initiatives. Therefore, I think that this is the new step towards expanding cooperation,” Ekaterina Zhukovskaya said.
Emilia Bayramova, the Chairman of the "ASAN Volunteers" organization and Secretary-General of the Union of Volunteer Organizations of Azerbaijan, shared her plans to organize summer and winter schools for the development of young volunteers in Azerbaijan and Russia.
“Volunteer activity in state structures, as well as in the sports field, is now very developed in Azerbaijan. We think that in the future it is possible to organize the exchange of the experience in volunteering in government agencies of both Azerbaijan and Russia and show our experience to Russian representatives in this area of volunteering,” she said.
Dmitry Guzhelya, the Director of the Assessment and Methodology Department of the ANO "Russia - Land of Opportunities", spoke about the implementation of the project - "Leaders of Russia", which has already found its embodiment in Azerbaijan, and about a completely new project with which he came to the forum.
“We brought another very interesting project called the Competence Center. On the basis of Russian universities we have deployed the program that assesses cross-professional competencies (the so-called “soft skills”) of students and teachers and builds an individual development trajectory for each. These are the stories we came to share in Azerbaijan, and now, on the field of the forum, we have already found many points of the contact,” he said.
“What do we want to gain from Azerbaijan? First of all, we want to make friends. Here, too, there are very cool ideas, in the same areas in which we work. I think that there will be mutual cross-pollination and the result will be very good, well-coordinated work of the two states,” said Sputnik’s interlocutor.
Oksana Achkasova, the head of the Department of Key Projects of the ANO "Russia - Land of Opportunities", together with her Azerbaijani colleagues, was engaged in the implementation of the competition "Yüksəliş" in Azerbaijan, according to the model of "Leaders of Russia".
“It has been a very successful experience. We, on our part, developed the scientific assessment of the event and selected the first pool of managers who won. For us this was the first international experience in terms of broadcasting our format of the «Leaders of Russia» contest to other countries. Moreover, we tested the experiment on ourselves. We came here as experts, and although the entire competition was in Azerbaijani, we tried to evaluate the participants without knowing the language. And then we compared the assessments of our Russian-speaking experts with the assessments of our Azerbaijani colleagues. The evaluations coincided in almost 90 percent,” she said.
At the Forum the Leaders of Russia contest was presented, which is open not only to citizens of the Russian Federation, but also to citizens of any country. Moreover, there are already citizens of Azerbaijan in the “international” track.
“At the end of March the final of this track should take place, and we are really looking forward to the guys from Azerbaijan, we support them and we are worried, we hope that they will be able to win and go to the superfinal of the Leaders of Russia contest,” said Oksana Achkasova.
The National Youth Council of Russia took part in the work of the 1st Forum of Youth Initiatives of Russia and Azerbaijan. Specialist of the International Department Valeria Torotenkova made the presentation “Raising awareness of young people and their involvement in the implementation of the UN SDGs on the example of the Youth Envoys of the SDGs of Russia Program”.
