Russian-German youth cooperation is carried out in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of youth cooperation of December 21, 2004.
Participants were 36 people. They were members of the Russian-German Council for youth cooperation and representatives of organizations and institutions that assist in the implementation of youth exchanges.
In order to implement the Agreement in 2005 the Russian-German Council for youth cooperation was created. The Council determines priorities and main directions of bilateral youth cooperation, develops criteria for the effectiveness of events based on analysis and exchange of experience.
The Council by mutual agreement meets alternately in Russia and Germany at least once a year (2006 - Moscow, 2007 - Stuttgart, 2008 - Nizhny Novgorod, 2009 - Berlin, 2010 - Kazan, 2011 - Hamburg, 2012 - Yekaterinburg, 2013 - Cologne, 2014 - Sochi, 2015 - Munich, 2016 - Kazan, 2017 - Nuremberg, 2018 - Saratov, 2019 - Heidelberg).
Members of the Council are appointed on a parity basis from among representatives of state authorities and organizations that assist in the implementation of youth exchanges. The Co-chairman of the Council from the Russian side is the director of the Department of State Youth Policy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation D.V. Ashirov (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 2, 2020 No. 1717-r), the Co-chairman of the Council from the German side - the Director of the Department for Work with Children and Youth of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany T. Tomer.
Traditionally, the agenda of the Board meeting includes following items:
-
Report of the Russian and German sides on the state of affairs in the field of youth policy and on the implementation of the intergovernmental Agreement,
-
Report on activities for the current year of coordinating bureaus for youth exchanges,
-
Report of the Russian Student Sports Union and the association "German Sports Youth" on the implementation of Russian-German youth exchanges in the field of mass sports,
-
Discussion of key Russian-German youth projects,
-
Approval of the program of youth, school and professional youth exchanges for the next year.
Initially, the 16th meeting of the Russian-German Council in the field of youth cooperation was scheduled for November 2020 in St. Petersburg, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was decided to hold the meeting on November 18, 2020 in Moscow in person and in an online format (with online connection of Council Members from the German side).
Results
The key topic of the 16th meeting of the Russian-German Council for youth cooperation was the discussion of possibilities of conducting youth exchanges in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and after it. Council Members noted that in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic the digitalization of youth exchanges is becoming an important task which will allow maintaining and strengthening existing partnerships as well as attracting new target groups. In addition, it was noted that after the weakening of the pandemic and the opening of borders joint efforts will be required to resume youth exchanges in the same volume.
The Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation informed Members of the Council about the development of the Strategy for the Development of Russian-German Youth Cooperation for the period up to 2025. It was decided that the coordinating bureaus will prepare the final draft of the Strategy and send it to the Members of the Council for approval by June 1, 2021.
Also at the meeting of the Council results of cooperation between the Russian Student Sports Union and the German Sports Youth Association in the development of sports youth exchanges for 2020 were presented.
As a part of the Russian-German Youth, School and Professional Youth Exchange Program for 2021 approved at the meeting of the Council following main joint events were planned:
-
Russian-German seminar "Organization of youth exchanges online" (March - online, September - online),
-
Seminar "Russian-German Sports Youth Exchanges" (May, online),
-
4th Youth Forum of partner cities of Russia and Germany (June, Moscow, Kaluga),
-
17th Russian-German Youth Forum (June, Russia),
-
Russian-German forum of organizers of sports youth exchanges (September, Astrakhan, Elista),
-
Russian-German partnership conference of organizers of youth and school exchanges timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation (November, Hamburg).
One of main issues on the agenda of the meeting of the Council was the visa regime. The Council welcomed the introduction from January 1, 2021 of a single electronic single entry visa for entry into the territory of the Russian Federation which also applies to citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany including participants in youth exchanges. The Council decided to apply to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany with a request to consider the possibility of further simplifying the procedure for issuing visas for participants in youth exchanges from the Russian Federation.
The final protocol of the 16th meeting of the Russian-German Council for youth cooperation was signed by the Co-Chairman of the Council from the Russian side, the Director of the Department of State Youth Policy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation D.V. Ashirov and sent for signing to the German side.
