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.
In order to implement the Agreement the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation was established in 2005.
The Council determines the priorities and main directions of bilateral youth cooperation, develops criteria for the effectiveness of events based on the analysis and exchange of experience.
The Council meets by mutual agreement annually 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, 2020 – Moscow, in a hybrid format, with online connection of Council members from the German side).
Council Members are appointed on a parity basis from among representatives of state authorities and organizations that promote 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 (the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1717-r of July 2, 2020). The co-chairman of the Council from the German side is the Director of the Department for work with children and youth of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany T. Tomer.
Traditionally the agenda of the Council meeting includes following issues:
1. 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;
2. Report of national focal points on activities for the current year;
3. Report of the Russian Student Sports Union and Association "German Sports Youth" on the implementation of Russian-German youth exchanges in the field of mass sports;
4. Discussion of the key Russian-German youth projects;
5. Approval of the Youth, School and Professional Youth Exchange Program for the next year.
The 17th meeting of the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation was held in Hamburg.
Participants were Members of the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation and representatives of organizations and institutions assisting in the implementation of youth exchanges. 32 people participated there.
Results: The key topic of the 17th meeting of the Council was the discussion of the possibilities of supporting youth exchanges in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resumption of youth exchanges in a face-to-face format after its termination.
Council Members highly appreciated the results of the bilateral online conference of the organizers of youth and school exchanges "Fair of Ideas – Russian-German Youth Exchanges under New Conditions" and a special event dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation held on November 23, 2021 in Hamburg, which confirmed the importance of youth cooperation between Russia and Germany. At the same time, the work of the coordinating offices in recent years on the further development of bilateral cooperation and their role in supporting the resumption of youth exchanges in a full-time format from 2022 was emphasized.
The Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation informed about the main bilateral youth events implemented in 2021 and the events planned for 2022 as well as presented the final draft of the Strategy for the Development of Russian-German youth cooperation for the period up to 2026.
Moreover, the meeting presented the results of cooperation between the Russian Student Sports Union and the Association "German Sports Youth" in the development of youth sports exchanges for 2021 and the plan in this area for 2022.
Council Members stressed the special importance of cooperation with local governments to achieve new target groups in youth exchange and welcomed the initiative of the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation to hold thematic Year of Youth Exchanges of Partner Cities of Russia and Germany 2022-2023.
Within the framework of the Programme of Russian-German Youth, School and Professional Youth Exchanges for 2022 approved at the meeting of the Council, the following main joint events are planned:
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Russian-German seminar for organizers of youth and school exchanges at the regional level (March – Krasnodar, April – St. Petersburg);
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Conference within the framework of the opening of the thematic Year of Youth Exchanges of Partner Cities of Russia and Germany 2022-2023 (May, Moscow);
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Seminar "Russian-German sports youth exchanges" (May, online);
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Russian-German project "Social work in sports" (July-August, Germany);
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Russian-German project "Sport Unites" (August, Germany);
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Russian-German Forum of Organizers of Youth Sports Exchanges (September, Germany);
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Seminar within the framework of the thematic Year of Youth Exchanges of Partner Cities of Russia and Germany 2022-2023 (September, Germany);
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XVII Russian-German Youth Forum (September, Kazan);
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Special youth event, within the framework of the interim conference of partner cities of Russia and Germany (autumn, Germany, Greifswald);
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Second Forum "Berlin Dialogue" (October, Moscow);
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Russian-German seminar for organizers of youth and school exchanges "Digitalization and PR" (online, 6 modules throughout the year).
One of the key issues on the agenda of the XVII meeting of the Council was the visa regime. Since January 1, 2021, a unified electronic single-entry visa has been introduced for the entry of foreign citizens into Russia, which also applies to German citizens that greatly simplifies the procedure for issuing visas for participants in youth exchanges from Germany. In this regard, the members of the Council decided to request the Government of Germany to consider simplifying the procedure for entering Germany (in the context of the pandemic) and the procedure for issuing visas for participants in youth exchanges from the Russian Federation.
The co-chairs of the Council – Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia D.V. Ashirov and Director of the Department for Work with Children and Youth of the Federal Ministry of Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany T. Tomer signed the final protocol.
The next meeting of the Council will be held in November 2022 in the Russian Federation.
