Young leaders carry forward the guiding torch: the BRICS Youth Summit held in the Ulyanovsk Region adopts its declaration

On 22–26 July, the Ulyanovsk Region hosted the BRICS Youth Summit, attended by 200 representatives of BRICS member states.

The Summit participants focused on five principal tracks: education, science and training; youth entrepreneurship; science, technology and innovation; the younger generation, social works and volunteering; health and sports. Each of these was discussed by working groups and individual panels.

The business programme opened with the plenary session, where Oleg Mashkovtsev, Deputy Presidential Envoy to the Volga Federal District, welcomed the Summit’s attendees on behalf of Igor Komarov, Presidential Envoy to the Volga Federal District, noting that the younger generation is the key strategic resource for any country’s development. Alexey Russkikh, Governor of the Ulyanovsk Region, took part in the plenary session.

“We are ready for humanitarian cooperation in education, medicine, culture, sports, tourism, youth policy, and also for economic cooperation. I am pleased to invite you to our region again with humanitarian projects, with business proposals, or just for a visit,” Alexey Russkikh noted.

The Summit concluded by adopting a declaration that had been drafted over several days by BRICS state heads of youth policy agencies. The declaration lists proposals and initiatives for bolstering BRICS member states’ cooperation in education within existing institutions, holding annual meetings of BRICS young entrepreneurs to improve networking and cooperation, promoting digital literacy among young people and involving them in science, technology and innovation, on launching a programme for young BRICS volunteers offering them an opportunity to learn about one another’s cultures, engage in more intense physical activities and promote a healthy lifestyle.

“This document reflects the coordinated stand of the BRICS states’ young people on the key issues on the global agenda. This declaration promotes cooperation and dialogue between young people from BRICS member states. It is a symbol of unity and solidarity of BRICS youth, demonstrates that young people from all over the world are willing to work together to resolve common problems and to move together toward a better future,” emphasized Artyom Miroshnikov, Ulyanovsk Region’s Minister for Youth Development,

“We are truly happy to see a group of young people who wish to do important things for their countries, seek to implement and coordinate the resolutions adopted by the BRICS Youth Council. We also recognize the role of the younger generation and their voice, which today is heard at the highest levels,” Executive Chairperson of South Africa’s National Youth Development Agency Asanda Luwaca added.

Additionally, participants in working meetings elaborated topics for next year’s Summit programme. Together, the delegates developed questions they asked of the heads of youth policy agencies and ministers of BRICS member states at a business breakfast.

“I would like to note that each session suggested initiatives that were unanimously welcomed by all BRICS member states. These ideas are transparent and clear to young people throughout the world and each is backed by a precise understanding of the route to be taken for reaching that goal,” said Diana Kovela, the Summit’s Programme Director, Deputy Head of the Russia–BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation.

The Summit also inaugurated the BRICS Youth Media Platform, a space for BRICS state youth cooperation. Throughout the Summit’s five days, BRICS Youth Radio ran broadcasts, including interviews with attendees from different countries.

The BRICS Youth Summit was organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, the Government of the Ulyanovsk Region and the Ulyanovsk Region’s Ministry for Youth Development, the Russia–BRICS Project Office for International Youth Cooperation and the Russian Union of Youth. The Summit was a key item on Russia’s 2024 BRICS Chairship Schedule of Events organized by the Roscongress Foundation.