On November 24 and 25 the XVII meeting of the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation took place in Hamburg. The key topic was the discussion of opportunities to support youth exchanges in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resumption of youth exchanges after it ends in person.
Council members highly appreciated the results of the bilateral conference of the organizers of youth and school exchanges “Fair of Ideas – Russian-German Youth Exchanges in the 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 in November 2021 in Hamburg which confirmed the importance of youth cooperation between Russia and Germany. At the same time the work of the coordination bureaus in recent years to further develop bilateral cooperation and their role in supporting the resumption of youth exchanges from 2022 in person was especially noted.
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 also presented the final draft of the Strategy for the development of Russian-German youth cooperation for the period up to 2026.
In addition, the meeting presented the results of cooperation between the Russian Student Sports Union and the German Sports Youth Association in the development of sports youth exchanges for 2021.
The members of the Council stressed the particular importance of cooperation with local governments in order to reach 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 a thematic Year of Youth Exchanges in partner cities of Russia and Germany 2022-2023, within the framework of which in 2022 in full-time format the Conference in honor of the opening of this thematic Year in May in Moscow and a bilateral seminar in September in Germany as well as a special youth event as part of the intermediate conference of Russian and Germany partner cities in October in Germany will take place.
On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the partnership between the Russian Student Sports Union and the German Sports Youth Association it was decided to hold a bilateral online seminar “Russian-German Sports Youth Exchanges” in May 2022, the Russian-German project “Sport Unites” in August in Munich, the Russian-German Forum of Organizers of Sports Youth Exchanges in September in Germany and the Russian-German project “Social Work in Sports” in Germany which will be a good opportunity to discuss the prospects for further development of youth exchanges in the field of sports.
One of the key events within the framework of the Program of Russian-German youth, school and professional youth exchanges for 2022 approved at the meeting of the Council will be the second Berlin Dialogue Forum (October, Moscow) – a discussion platform with the participation of organizers of youth exchanges, deputies of the State Duma and the Bundestag, representatives of the relevant federal authorities implementing youth policy.
As part of the Exchange Program for 2022 events are also planned in the field of interaction between non-governmental youth associations of two countries as well as a series of educational online seminars on various issues of bilateral youth cooperation.
One of the key issues discussed at the meeting was the visa regime. From January 1, 2021 a single electronic single-entry visa was introduced for the entry of foreign citizens into Russia which also applies to German citizens including participants in youth exchanges. In this regard the members of the Council decided to apply to the Government of Germany with a request to consider the possibility of simplifying the procedure for entering Germany (during the pandemic) and the procedure for issuing visas for participants in youth exchanges from the Russian Federation.
The final protocol was signed by the co-chairs of the Council – Denis Ashirov, the Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and Thomas Tomer, the Director of the Department for Children and Youth Affairs of the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
It should be noted that the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation was established 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 dated December 21, 2004. Council meetings are held annually alternately in Russia and Germany. The Council determines the priorities and main directions of bilateral youth cooperation. The composition of the Russian part of the Council was approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 2, 2020 No. 1717-r. To implement the Agreement in 2006 national coordination bureaus such as the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany and the German-Russian Youth Exchange Foundation that provide practical assistance to participants and organizers of Russian-German youth, school and professional youth exchanges were created. The functions of the Russian Coordination Bureau for Youth Cooperation with Germany are performed by MIREA – Russian Technological University.
