The Committee operates within the framework of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the French Republic on the development of youth exchanges and determines the priorities of bilateral youth cooperation.
On October 15, 2021 the first meeting of the Committee was held in Moscow at MIREA – Russian Technological University in a mixed format.
“We are glad that, together with our French colleagues, we can finally start working in such an important area as youth exchanges,” Grigory Gurov, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Chairman of the Russian part of the Committee, said opening the meeting.
The Commissioner for Civil Society Relations and Partnerships of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, the Chairwoman of the French part of the Committee Anne-Charlotte Dommartin said: “We are pleased that the Russian side has taken the initiative to hold the first meeting of the Committee for Youth Exchange. The tasks of the Committee fully reflect the current bilateral agenda of our relations including through the Trianon Dialogue. The implementation of the intergovernmental agreement on the development of youth exchanges will bring civil societies and youth of France and Russia closer together.”
The members of the Committee exchanged information on the priorities of youth policy in Russia and France and also discussed the prospects for the development of Russian-French youth exchanges in the field of cooperation between youth public organizations, through the Trianon Dialogue, in the field of culture and art, volunteering, school exchanges, learning Russian and French, exchanges between young politicians, youth exchanges between sister cities and regions.
At the meeting of the Committee agreements on the formation of an annual Exchange Plan were reached.
Based on the results of the Committee meeting a decision to hold a Russian-French Youth Meeting in an online format in December-January was made, and a Russian-French Youth Forum is planned to be held in person in Moscow in 2022 that will become a platform for cooperation and exchange of experience between youth public organizations.
In addition, the parties agreed to discuss the issue of establishing national coordination bureaus for youth exchanges in the future.
The next meeting of the Russian-French Youth Exchange Committee will take place in October 2022 in Paris.
