- WYF2024 is a superb diplomatic initiative aimed at smashing the myth of “Isolating Russia”.
- World Youth Festival is opportunity to ‘innovate together’ – UN youth delegate
Moscow : Moscow woos the youth of world as Russia hosts the World Youth Festival, WYF2024; a get together of around 20,000 young leaders from over 180 countries in the city of Sochi in the southern Krasnodar region, and a superb diplomatic initiative aimed smashing the myth of “isolating Russia”.
Youth from global South is reaching Sochi city, Russia, to ‘innovate together’, work together to build a better world.
In this regard, Russian Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo organized a departure ceremony for more than 60 delegates heading to Russia to represent the Central African nation at the WYF2024.
Kinshasa has one of the largest numbers of WYF particpants among African countries at the festival, which runs until March 7, said Alexey Sentebov, Russia’s ambassador to the republic (DR Congo) while Speaking at a send-off event.
This underlines the special importance given to the prospects of establishing links between the youth of Russia and those of the DR Congo, added Sentebov.
The World Youth Festival, which was given the go-ahead by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been labeled the “largest youth event in the world” by its organizers Rosmolodezh, the federal agency for youth affairs.
The weeklong WYF2024 is getting together around 20,000 young leaders from over 180 countries, including Russia, in fields like business, media, culture, science, education, volunteer work, and sports. It aims to kickstart conversations, seek diverse perspectives on issues, and to foster new friendships, regardless of participants’ political beliefs or cultural backgrounds.
Ksenia Razuvaeva, director of Rosmolodezh, announced that more than 300,000 people had applied to attend the cultural event.
We are on the verge of a planetary-scale event… This is six times more than in 2017, so we are destroying the myth that Russia is isolated,” she told media.
Similarly, Russian Ambassador to Uganda Vladlen Semivolos also hosted a send-off party for some 30 Ugandan youth attending the WYF. The envoy said the event has been built around the concept of a multipolar world, adding that Uganda’s participation will mark a significant step in strengthening relations between Russia and that East African nation.
In July of last year, the WYF press office reported that delegates from 35 African countries had applied for spots in the cultural gathering, with Kenya, Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Rwanda, Benin, and Tanzania showing the most interest.
The ongoing World Youth Festival (WYF 2024) in Russia is a platform for like-minded people from all over the world to come together and share insights and experience, Richard Mensah from the UN Youth Association in Ghana told news media on Sunday.
WYF 2024 allows participants to build lasting connections with various youth groups and join forces in solving pressing problems, both within their communities and on a global scale, said Mensah, who is also a volunteer and community development activist in his home country.
“My goal is to transform the youth in my society, the youth in Ghana. This [festival] is an opportunity to network with people from across the world, spearheading the objectives in the same field so we can draw conclusions, solve pressing problems together – so when I go back home, I can also team up with my people, with colleagues from across the world to help us innovate together,” Mensah added.
“With this we will be able to achieve a sustainable community where each youth in each community in Ghana will achieve his dream.”
The WYF 2024 kicked off in the city of Sochi in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region on Friday welcoming people aged 14 to 17 for the first time as part of a specially designated children’s program, ‘Together into the Future’.
The festival’s program features over 800 educational, cultural, scientific, and sporting events. The main event in Sochi will be followed by a regional program that will run until March 17 and see 2,000 foreign participants of the festival travel to 30 Russian cities for cultural exchange purposes.
