Meeting of the Organizing Committee of the II International Competition Leader of People's Diplomacy. Outcomes

MOSCOW. August 2 this year. A meeting of the Organizing Committee of the II International Competition "LEADER OF PEOPLE'S DIPLOMACY" took place. The Organizing Committee has been extended with new members, including foreign participants. The outcomes of the International round tables held in six countries of the world have been summed up.

The Organizing Committee of the Competition is International in its composition. It includes representatives of Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Georgia. (Full list of the organizing committee can be found on the website http://people's diplomacy.rf/images/sampledata/docs/Sostav%20Orgkomiteta%20-%20LIDER%20NARODNOJ%20DIPLOMATII%20-%202023.pdf)

The meeting was held by Svetlana Smirnova, First Deputy Secretary General - Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia, Head of the International Competition.

The meeting was opened by the Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly Andrey Belyaninov:

“All our efforts should be aimed at educating the youth. We have a talented young generation. What will they be ideologically inspired with? Where will they apply their magnificent talents? Finding answers to these questions and creating the conditions for the realization of ideas and skills is one of our greatest challenges. The international competition "Leader of People's Diplomacy" creates opportunities not only to identify initiative youth, but also to form young initiative teams, which later become the basis for the development of people's diplomacy in their countries and regions, uniting Greater Eurasia."

The International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations "Eurasian Peoples' Assembly" is the general partner of the project.

Svetlana Smirnova summed up the results of the International Round Tables. The events were held in Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Tajikistan in the first half of 2023. The central theme is the role of public diplomacy in the development of bilateral relations:

“Thanks to the International Round Tables, we managed to acquire new partners. Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Tajikistan representatives are included in our organizing committee. We managed to expand the circle of those who support the contest.

We are grateful to the Presidential Grants Foundation, the Administration of the Governor of the Perm Territory, the FADN of Russia, the House of Peoples of Russia, Rossotrudnichestvo, Rosmolodezh, the Belarusian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Assembly of the People of Kyrgyzstan, the House of Russian Books in Armenia, the SCO Center for Friendship and Cooperation in Tajikistan and many others who make their active contribution to the development of the competition. Interest in participating in the competition is huge. People want to get new knowledge, new competencies and skills. The international component is important here, experts from different countries are needed.”

It is planned to held a round table in Baku (Azerbaijan) at the end of August-beginning of September. Now the issue of specific dates for the event is under discussion. The round table will be devoted to the role of public diplomacy in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

During the meeting it was proposed that the finalists and winners of the I International Contest "Leader of People's Diplomacy" should become members of the Organizing Committee.

So, the new members of the Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of the II International Competition are: Kusiani Victor, Chairman of the Euro-Asian "Alliance" of international non-governmental organizations, member of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Honorary member of the National Academy of Georgia (Georgia); Ilya Shakalov, General Director of the Krasnodar Territory Development Fund (Russia), Romanenko (Luati) Khristina, President of the Tunisian-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Tunisia).

Kabuljon Sabirov, Director of the SCO Public Diplomacy Center in Uzbekistan, suggested contacting organizations such as the SCO, BRICS in order to gain support and inform potential participants more widely about the opportunities the competition provides:

“It is necessary to involve Iran, Pakistan, India, address to such structures as the SCO, BRICS. This will give an additional impetus in terms of expanding the geography of the contest participants.”

Alexander Babaev, Co-Chairman of the Eurasian Youth Assembly, Chairman of the Cultural and Educational Society "Capital" Antalya, Executive Secretary of the Coordinating Council of Organizations of Russian Compatriots (KSORS) (Turkey) noted the importance of the competition for compatriots living abroad:

“The competition is very important for compatriots living abroad. It gives leaders the opportunity to unite compatriots and gain knowledge, show their talents and establish themselves in what is called the "Leader of People's Diplomacy".

Svetlana Sharenkova, Chairman of the Bulgaria-Russia Forum, has submitted proposals to the educational part of the project - to include the participation of teachers, trainers, mentors from abroad:

“Representatives of NGOs in Bulgaria can organize a master class on the basics of leadership at the present stage during the final stage in Perm. The university where I teach has such a unique Leadership Institute, it is the only one in its essence in Europe and it is a state institution.”

Natalia Zabolotskikh, coordinator of the International Competition "Leader of Public Diplomacy", Deputy Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, acquainted the members of the Organizing Committee with the successes of the participants of the I International Competition and noted that the project gave many of them a new impetus for the development of international relations and contacts, contributed to the subsequent unification people's diplomats from different countries within one or several projects at once:

“The competition allowed the participants to look at their projects through different eyes: to repackage them, build a defense, a development strategy in a different way. But the most important thing is that the competition allowed to start forming a community of people's diplomats and initiated the emergence of new international projects. Thus, participants from Russia, Indonesia, Austria, Tajikistan, Italy united within the "Chain of Generations" project. The People's Diplomats of Tunisia and Russia (Volgograd) held the International Chess Tournament, which has been decided to become an annual event, held events dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad. The people's diplomat from the Krasnodar Territory, with the support of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, forms his business mission to Egypt. It will take place at the end of August. And this is only a small part of the examples that can be given.

Members of the Competition Organizing Committee discussed the preparation of an educational intensive and an online workshop in detail. The program promises to be rich and varied.

It is generally agreed, the "Leader of Public Diplomacy" Contest confirmed the vital necessity and relevance of the development of public diplomacy institutions around the world.

Recall that the start of the II International Competition "Leader of Public Diplomacy" - 2023 was given at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (http://eurasia-assembly.org/ru/news/narodnaya-diplomatiya-dialog-liderov... -na-pmef-stala) during the panel session "People's Diplomacy: Dialogue of Leaders". The session was organized by the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.

The purpose of the competition is to identify and support Russian and foreign public leaders whose activities are aimed at developing people's diplomacy, interethnic and interreligious peace and harmony, friendship and mutual understanding between peoples.

In 2022, 463 people, representatives of the non-profit sector from 34 regions of Russia and 23 other countries, including Turkey, Romania, Moldova, France, Canada, Italy, Mexico, India, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Armenia, Israel, Serbia, Syria, etc., took part in the Leader of Public Diplomacy International Competition. 30 representatives of 13 states became the winners of the competition.

The project is implemented with the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation.

Applications for participation in the competition can be submitted until September 10, 2023 on the project website: http://народнаядипломатия.рф