People's Diplomacy: Experience and Prospects

09/12/2022 13:00

On December 8, within the Perm Open Peoples' Friendship Forum (IX All-Russian Forum of National Unity), the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly organized and held a panel session "People's Diplomacy: Experience and Prospects".

The Assembly of Peoples of Russia acted as a co-organizer. Among the participants were representatives of authorities, the diplomatic corps, international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, public organizations, participants in the I International Competition "Leader of Public Diplomacy".

The agenda included issues of popularization and further development of people's diplomacy through modern mechanisms of cultural, humanitarian, scientific, educational and business cooperation. The Panel session was attended by representatives of 8 countries: India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tunisia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. In addition, writers from 28 countries of the world sent their video greetings to the Panel session.

Panel session moderators: Kabuljon Sabirov, Director of the SCO Public Diplomacy Center in Uzbekistan; Svetlana Smirnova, Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia, First Deputy Secretary General - Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly; Marina Plyasunova, Deputy Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.

Welcoming words to the participants were addressed by: Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO; Gulnara-Klara Samat, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Russian Federation; Evgeny Primakov, Head of Rossotrudnichestvo; Andrey Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs; Ildar Gilmutdinov, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Issues of Nationalities, member of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, member of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.

People's diplomacy is increasingly asserting itself as a dynamic sphere of world politics and plays a significant role in ensuring trust and mutual understanding between states and peoples. We need common international efforts in public diplomacy, which brings together leaders of public opinion, public experts, representatives of the cultural and humanitarian sphere and the business community, all people who care about the fate of the world.

The program of the panel session included international experts from Eurasian countries:

  • Ranokhon Bobodzhonien, Deputy of the Lower House of the Parliament of Tajikistan, Professor of the Department for Television Journalism of the M. Tursunzoda Institute of Arts and Culture (Tajikistan);
  • Dmitry Polikanov, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation;
  • Abdukhalil Gafurzoda, Director of the SCO Friendship and Cooperation Center in Tajikistan (Tajikistan);
  • Banu Nurgaziyeva, President of the Association of Legal Entities in the form of the Association "Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan" (Kazakhstan);
  • Dalbir Singh, President of the Foundation for Policy and Governance, member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly (India);
  • Svetlana Sharenkova, Chairman of the Bulgaria-Russia Forum, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly (Bulgaria);
  • Zukhra Shidakova, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Kyrgyzstan, President of the Public Association "International Association of Karachais "Ata-Jurt", member of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly (Kyrgyzstan).

The panel session was attended by experienced experts and finalists of the International Competition "Leader of People's Diplomacy", who presented the best practices in the field of science and culture, education, popularization of the Russian language, literature and art, building trust, friendship and cooperation between peoples:

  • Yuri Palamarchuk, President of the NGO "Council for Interethnic Cooperation", member of the Council under the Governor of the Leningrad Region for Interethnic Relations, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly;
  • Evgenia Mikhaleva, Co-Chair of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia, Director of the Resource Center for national relations;
  • Anastasia Pavlova, member of the General Council, Chairman of the Eurasian Tourism Security Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, author and head of the International Integration Program "CIS + WORLD";
  • Mikhail Kamenskikh, Senior Researcher, Department of History, Archeology and Ethnography, Perm Scientific Center, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Chairman of the Perm Society for Friendship with China, Director of the Perm Ethnocenter Association (Perm, Perm Territory);
  • Mikhail Samokhin, Director of the “Idea” Social Activity Foundation (Polevskoy, Sverdlovsk Region);
  • Ksenia Karaulova, General Director of the “Buloshnaya” Restaurant House (Moscow);
  • Yuri Starodubtsev, Head of the Autonomous non-profit organization "Initiative" (Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia);
  • Abdukakhor Kosimov, poet, songwriter, journalist, publicist (Tajikistan);
  • Christina Romanenko (Louati), President of the Tunisian-Russian CCI (Tunisia);
  • Tegu Imanulla, Chairman of the Russian office of the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) (Indonesia);
  • Sofia Lagokha, employee of the Russian branch of the official UN Youth Network for Sustainable Development (Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk region).

Following the panel session, a draft Resolution was adopted.

See also: Deputy Majlisi Namoyandagon took part in the ninth All-Russian Peace Forum online