On August 6, the IV International Summer School “Bulgarian Dialogue of Cultures – 2020” started in online format. This year the key topic of the two-day seminar is “Youth Volunteer Movement: The Experience of Russia and countries of the Islamic World”. In the framework of the rich program, the participants, who represent not only different regions of the Russian Federation, but also countries of the Islamic world, will be able not only to share their own experience in the field of volunteering, but also to gain useful skills in presenting a personal brand. They will also establish closer ties with representatives of youth organizations both within their own country and at the international level and take part in unique master classes, which will help unite the efforts of different countries and establish a close dialogue.
According to the organizers of the School, its main purpose is to create conditions for the development of relations between youth organizations and volunteer associations, as well as exchange of practical experience among the participants of volunteer movement from Russian regions and foreign countries.
As Elmira Sadykova, Executive Director of the Foundation for Strategic Dialogue and Partnership with the Islamic World, Head of the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue of the Bulgarian Islamic Academy, Doctor of Political Scince, noted during the opening ceremony of the School, on the eve of the start of the forum, preparation for which was held in close cooperation with the Strategic Vision Group “Russia – Islamic World”, the Bulgarian Islamic Academy, the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Academy of Youth Diplomacy, a very interesting survey on volunteerism had been conducted.
“50 people aged 17 to 42 and predominantly with higher education took part in the survey. It is interesting that the majority of the respondents tend to think that people with an inner desire to help the society can become volunteers. In this regard, it is not surprising that the topic of helping people, society, world has become the key one for the International Summer School “Bulgarian Dialogue of Cultures – 2020”. Especially in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, when within difficult realities the work and dedication of volunteers has become even more visible and necessary”, Sadykova said.
Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia – Islamic World” Farit Mukhametshin believes that volunteerism is one of the most relevant agendas on the world stage.
“It should be noted that volunteer movement in Russia is taking on a new dimension. Our President Vladimir Putin highlighted during one of his speeches that nowadays volunteers had helped more than 3 million citizens. This is an invaluable experience, which is intended to help us preserve and multiply the main human values in the modern society. We can observe the particular importance of volunteer movement even mow, in the conditions of the coronavirus, which has affected every corner of the planet. Volunteerism certainly takes a special place in the Russian Federation. Thus, in the framework of the Year of Volunteerism, the concept of volunteerism until 2025 was developed and adopted, which implies both the support of volunteer organizations and the formation of the coordinating body to support volunteerism”, Mukhametshin said.
Special gratitude was also expressed towards the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which supports and actively participates in the events organized by the Group. This was confirmed by the words of Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Askar Musinov, who said that one of the OIC’s tasks is the expansion of opportunities for dialogue between the Russian youth and the young generation of the Islamic world.
“Volunteerism is given a lot of attention, including in Muslim countries. Thus, for instance, it was decided to include the Muslim Volunteer Day in the calendar of political events, which now is celebrated on the 19th day of Ramadan. This is nothing else but acknowledgment of the importance of volunteerism and young people as an important element and engine of it”, he said.
But there is no room for complacency – we have to develop the necessary tools to realize the volunteer potential in all spheres of society. This comprises both the creation of mechanisms for rapid response to the problems of the modern world and the response to traditional challenges to society. According to Aigul Biktimirova, Head of the Social Department of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan, the question of how to properly and affectively build work with volunteers who interact with special people is acute now.
“Not only is it difficult to recruit them, but one also needs to understand how to train these guys morally, spiritually and physically. We need to find effective methods of work to motivate volunteer movement”, Biktimirova noted.
Daniyar Abdurakhmanov, Rector of the Bulgarian Islamic Academy, and Rushan Hazrat Abbyasov, the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Mufti of Moscow Region, addressed the participants of the School with a welcoming speech. They highlighted the fact that volunteerism was a supranational concept and had long gone beyond the boundaries of the specific narrow focused community, characterizing a believer. The idea that volunteerism is a joint work that helps unite people with different beliefs was supported by First Vice-Rector of the Kazan Orthodox Theological Seminary Kolcherin Aleksey.
In his turn, First Deputy Minister of Youth of the Republic of Tatarstan Timur Suleymanov announced the soon (in September) opening of the office in the direction of interaction between Russia and the OIC. One of its main objectives will be to support the systematic interaction between the youth and youth organizations of Russia with ones of the OIC countries. Elmaddin Mehdiyev, Director of the Eurasian Regional Centre of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum, also highlighted this important event, stressing that the Republic of Tatarstan was the key link of interaction between Russia and countries of the Islamic world. Tatiana Seliverstova, Head of the International Division of the Youth Projects and Programs Department of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, agreed with the colleagues. In her opinion, the interaction between young people at the international level is one of the key areas of the state youth policy of Russia.
The first day of the School finished with master classes from experts. Thus, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OIC in Jeddah Natalya Taratynova told about the creation and functioning of the public children’s movement “Diplomats of the Future”. The founder of the Club of Oriental Studies, Chief Specialist of the RT Service of External Communications Anna Belikova and Head of “The Centre for Intercultural Communications” of the Chelyabinsk Regional Universal Library, Advisor to the Chairman of the Public Chamber of the Chelyabinsk Region Elvira Yagnakova spoke in more detail about the peculiarities of the personal brand of volunteer and how to build international cooperation in the volunteer sphere.
The event is organized by the Foundation for Strategic Dialogue and Partnership with the Islamic World and the Bulgarian Islamic Academy with the support of the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan. The event is held during the first phase of the Rosmolodezh Project Office for International Youth Cooperation “Russia – the OIC”. The partners of the project are the Academy of Youth Diplomacy in Kazan and Tatarstan Youth Public Foundation “Selet”.
It should be noted that among the participants of the forum there are the organizers of volunteer projects and their participants from Lebanon (“Victory Volunteers” and “School of Young Leader”), Egypt (Ministry of Youth and Sports), Tunisia (Women Volunteer Movement) and Syria. Practical experience of volunteer movement in modern conditions will be shared by representatives of Russian charity foundations “Solidarity” (Moscow), “House of Kindness”, “Zakyat” (Moscow), environmental movement “Will Be Clean” (Kazan) and representatives of volunteer detachment “Do Good Deeds” (Derbent). Availability of volunteer activities for civil society will be demonstrated by Russian Instagram-bloggers.
On the final day of the forum (tomorrow), the results of the video contest will be summed up (one can vote for the nominees on the website of the Group), as well as the best projects of presenting the volunteer personal brand will be demonstrated. Each participant of the International Summer School “Bulgarian Dialogue of Cultures – 2020” will receive a certificate of participation in the conference. The second day of the School will be broadcasted on the website of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia - Islamic World”.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina