At the end of June, it was 29 years since the conclusion of the intergovernmental agreement between Belarus and Russia on cooperation in the field of youth policy. Over the past years, the nature of the challenges in this area has changed significantly: external forces seek to involve young people in destructive activities, impose their own values. This actualizes the issue of developing new joint approaches to youth policy in the Union State. About how Belarus and Russia cooperate in the youth sphere, and which areas require special attention at the present stage – in the material “Eurasia.An expert.”
Contractual framework
The document that was designed to set priorities for the youth policy of the Union State remains the intergovernmental agreement, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. It states the intention of the parties to involve young people in cooperation in the fields of economics, ecology, health, education, culture, sports and tourism.
Thus, Belarus and Russia have agreed to encourage cooperation between youth organizations in the field of culture and art, to promote the expansion of contacts between young entrepreneurs. Another area of work is the exchange of experience of social services and assistance in the implementation of social assistance and support programs for disabled youth. The parties also agreed to promote the development of mass sports among young people, develop a youth tourism system in accordance with national legislation, and facilitate the exchange of youth and student work teams and volunteer detachments.
At the same time, modern priorities related to the preservation of historical memory, traditional values, patriotic education, and information security are not reflected in the document. The same can be said about the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State, which, in particular, the Ministries of Education rely on in their joint work. It does not highlight the issues of working with young people in any way, except for an indirect mention of the focus on conducting a coordinated policy in science and education.
In June, Valery Falkov, head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, noted that youth policy cannot be separated from education, and the joint task is to “ensure deep, meaningful continuity of generations, taking into account the preservation of traditions and the introduction of new formats popular among young people.” The minister called the flagship event held in 2023. Meeting of student patriotic associations of the Union State. The Victory Train also became a landmark project, which was attended not only by Belarusian and Russian schoolchildren, but also by young people from other countries of the former USSR.
In order to expand activities in this direction and harmonize approaches, the two countries need an up-to-date regulatory framework.
Trends in youth policy
The development of human potential and support for youth is a priority area of state policy in Russia. It is no coincidence that in 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin instructed The Government should develop a national project “Youth and children”. Among the goals of the national project is the development of infrastructure and youth policy. Special attention will be paid to activities aimed at identifying talented children and youth.
“We will include all key measures to support young people in the national project. It will be aimed, among other things, at creating conditions for the self-realization of young people, personnel and social elevators. This will also include measures to develop modern infrastructure for children and youth – these are youth centers, major repairs of schools, point-to–point construction of schools where necessary … we will update the material and technical base of pedagogical universities,” said Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Tatyana Golikova.
Within the framework of the national project, changes are planned to the main professional educational programs in the areas of training and specialties in the field of pedagogy in terms of improving the level of subject and practical training of students. Flagship schools of excellence will be established to develop and replicate best practices.
In a separate direction, it is planned to highlight activities aimed at implementing educational programs, promoting traditional spiritual and moral values, including through the creation of educational content, the development and support of mentoring, volunteerism, and civic engagement of young people.
At the same time, as specified in Rosmolodezh, it is also supposed to promote the values of Russia abroad, including through the popularization of the Russian language, the formation of a wide community of foreign partners and the development of international youth cooperation.
“The key task that we set for ourselves is to create such valuable immunity in our students so that no viruses that try to penetrate them can do this. And so that this value framework is strong and powerful. This can only be achieved by combining our efforts,” said Olga, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Petrova at the presentation of the concept of the national project “Youth and Children” in May.
Interestingly, the issues of spiritual and moral education of young people were included in the top 5 topics of proposals to the national project “Youth and Children” submitted by Russian citizens through “Public Services” as part of an open collection of initiatives. Their share was 17% of the total. In total, more than 4 thousand proposals were collected, and the leaders in the number of submitted ideas turned out to be young people from 14 to 35 years old (80% of the initiatives).
It is important to take into account and integrate all these large-scale developments at the level of the Union State.
The relevance of the Concept of Youth policy
The fight against “brain drain” is an urgent problem. In the decree on the national development goals of Russia for the period up to 2030 and for the future up to 2036. Vladimir Putin instructed to bring the proportion of young people who believe in the possibility of self-realization in Russia to at least 85%.
The task of returning students from abroad to domestic universities was also named one of the five key ones during the meeting of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko with members of the Republican Council of Rectors at the beginning of this year. “Today the task is to shake up universities. By September 1, the rectors must make the necessary decisions. As a result, high–quality graduates and the absence of any flight outside the country,” the head of state said.
It is important for Belarus and Russia to bring together approaches in this area, to develop joint measures to promote the possibilities of self-realization within the framework of the Union State.
The National Development Goals of Russia until 2030 set the task of “creating conditions for the upbringing of a harmoniously developed, patriotic and socially responsible personality based on traditional Russian spiritual, moral, cultural and historical values.” “Today, the most important task in the education system is the development of educational work. It is necessary to educate children who love their homeland and are ready to work for its good,” said Olga, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education Kazakov.
Belarus has also stepped up work on improving youth policy. Work on the development of patriotic education has been strengthened in the republic, and support for youth initiatives has been expanded. The “social passport of youth” and other criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of work with young people are being developed.
“One of my strongest impressions in two years [as the Ambassador of Belarus to Russia – ed. This is exactly the kind of joint work on patriotic education that we are doing with the regions of Russia. To be honest, I was very surprised by the level and rise of such patriotism in Russia, the restoration of historical memory of historical events, the quality of numerous memorials dedicated to partisans, underground fighters, and some important battles,” said Dmitry, head of the Presidential Administration of Belarus Cool.
In these conditions, it is important for the Union State to integrate best practices and consolidate them in the Concept of Youth Policy in order to increase the effectiveness of joint work in the youth sphere.
Existing developments
The issues of conceptual approaches to working with youth within the framework of the Union State were already worked out by the parties in July 2023. The expanded meeting on youth policy of the Union State brought together the heads of Russian and Belarusian executive authorities, as well as youth organizations and associations, representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Russia and Belarus, and the Standing Committee of the Union State.
The resolution adopted at the end of the plenary session of the Meeting emphasizes that work in the field of youth policy should respond to modern challenges and threats faced by the Union State. At the same time, it should be based “on the value and ideological unity of the peoples of Belarus and Russia, mutual respect for the historical past, recognition of national interests.” The priorities are spiritual and moral, patriotic, labor, professional education of the younger generation, as well as the development of youth sports, creativity and the volunteer movement.
Thus, in the field of patriotic education, the parties proposed to ensure the collection and support of youth initiatives aimed at preserving historical memory and countering the falsification of history. It was also proposed to jointly implement historical and patriotic events, including such as the action “Give back the name of the Hero”, “Digital Star”, the rally “Ambassadors of Victory”. The importance of preserving historical memory also determines such an initiative, as the organization of joint search expeditions and assistance in their implementation on the territory of the Union State, which was announced among the proposals in the field of sports and tourism.
In the field of education and science, such projects of bilateral school and youth exchanges as the Memory Train and the Victory Train are already being successfully implemented. In addition, the participants proposed organizing youth competitions of professional skills of the Union State, encouraging the participation of young people in major Belarusian and Russian scientific events.
Joint programs, projects and events will require systematic information support to make them known to the youth of Belarus and Russia. The Meeting participants supported the development of a unified database on such initiatives with a consolidated calendar plan on one of the information resources of the Union State. In addition, it is proposed to conduct explanatory information work among young people about the role and importance of the Union State for Russia and Belarus.
All this can become an integral part of the overall Concept of youth policy, which systematizes the implementation of the proposed initiatives.
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