The National Youth Council of Russia (NYCR) was established on January 10 in 1992 on the initiative of 10 youth organisations (Russian Union of Youth; Federation of Teenage, Children and Pioneer Organisations of Russia; Russian Federation of Sambo Clubs; Association of Young Students; Youth Union of Democratic Party of Russia; Youth Movement in Support of People’s Party «Free Russia»; Russian Union of Young Christian Democrats; Youth Organisation of the Republican Party of the Russian Federation; Pushkin Foundation for Creative Development of Russia; Union of Young Constitutional Democrats). Establishment of the NYCR was supported by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation №1075 of September 16, 1992 «On urgent measures for the development of youth policy in the Russian Federation».
On August 21, 1992 the NYCR was registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Since then it has been developing together with the country and youth policy ideas in Russia. The NYCR comprises more than 50 youth organisations — all-Russian, interregional public children and youth organisations, regional associations (round tables) of youth and children associations. Thus, the National Youth Council of Russia is the most representative body of youth and children’s organisations in the Russian Federation, recognized as such both on the national and international levels.
Members of the NYCR are all-Russian and interregional public associations, regional associations (unions) of youth and children’s organisations, regional social movements and organisations, which include youth and children’s public associations, international youth and children’s public associations registered in the Russian Federation, as well as other socially oriented associations, supporting children and young people in Russia. Only legal entities can be admitted as member organisations.
The Mission of the National Youth Council of Russia — “Combining the efforts of youth and children’s civil society organisations for responsible and meaningful participation in the development of Russia”.
Objective and key goals of the NYCR for 2017 – 2020
Objective: to promote effective implementation of state youth policy in the development of civil, intellectual and personal potential of young people in order to safeguard the interests of the state, strengthen state unity, national security and integrity of Russia.
Goals:
- to unite resources of youth, children’s and other civil society institutions of the Russian Federation in order to participate in the implementation of strategic tasks of state youth policy;
- to strengthen joint public activities of the NYCR’s members, to expand membership in terms of quality and quantity, and to develop partnerships with organisations and specialists;
- to promote the NYCR’s activities among its members and partners in the regions of the Russian Federation, as well as society as a whole;
- to retain the trust of leading youth, children’s and other public organisations carrying out socially oriented activity in the field of youth policy, to unite their efforts in forming common intellectual and information resource for meaningful participation in programmes of strategic development of the country;
- to support projects aimed at consolidating youth and children’s movement and forging a system of historical continuity of generations, revival of mentorship and strengthening civil society institutions;
- to ensure participation of professional community of youth and children’s public organisations and other civil society institutions of the Russian Federation in social, economic, political and socio-cultural activities aimed at creating conditions for successful socialization and effective self-realization of Russian youth;
- to foster intersectoral socially oriented cooperation, interregional and international youth cooperation, and cooperation between youth and children’s public associations aimed at developing youth and children’s movement in the Russian Federation;
- to provide information support for activities of youth and children’s public associations in Russia;
- to shape shared views in order to represent the interests of public associations before the state, society and business, for meaningful participation in the development of state youth policy and youth work;
- to foster the creation of methodological and legal framework for support of youth and children’s public associations and other NGOs working with children and youth, regional and local bodies responsible for youth, scientific community and legislative bodies at all levels;
- to create the conditions nurturing the activity of the Russian expert community in the field of youth policy as a new type of partnership between civil society and the state to facilitate the search for answers to pressing issues of youth policy and to counteract modern challenges and threats that young people are facing;
- to participate in the organisation and conduct of sociological and other research in the field youth, including the preparation of the annual civil society report on the state of young people in Russia;
- to respond promptly to significant changes in the socio-political and socio-economic situation in the country, facilitating the adaptation of the youth environment to the processes taking place;
- to contribute to the coordination of the activities of youth and civil society organizations operating at federal, regional and local levels, and other NGOs working with children and youth with the focus on state youth policy;
- to continue applying programme-target method of strategic development programme implementation.
The National Youth Council of Russia:
- consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council;
- member of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth;
- member of the Asia-Pacific Youth Caucus;
- permanent member of the Council for Youth Affairs of the CIS member states;
- member of the national delegation to the Interparliamentary Youth Assembly of the CIS Member States;
- main organiser and permanent partner of the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia in the implementation of youth programmes in Russia in the framework of the intergovernmental agreement in the field of youth policy;
- full member of the European Youth Forum;
- observer in the Asian Youth Council;
- initiator of the BRICS Youth Assembly;
- founder of “SDG Youth Ambassadors in Russia”programme;
- founder of “UN Youth Delegates”programme;
- founder and coordinator of the “Multinational Russia” Club;
- member of the Interagency Council on Youth Affairs under the Government Commission on Compatriots Living Abroad;
- permanent member of the Russian-German Council for Youth Cooperation;
- national coordinator of the Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech Movement (an online youth campaign for human rights);
- member of the Expert Council under the State Duma Committee on Physical Education, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs, the Russian Public Council on International Cooperation and Public Diplomacy of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Committee on Patriotic, Spiritual and Moral Upbringing of Children and Youth of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation on Interethnic Relations; participates on a permanent basis in the work of the Expert Council on State Support for Children’s and Youth Civil Society Organisations under the Federation Council Committee on Social Development;
- initiator of the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students to be held in Russia (Sochi, 2017);
- founder of the Association of Youth Organisations of the CIS Member States in support of the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students in 2017;
- founder and permanent organiser of Russian-Azerbaijan, Russian-Armenian, Russian-Belarusian, Russian-German, Russian-Italian, Russian-Kazakh, Russian-Moldovan, Russian-Polish and Black Sea Youth Forums, Youth Forum of Russia and Balkan region;
- initiator of regular youth exchanges with Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Russian programmes of the National Youth Council of Russia:
- Gagarin Discussion Club on Youth Policy (a permanent discussion platform for finding solutions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of youth policy in close cooperation with the state and various civil society institutions);
- Youth Forum on Sustainable Development Goals (held in 2018 as part of the project “Engaging Russian youth in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development”);
- National Campaign dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Russian children’s movement in 2009;
- National Youth Award “The Future of Russia”;
- Russian Youth Campaign “All Different — All Equal”;
- “Multinational Russia” Club;
- All-Russian Youth Forum “Multinational Russia”;
- “50/50” training seminar for specialists of state authorities and NGOs in the Russian Federation working with young people;
- All-Russian seminar-meeting of representatives of regional consultative and advisory bodies on interethnic relations among young people;
- All-Russian seminar on intercultural dialogue and civil identity among young people;
- Training course on human rights education;
- Long-term training course on non-formal education and intercultural education for trainers from the Russian Federation;
- Long-term training course on young people’s access to social rights for representatives of civil society organisations and state authorities working with young people in the Russian Federation;
- All-Russian camp-seminars and contests on social design, camps for youth activists;
- Training and professional development courses for youth workers;
- Policy-making, research, methodological and expert activities.
International programmes of the National Youth Council of Russia:
- Competition of joint projects of youth of the CIS member states, near and far abroad “We speak the same language”;
- “Dialogue” International Award for the contribution to the development of friendship between peoples;
- International Youth Camp “Dialogue”;
- First International Youth Meeting for Peace and Cooperation (held in July 2019 in Pyongyang, DPRK);
- Exhibition “Young Multinational Russia” (held at the Palace of Europe during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2010);
- Exhibition “Never Again” dedicated to the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II (held at the Palace of Europe during the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2011);
- Educational seminar on development of international youth cooperation and public diplomacy “Civic Diplomatic Corps”;
- Seminar on democratic youth participation through development of youth parliamentarism in the Russian Federation (during the PACE session);
- Youth event in the run-up to the 9th Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth of the Council of Europe member states;
- Black Sea Youth Forum;
- Russian-Ukrainian Youth Forum;
- Russian-Polish Youth Forum;
- Russian-Italian Youth Forum;
- International Youth Forum “Youth Dialogue between Russia and Balkan Region Countries”;
- Russian-German Youth Forum and Russian-German Youth Parliament;
- bilateral youth forums within the framework of intergovernmental agreements with the CIS member states (Republic of Belarus, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Armenia, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Kyrgyz Republic);
- International Youth Gathering “Grandchildren of Victory” on May 9 in Berlin;
- International Youth Seminar “Remembrance and Learning from World War II”;
- Professional development courses for youth leaders of public organisations and specialists in the field of youth policy in the Asian region;
- Seminar on youth policy and youth work in the Russian Federation “Understanding the realities of youth policy and youth work in the Russian Federation by European partners”;
- Forum of Youth Organisations of the CIS Member States;
- Internships in the field of youth work for leaders of youth associations from the CIS, Baltic States, Caucasus and the Council of Europe;
- Youth Media Forum of the CIS member states.
The main partners of the NYCR are: Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), UN Information Centre in Moscow, Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, regional executive authorities responsible for youth policy implementation, Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, Russiy Mir Foundantion, National Committee for BRICS Research, various youth public associations and leading experts in the field of youth policy, international and intergovernmental organisations, Council of Europe, United Nations, UN-HABITAT, UNESCO, Alliance of Civilizations, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Executive Committee, Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), ASEAN, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (BSEC), etc.
