BRICS-inspired International Friendship Club opens in Ulyanovsk, Russia

Joint youth projects of the Ulyanovsk region with other countries will be implemented based on the International Friendship Club, which opened in the Ulyanovsk region. As Deputy General Director of the ANO “Directorate of the World Youth Festival,” Victoria Pavlova told media, that the idea of ​​creating such institutions arose at the festival.

“The International Friendship Club is a program that was born on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival. And based on the results of the “Cultural Patronage” program, a specific country was assigned to each region of our country. For example, Brazil was assigned to the Ulyanovsk Region,” she said.

She further explained that at the festival, the children became mentors for foreigners, helped them adapt, learn Russian, and also debunk myths about Russia. The International Friendship Club is the flagship project of the World Youth Festival Directorate. We are creating an ecosystem of international youth projects and want to see an International Friendship Club in every region of Russia by the end of 2024, which will work with children from all over the world.

190 countries and 20 thousand people took part in the World Youth Festival. “This is our community, with which we continue to work,” Pavlova further said.

Vice President of the Brazilian National Preparatory Committee of the World Youth Festival Mateus Pereira Jorge told the media that the club will allow the implementation of joint projects with Russia and, in particular, with the Ulyanovsk region. These are projects in the field of ecotourism, and language webinars so that not only Brazilians can learn Russian, but also Russians can learn Portuguese. Here we can show how our science works in Brazil, and our industry, and production. This is all very important for young people, Pavlova said.

The opening of the International Friendship Club took place at a festival of performers on traditional musical instruments. The concert program included the number of 50 musicians from eight BRICS countries. Musicians Marcos Lami from Brazil, Vanraj Shastri from India, Reza Desaipur from Iran, Saif Al Ali from the UAE, Gash Aberra Molla from Ethiopia, and others performed at the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after Ilya Ulyanov. The festival was the result of the international project “BRICS Melody”.