Artek has hosted a summit for 280 young peace ambassadors from 18 countries. This session was all about diplomacy and socio-cultural projects. The event opened with a grand multicultural concert at Camp Khrustalny that was attended by numerous guests, including Guest of Honor Maxim Buyakevich, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
Young performers from Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mongolia, Portugal, Serbia, Syria, Slovakia, the United States, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and other countries represented their homelands and informed the audience about their dreams using the language of art. They highlighted the cultural heritage of their respective nations and exchanged experience regarding tolerant interaction. For example, children from Mongolia performed unique national dances as did their peers from the Czech Republic, who danced a Czech variety of mazurka. Other participants sang songs about peace, friendship, patriotism and respect for each other.
Maxim Buyakevich welcomed the participants on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Many years ago, I was a pioneer leader at a children’s camp near Moscow and now at Artek I understand that I made a mistake choosing a diplomatic career instead of becoming a professional pioneer leader,” he said, thus emphasizing the important role the Artek youth leaders played in promoting children’s diplomacy. According to Maxim Buyakevich, he has devoted the last 25 years of his life to what his listeners came for to Artek: “One of the world classics said that the future would be whatever our children figure it out to be. This is also true of foreign policy. It is your generation that will possibly have to change our country’s foreign policy, if you think it necessary. But in any case, we, the elder generation, will always stand by you. We are ready to share with you the experience of our achievements and that of our mistakes.” He invited young diplomats to a meeting where he would focus on his ministry’s operations and Russia’s interaction with other states. He also promised to cover the difficult and sunny aspects of diplomatic work.
According to project organizers, exchanging cultural traditions is what people’s diplomacy is all about as is the work that children get involved in during a session, pointed out Natalya Popova, head of the Directorate for Innovative Youth Programs and Professional Guidance at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “These children are at Artek to share the knowledge of their country’s history and culture and to teach others the dances they do back home. They do it gladly, from the bottom of their heart. All children want to be friends with other children and see to it that there are no conflicts in the world. It is at such a summit that children tap their creative potential and share knowledge about their countries.”
She also said that the events to be held by the International School of Young Diplomats would include meetings with expert tutors and lectures on international relations and diplomacy. The program will culminate with the UN Children’s Assembly scheduled for September 17.
Asked about their plans for the future, some children said they might well still be interested in foreign countries and cultures when they are grown up.
Monica Brandt, Germany: “In order to be able to come here, I wrote an essay about diplomacy. I have a lot of friends at Artek, I like to socialize with children from different countries and learn about their culture and traditions. At diplomacy lessons, we learn how to work as a team and to listen to and hear each other. The important thing when meeting someone is to respect your interlocutor and avoid causing offence. We talk a lot about peace on the planet and how to keep it. Contacts between children from different countries will help us to learn more about other cultures and mentalities. This means that we will be able to maintain good relations between countries in the future.
Monhbaatar Enhuulen, Mongolia: “Today, we demonstrated one of our national dances we do in our country and gave others a glimpse of what our national culture is like. By presenting Mongolia, we open up to the world and become interested in cultures of other countries. There are many events at Artek that will teach you something new and help you to learn more about each other. This brings people closer together and makes them friends. I think the world is becoming a better place thanks to this.”
The young diplomats are sure that they are now a team and that their main secret is a sincere friendship that was born at Artek and would sweep the world.
Artek is implementing the Children – Ambassadors of Peace educational program in partnership with the Diplomatic Academy of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, the Diplomatic Club, the secondary boarding school of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, and the ICC Artek Support Fund.