The UN International Children's Assembly in Artek has become a traditional final event of the program of young diplomats "Children - Ambassadors of Peace", which has been implemented in the children's center since 2017. Almost 200 young diplomats from Kazakhstan, Moldova and 57 regions of Russia took part in the event.
At the scientific-practical conference, the work of the organs and specialized institutions of the United Nations was modelled. Each of the delegates acted as an official representative of a UN member state; a total of 193 countries were represented at the Assembly.
The young diplomats have served on three committees: The UN General Assembly, the World Health Organization and the UNEP Environment Program. Artek residents considered and discussed the problems of information security and the safe use of information and communication technologies, international cooperation of states in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight against climate change.
And although due to restrictive measures, the delegates were unable to gather at the children's center in a wide international format, digital technologies allowed the children to communicate with experts from different countries - the children heard expert opinion on the main agendas from Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.
Setting the children up for fruitful work, Daniil Mokin, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna, said: “It is important and necessary to study the UN, it is a unique organization. Due to its status, membership, geographic coverage, influence of accumulated knowledge and expertise, it remains the main platform for developing global responses to global challenges and threats of the modern world. The Russian Federation, as one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, attaches particular importance to its participation in this organization."
The children also received parting greetings from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Gennady Gatilov, who spoke about the role of the UN and the World Health Organization in the fight against the pandemic. In particular, he noted: “It is possible to successfully confront a global challenge, such as the COVID-19 trend, only together, and all states have already come to this conclusion. No country can cope with the threat alone, no matter how developed and powerful it is."
The main task of the young diplomats at the Assembly is to defend the position of "their" country, with which the Artekites have successfully coped. As a result of the meetings and debates, the representatives of "different countries" came to a common decision and adopted three resolutions on the agendas of the three committees.
As the participants themselves noted, the Children's Assembly promotes personal development, their acquisition of useful communication skills, activation of youth exchanges, intercultural dialogue, and also immerses them in the profession of a specialist in international affairs.
Grigory Ulybyshev, Moscow: “I have long chosen the profession of a military diplomat and in Artek I receive the necessary information on which I can rely in the future and move on in my direction. I work on the committee where we discuss international cybersecurity, since cyber attacks on various structures have become more frequent during the pandemic. We consider it our duty to confront these crimes."
Georgy Kvasnikov, Moscow: “Participation in the program helped me to get a deeper understanding of what diplomats are doing, I learned how to negotiate, received basic knowledge. On the health committee, I represent the country of Angola, our agenda is dedicated to COVID-19, how to deal with it. Health is the most valuable thing we have, so it is very important to raise such issues."
Summing up the results of the work of the Children's Assembly, Natalya Popova, head of the Department for the Development of Innovative Youth Programs and Career Guidance of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, noted: “The children not only broaden their horizons in the field of international relations and diplomacy, they also acquire the skills of public speaking, oratory, establishing contacts, and negotiating in a business format. It is always useful in both the educational and professional future. And the role of Artek is essential here - we are in the center of children's diplomacy, where we can discuss with the children the current agenda of the world and show that even adult international experts listen to the opinion of children."
The final document developed during the meetings of the three committees will be sent to the permanent mission of the Russian Federation to the UN, where experts will take note of the proposals of the Artekites.
Since 2017, more than 800 delegates from 80 countries have participated in the Children's Assembly. In 2018, the session of the UN International Children's Assembly in Artek was chaired by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN and the UN Security Council, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary V. A. Nebenzya, in 2019 - Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary M. V. Zakharova.
The organizer of the Children - Ambassadors of Peace program is the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Artek ICC with the support of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Main Production and Commercial Administration for Services to the Diplomatic Corps under the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Diplomatic Club. The partners of the program are: the UN International Youth Model of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Boarding School at the Russian Foreign Ministry.