Festival a boon to local youths

THE World Youth Festival that is being held in Russia from March 1 to 7 is aimed at bringing together 20 000 young people from more than 100 countries for dialogue, cultural exchange and collaboration on global challenges. Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister TINO MACHAKAIRE (TM), who is leading the Zimbabwe delegation to the event, last week spoke to The Sunday Mail reporter TANYARADZWA RUSIKE (TR) on this and various issues.

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TR: Zimbabwe recently celebrated its National Youth Day and now our youths have been invited to participate at the World Youth Festival in Russia. What does this mean for Zimbabwean youths?

TM: This tells us that Zimbabwean young people are now representing our youth constituency on the global stage.

By just inviting these youngsters to represent Zimbabwe, it shows that they are being recognised globally.

Young people will also appreciate that our Government is taking them to higher levels of learning, showcasing their talents and creating opportunities and relationships.

I want to assure youths that this is not the only event we are going to attend but more are coming.

TR: Zimbabwe is participating at the World Youth Festival in Russia. Can you tell us what the festival is all about?

TM: The World Youth Festival is a global event where young people from different parts of the world meet and share experiences from their respective countries.

It is an event that is also meant to provide young people with a wealth of useful information from different parts of the world and also offer them opportunities in a wide range of areas.

The festival will also allow young people to network, explore and find opportunities that are related to their respective fields.

The festival promotes the concept of international integration, through the spirit of ubuntu; as well as courage and adventure among young people, through interactions and exhibition of their cultural dexterity on a common platform.

I am very excited that quite a number of youths from Zimbabwe will also be participating at this esteemed forum.

TR: Can you outline how participants were selected?

TM: Participants were drawn from more than 180 countries throughout the world. In Zimbabwe, youth participants were selected from youth associations that we have.

Selection of participating delegates was done after a rigorous process and those who were successful received invitation letters from the festival directorate.

I must say it was not an easy process, but I want to say congratulations to the Zimbabwean participants who remained resolute in completing all the selection stages.

TR: How many delegates are attending this event and from which countries?

TM: The World Youth Festival is an event organised by the Russian Federation. It will bring together 20 000 delegates aged 18-35 years from more than 180 countries.

Zimbabwe is represented by more than 50 participants who were selected by the directorate.

Leaders in business, the media, international cooperation, culture, science, education, volunteers, sports and youthful members of political parties will be among the participants.

The festival will be held in the Sirius Federal Territory in Sochi, Russia, from March 1 to 7.

TR: Can you outline some of the issues that are set for discussion during the festival?

TM: The festival is a huge opportunity for participants to meet, interact, learn and share experiences with other youths from around the world. Participants will have an opportunity to take part in workshops, discussions, panel sessions, training, concerts and talk shows.

The event will promote the rights of young people within developmental priorities and emerging challenges that deter youth development.

I believe when young people unite for one goal, they are able to cooperate and work together for one purpose, which is to make the world a better place.

I am glad that I was given the honour to be a guest speaker at the Business Forum on March 5.

We have also selected youths from different departments, including the Zimbabwe Youth Council, and youths in business, agriculture, mining and health.

They are going to take part in different discussions related to their fields and share their experiences from our country, Zimbabwe.

The main agenda is to go and represent Zimbabwe well and share our President’s vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

TR: What benefits are likely to accrue to Zimbabwe from participating?

TM: There are a lot of issues that are affecting the world, such as sustainable development, and Zimbabwe is part of this.

Sustainable development is a topical issue across the globe as nations seek to address environmental, social and economic challenges facing the planet.

By participating at this festival, our youths will learn and get ideas on different issues, which they will implement when they come back home.

Also, Zimbabwe and Russia have a relationship and through that relationship, we want to take advantage of that and make sure we do a lot of exchange programmes.

We have been discussing with the Russian delegates and I am happy to say that they also want to come to Zimbabwe and learn.

By going to Russia, it is important to go and see how they are doing things. We will look at what best we can take from Russia and other countries and bring back home.

We have a lot to learn from other countries and they also have a lot to learn from us.