MOSCOW, January 29, (ITAR-TASS). The Y8 Russia 2014 official site has launched an idea bank, where all are welcome to share their ideas or projects. The main requirement is that they should correspond to one of the priorities of the Y8 Summit Russia 2014.
The site has a special form that must be filled out in English. In addition to the description of an idea or project, it is necessary to mention the goals, venue, deadline and resources for implementing them. Once this is done, all received messages will be published in a special directory of the website.
Later, the G8 youth leaders will discuss all materials that have been sent in. It may be exactly your project that will become a part of the final communique of the Y8 Summit Russia 2014 and will be presented to the G8 heads of states and governments.
The Y8 Summit Russia 2014 will be held in the middle of May in Moscow. It will be attended by 46 representatives of the G8 and the European Union countries selected by the members of the International Diplomatic Engagement Association (IDEA), and with the support of the G8 and EU Sherpa offices.
The Russian delegation to the Y8 Russia 2014 has been formed and its line-up was announced on January 25.
The work of all the delegates of the Y8 Summit Russia 2014 will begin on March 1 and will last for two months. Young diplomats will work out a draft of the final communique, which will be finalized directly at the Y8 Summit in four working groups, and then adopted by the votes of leaders of delegations.
The Y8 Russia 2014 will be held in the middle of May in Moscow and will take 46 representatives of the G8 countries and the European Union, selected with the help of partner organisation - International Diplomatic Engagement Association (IDEA) and with the support of Sherpa offices of G8 and the EU.
The first Y8 summit took place during Russia’s presidency in the Group of Eight in 2006 and was followed by similar meetings in the subsequent years. This year, it will be attended by delegations from the G8 and EU countries - 45 people all in all. They will adopt a declaration to be submitted to the G8 Sherpas.
Since 2006, the Y8 has become an official event of the Russian presidency in the Group as the youth format of the G8. Every year, experts select five most talented young people from among students and university graduates to present Russia’s position in the Y8, which this time will to be held in May 2014, where young people from the G8 countries and the European Union will try to lobby their ideas. The selected ones will then be submitted to the G8 Sherpas.
Speaking to the finalists on January 15, Kvasov said they were facing “the enormous and real task” of stating the agenda. “Based on your experience and understanding of life, you have to state something in a very concise way,” he said.
“We would like this to match our presidency’s priorities,” he said. “Our task is to confirm to ourselves and the world one more time that young people are a part of the world, we have common problems and that the existing disagreements are just minor nuances,” the Sherpa said.
He stressed the importance of the Y8 because young people “are free of stereotypes.”
The Group of Eight (G8) is an unofficial forum of the world's major economies (Russia, the United States, Great Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Italy, with the participation of the EU Leaders) designed to coordinate approaches to the most pressing issues of global affairs.
The G8 does not operate as an international organisation, not being based on an international treaty or having a charter or permanent secretariat. The decisions taken by the G8 are non-binding political commitments of the member states to follow the agreed logic of action in addressing specific issues.
The host country of the G8 annual summit is presiding over the forum throughout the year, coordinating the G8's operating activities. The rotation of the G8 Presidency starts with France (last presidency in 2011), followed by the U.S., the UK, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The EU does not host summits and cannot assume presidency.
Youth 8 summits (Y8), G8 Parliament Speakers’ meetings (Parliamentary 8), heads of academies of sciences, as well as representatives of the business community (Business 8) and civil society (Civil 8) are held within the G8 framework.
Russia has taken over the presidency in the Group of Eight from January 1, 2014. The main event of its presidency - the G8 summit - will be held in Sochi on June 4-5.
More than one hundred events will be held during Russia’s G8 Presidency in 2014.