Kondopoga, Russia - A youth conference promoting harmony, peace, and tolerance took place in the Karelian town of Kondopoga, on May 30. Students of local schools, lyceums, and colleges, as well as students from Petrozavodsk gathered together in the hall of the Youth Cultural Center.
In his welcoming speech, a city official, Kondopoga, V.I. Ankhimov, stressed the importance and relevance of the topic and expressed his best wishes for a successful conference.
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At the plenary, the speakers discussed their experiences in intercultural dialogue in youth work (Ekaterina Alekseeva, Chairperson of the Youth Parliament of the Republic of Karelia), the Muslim Community of the Republic of Karelia (Kovaleva Elena Vladimirovna, head of Department of Women's and Children's Affairs), and tolerance in education for persons suffering from mental disorders (Roman Unukainen, President of the association "Overcoming").
Evgeny Ivanitsky, Chairman of the Young Ambassadors for Peace club and a student at school №8 of Kondopoga, gave an interesting report about the club's activity, stating that the work in the club helped him to develop his potential as a leader and a peacemaker. In the club he found real friends.
The Secretary General of UPF-Northwest Russia, Tatiana Krasnosumova, spoke about "Tolerance Is the Culture of Peace." She said that to reach mutual agreement, there must be guidelines and a commitment to a culture of peace. What should be the basis of this culture? Tolerance. In its November 16, 1995 session in Paris, UNESCO adopted a definition of tolerance as "respect, acceptance, and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world cultures, and all forms of human self-expression." We live in a world controlled by physical laws, she said. But a human is also a spiritual being and should obey spiritual laws. Violating physical laws leads to physical pain, and breaking spiritual laws, including the law of relationships between people, the law of conscience, moral law, causes great pain and suffering to others and oneself.
She also listed the basic principles of tolerance:
- Reject violence as a means of communication and persuasion
- Start being more demanding of yourself than others.
- Recognize that people have the right to be different.
We must learn to love, express our love, direct it in the name of the common good, and live in harmony internally and externally. To accomplish this we are endowed with intellect, emotions, and will. Bringing love, joy, and happiness to others is a great contribution to building a harmonious and unified world. Those who live like this, are true leaders, true Ambassadors for Peace.
The Universal Peace Federation awards the title of AMBASSADOR for PEACE to those who contribute to peacemaking and establishing a culture of peace. In Kondopoga, Ambassadors for peace are worthy people, they help others to avoid conflicts and establish good neighborly relations. Also Mrs. Krasnosumova emphasized that the members of the club of Young Ambassadors for Peace deserve recognition and the title of the Young Ambassadors for Peace, the certificates “Young Ambassador for Peace” were given to them directly in the hall to the general applause of the auditorium. Highly praised was the activity of the Young Ambassador for Peace, Vika Konivchenko, and the Ambassador for Peace Tatyana Bodryakova, head of the Young Ambassadors for Peace club in Kondopoga.
The second part of the conference was structured in the format of discussion groups on the following topics:
1. Project activities promoting interethnic cooperation in public organizations
2. Youth. World. Tolerance.
3. Interfaith dialogue as a tool promoting tolerance
People chose the topic that most interested them and actively participated in the work of the group.
The conference ended with a brilliant performance of the Armenian folk dance group "Nairi" under the direction of М.S. Vardanyan.