I Am a Citizen of the World

On March 7, 2013 the panel discussion " I Am a Citizen of the World" was held in the conference hall of the Bashkir Institute of Social Technologies.

The members of the Children's Public Legal Chamber of the UNESCO Scientific and Education Resource Centre initiated this event. Among the participants there were Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Rakhmatullina Zugura Yaganurovna; a fourth-year student of Ufa State Oil Technical University Santiago Nguema-Moyo (Equatorial Guinea); a third-year student of Bashkir State Medicine University Redwan Chowdhury (Bangladesh); a fourth-year student of Ufa State Oil Technical University Hoang Le (Vietnam) and a student Pavel Voc (Poland).

The issues discussed at the meeting were topical and of much interest for everybody – the youth participation in the preservation of the World Cultural Heritage and the problems of realization of Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The panel discussion took place in the form of a press-conference with presentations in English and Russian. The students of our Institute acted as interpreters.

The discussion began with the complimentary address of Rahmatullina Zugura Yaganurovna, Deputy of State Duma of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly.

The participants presented the activity of the Children's Public Legal Chamber,cultural traditions of Bashkortostan, its history and heritage. Ilnaz Khafizov, a seventh-grade pupil of Secondary School № 131 played several folk melodies on the kuray.

Foreign guests showed their presentations, shared their impressions about Russia, Bashkortostan and Ufa with the participants. It was interesting to learn about traditions and culture of the countries where they come from to our city. Nearly all of them have come to study at Universities and Pavel Voc works as a volunteer in one of Ufa schools.

The atmosphere during the discussion was very friendly, free and easy. The culture of every country is dear to its people but it is also very important that it is understood and respected by other nations. This is the only way to be called “a citizen of the world”.

“Out objective is to preserve the cultural heritage for our progeny”, as concluded the members of the Chamber.

One of the acute problems discussed by the participants is discrimination which can be found in many countries even today. But people can not be discriminated by the colour of their skin, sex, language, political or other beliefs, or national, ethnic and social factors! All people have the right for high quality of life. All the members of the Chamber have learned this in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and they were supported by the participants of the meeting. It was especially enjoying to hear our guests' opinion about Ufa and its population that Ufa is one of the most hospitable and tolerable cities in Russia. These words were greeted with applause.

In the conclusion of the panel all participants together with joined hands performed a well-known song “We are the children of the world” in English. Photos as a remembrance of the meeting, exchange of addresses and telephone numbers, best wishes and dates of new meetings concluded the meeting, but no one wanted to part. We are sure that this panel discussion initiated interestiong and win-win cooperation.

Alina Ilyasova, Coordinator of Children's Public Legal Chamber Resource Research and Education Center BIST

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