MGIMO to Train Over 800 Volunteer Interpreters for the World Youth Festival Volunteer Corps

On October 2, the World Youth Festival Volunteer Recruitment and Training Center was opened at MGIMO University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. The opening ceremony was attended by Larisa Sulima, Deputy Director General for Regional Cooperation of the World Youth Festival Directorate, Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Kirill Antonov, Executive Director of the Association of Volunteer Centers, and Stanislav Surovtsev, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy, Social Work and International Relations and Director of the MGIMO Volunteer Movement Support Center. They also signed tripartite cooperation agreements as part of the ceremony.

MGIMO will be the only Center to train Attachés of Foreign Delegations and Language Services Volunteers. The University will recruit and train 878 volunteers from all over Russia.

"The upcoming Festival is one of the key international youth events of 2024. Our country always takes a very careful approach to the organization of such large-scale projects. Suffice it to recall the Sochi Olympics or the FIFA World Cup. During these events, Russia became the center of attraction for the whole world, demonstrating the true hospitality and cordiality of our people. In many ways, this is the merit of the volunteer corps. I am sure that the World Youth Festival will also be organized at a high level and that the attachés of foreign delegations and language services volunteers will become more than just guides for the Festival guests, but real friends who are ready to help in any situation. I have no doubt that our volunteers will do their best to make foreign youth fall in love with our country and the drive of Russia's modern generation," said Olga Petrova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia.

These volunteers, who have good language skills and an understanding of international protocol, will accompany foreign delegations and communicate with international participants. Volunteers will have the opportunity to communicate with foreign guests in more than 50 world languages, including 26 Oriental ones.

"MGIMO has extensive expertise in language training, youth policy and volunteer training. These factors and the vast experience of the MGIMO Volunteer Movement Support Center allow our volunteers to participate in the organization of major international events and to demonstrate a high level of professionalism in accompanying foreign delegations, providing protocol support and language services, etc.," said Stanislav Surovtsev, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy, Social Work and International Relations and Director of the MGIMO Volunteer Movement Support Center.

The MGIMO Volunteer Movement Support Center has extensive experience in training volunteers for major international events, such as the World Festival of Youth and Students in 2017.

"The MGIMO Volunteer Center is responsible for recruiting volunteers with good foreign language skills, knowledge of international relations and diplomacy, and experience in protocol events. The Center specialists will interview applicants from all over Russia who wish to become attachés of foreign delegations. We have enough universities with institutes of international relations and linguistics departments, but we trust MGIMO, the main university of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, where we have opened a volunteer center today, to assess, recruit and train volunteers. There is no doubt that the specialists of the center will do an excellent job," added Larisa Sulima, Deputy Director General for Regional Cooperation of the World Youth Festival Directorate.

The MGIMO Volunteer Movement Support Center was created as a legacy of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and the XI Paralympic Winter Games held in Sochi in 2014. The Center has extensive experience in training volunteer interpreters for major international events, including the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the 2019 Winter Universiade, the Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum and others.

Overview:

The World Youth Festival will take place in 2024, according to the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation. At the first meeting of the Organizing Committee chaired by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, it was decided to hold the Festival in the Sirius Federal Territory on March 1-7, 2024. The regional program of the World Youth Festival will take place on March 10-17, 2024. The participants will visit 30 cities of Russia.

20,000 young leaders in education, science, international cooperation, culture, volunteering, charity, sports, business, media, etc., including 10,000 foreign participants, will take part in the WYF 2024. For the first time in the history of the festival movement young people aged 14-17, 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad, will have the opportunity to participate in the event. Registration is open until December 1 at fest2024.com.

5,000 volunteers from all regions of Russia, including about 250 residents of the LPR, DPR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions will be involved in the organization and delivery of the Festival. Registration of volunteers is open on the ДОБРО.РФ platform until December 1, 2023.

The World Youth Festival is organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and operated by the World Youth Festival Directorate.

Prepared by the World Youth Festival Press Office