SCO Secretary-General spoke at the 13th Meeting of the SCO Youth Council

On 30 October, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov gave welcoming remarks at the 13th Meeting of the SCO Youth Council.

The meeting was chaired by Russia and led by State Duma Deputy Denis Kravchenko. The event was also attended by Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the SCO Bakhtiyor Khakimov and members of the national chapters of the SCO Youth Council from India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

Speaking at the opening of the SCO Youth Council meeting, Secretary-General Vladimir Norov emphasised the effectiveness of the SCO's youth platform:

"The SCO Youth Council meeting is very relevant and timely because today, as never before, young people in our countries need assistance from the state, international governmental and non-governmental organisations in the form of adopting socio-economic, political, organisational and legal measures that are designed to support them, protect their rights and freedoms, and tap their creative potential for the sake of our countries' development."

In his remarks Secretary-General Norov also pointed out intellectual activities intended for young people and shared the results of youth projects and programmes, such as the International SCO Youth Business Incubator, SCO Startups Forum, conferences and webinars on the following subjects: Digital Economy and E-Commerce: Challenges and Possibilities in the SCO Area, Digital Solutions for Entrepreneurs in the Era of COVID-19: Key Lessons from Alibaba, Digital Transformation of Education in the New Normal: Vision & Key Practices from Weidong, Youth Entrepreneurship in SCO Countries in the Digital Economy Era.

In addition, he mentioned traditional educational activities as part of the Student Spring of the BRICS and SCO Countries, the SCO Model international youth conference and SCO Model interactive game, and others.

The Secretary-General also highlighted the youth activities during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Young people are helping to overcome the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic, including volunteer work with doctors, patients and the needy. The courage, staunchness and selflessness displayed by young people in the activities of volunteer organisations have been praised by the heads of state of all SCO member countries," underscored Vladimir Norov.

In conclusion, the Secretary-General said that in 2021 the SCO would do its best to help young people in the SCO countries more easily overcome the hardships caused by the pandemic and increase their potential to succeed in their professional activities.

In this context, Vladimir Norov suggested holding some sports events under the motto, #Stop Narcotics, Terrorism and Coronavirus, in addition to intellectual events next year, and expressed hope that the SCO Youth Council would continue implementing all the initiatives in the SCO member states in order to protect young people from various destructive ideas and increase their spiritual potential, health and wellbeing.

Representatives of the national chapters of the SCO Youth Council discussed current issues, including volunteer movements, young people's contribution to combatting the spread of COVID19, and support for businesses and entrepreneurship in the SCO member states during the pandemic.

At the end of the meeting, the participants reviewed the Youth Council's activities in 2019-2020 and considered proposals for the Work Plan for 2020-2021.