On 13 September, a themed competition for children aged 8-15, marking the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ended in Beijing with the support of the SCO's Committee on Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation.
The participants were given the task of telling true stories based on their own experience and reflecting a striving for unity and cooperation and the diversity of cultures, as well as the practical value of more profound neighbourliness between SCO countries.
There were over 130 entries, with members of an expert commission judging them. In all, 18 winners were selected and named SCO Junior Culture Ambassadors following a two-week online vote.
SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov attended the official awards ceremony online and congratulated the winners. In his congratulatory speech, he noted that "the contemporary and future development of SCO countries called for creative, independent and proactive individuals capable of addressing the problems of society, while realising their own requirements."
He noted the importance of supporting young people in the SCO region and upholding the principles reflected in the Joint Address by the Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Member States for the Youth (Qingdao, 2018).
"By encouraging the young people of SCO countries to share the experience of their families and themselves, we can find true stories about pooling the efforts of our
High-ranking PRC state officials, ambassadors, diplomats and representatives of SCO countries' youth associations attended the awards ceremony.
The aim of the event is to motivate adolescents from SCO countries to tell stories about culture and friendship, based on their own experience and that of their families.
