Russian young leaders meet in Makhachkala

Makhachkala, October 1, 2014. Russian young leaders met with the Daghestan youth in the House of Friendship in Makhachkala. The meeting was the final event of the first phase of the "Neighbours" program which is being implemented by the "Sodruzhestvo" Dagestan Youth Organizations’ Association.

The first phase of the "Neighbours" was launched in November 2013 to end with the meeting in Makhachkala this September. For the past year, Daghestan has already welcomed delegations from Astrakhan, Stavropol, Chechnya, Rostov-on-Don, Tula, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, and Daghestans delegations have also visited these regions.

At the final event in Daghestan capital, participants discussed problems of establishing contacts between youth organizations of the regions. The guests assured they wanted to deepen cooperation with the "Sodruzhestvo" association and other Daghestani youth organizations.

Participants also proposed an idea to annually hold Russian historic conventions in Derbent, to  establish a youth center to help active young Daghestanis meet once a week to prepare and implement socially critical projects, and on the basis of the center, to establish a production center supporting young talents of the republic. The meetings are expected to take place every Monday in the House of Friendship.

The "Neighbours" project aims at sharing youth’s life experiences, getting to know cultures of indigenous peoples of the region, and strengthening friendship between Russian regions. Within the program, youth groups of 5 went to a hosting region for five days. During their stay, locals acquainted the guests with their culture and traditions. In Daghestan, the young guests lived in local residents’ homes.