Republic’s Youth Forum 2013: What is corruption afraid of?

The second Republic’s Youth Forum took place in early December in Kazan State Technological University. This event was held in the framework of the Republic’s Youth Forum 2013 in order to create a platform for coordination of joint efforts of government agencies, community organizations and students to combat corruption.

The plenary session was attended by representatives of the Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan on anti-corruption policy, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, representatives of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Garifullin, President of the Academy of Creative Youth of the Republic of Tatarstan Timur Bakhtiarov,  President of Students League of the Republic of Tatarstan Timur Suleimanov and others.

Executive director of the event Andrey Petukhov told us about the Forum, and how ordinary citizens can deal with the issue of corruption.  

- Andrey, please, tell us, how was the Forum held? Did you set any special practical tasks?

- In my opinion, and in the opinion of my senior colleagues, the Forum went well! One of the major challenges that we face is the creation of student anti-corruption commissions in every high school and college of the Republic of Tatarstan, and these issues were discussed at the Forum.

- Who are the participants of the Forum? How did you select them?
         - The participants of the Forum are students of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions of the Republic of Tatarstan. There were about 170 participants from 25 schools from 10 cities of the country. Students were selected by the administration of universities and colleges, because these guys will create student anti-corruption commissions in their educational institutions.

- What way were the results summarized? Have you identified the winners?
         - The results of the Forum were summarized by the creation of the Forum resolution, which we now send to all destinations mentioned therein. The forum was not a competitive moment but a platform for discussions.

 - How do you assess the potential of your anti-corruption forum for anti-corruption? What can the participants of the Forum do?

- The evaluation is high. Corruption is mostly afraid of publicity. And that is why this issue needs to be discussed, the sorest spots are to be touched upon and we should think how all this can be corrected. If you sit at home and do nothing - nothing will change, you need to start changing the world now!