By Sanna Bedi
The Russia
Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) jointly with the BRICS International Forum
(BRICS-IF) in India had organized a three-day international conference titled "BRICS – Evolution from Acronym to Global Power" which started on January 27,
2016 in the framework of the BRICS Summit, held in Ufa in July 2015.
With the
participation of 70 delegates, representing the member states of the BRICS
grouping, the conference is a curtain-raiser as India takes on the Presidency
of BRICS from February 15, 2016. Various youth organizations like Global Youth,
World Organization of Students & Youth, Yuva Kranti and the Nehru Yuva
Kendra showed willingness to partner with BRICS International Forum and promote
BRICS awareness and activities among the youth.
The three days at the conference, have allowed us to gain a better understanding about the current global
scenario, and the present position of the BRICS countries. As the Guest of Honor, Mr. Nandan Unnikrishnan (Vice President, Observer Research Foundation) has
illustrated during the event, far from criticisms, BRICS has grown with time and is
in fact a successful bloc. I would therefore like to reiterate that by extending my unequivocal belief that the BRICS forum has been able to present converging
stances at international forum and their future is promising.
Recalling
aspects of cooperation from the 7th BRICS Summit, we are aware that the members
have arrived at a consensus to collaborate in areas of technology and space science, as well as
defence strategies. The "Visa-Free Travel" policy idea has been spearheaded by
President Putin, but may be applied to all BRICS nations by keeping respective bilateral agreements in consideration. The ideas of the
common-patent pool and creating an agricultural seed bank have also been
mentioned.
All the above
are common goals for boosting the economies and development trajectories of the
member states. I am hopeful that under India’s Presidency throughout 2016, we
will see an actualization of these goals.
An area that
is of concern to all member states is climate change and sustainable
development. As already known, collectively, the five countries were
responsible for nearly 40% of the global greenhouse gas emissions as of 2010.
This necessitates the need for the BRICS to become key actors in improving the
international climate. BRICS countries have the necessary skills and resources
to make renewable and energy efficiency technology affordable and accessible to
all. Prime Minister Modi has already stated the need for the first New
Development Bank project to be Green.
Besides that
however, I would like to shed light on the youth perspective. I believe it is
important to highlight that the BRICS are endowed with approximately 45% for
the world’s youth. Young people are the innovators, creators, builders and
leaders of the future. But they can transform the future only if they have
skills, health, decision-making, and path-breaking opportunities available to
them.
This potential
of the human resource for economic gains would be realized through a
"demographic dividend", which occurs when a county's working age
population is larger than the dependent population. In order to maximize this
dividend, countries must ensure that their young, working-age populations are
equipped to seize opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurial possibilities. With
the right policies and investments in human capital, countries can empower
young people to drive economic and social development and boost per-capita
incomes.
Therefore
educational projects and mechanisms for skills enhancement such as vocational
training centers should become a priority for future collaborations in order to
harness the potential of the available human resource. This would imply
developing innovative methods for employment generation. Emphasis also needs to
be given to workfare as well as technical and professional training.
Development and investment in youth projects would eventually provide the
necessary flip to the BRICS economies.
An important
aspect to consider here is that of the fact that India is expected to be the
world’s youngest nation by 2020, followed by Brazil and South Africa. However,
China and Russia both have aging populations. Therefore, given the higher
dependency ratio, Russia and China, would require a more sophisticated skill
development programme that focuses on enhancing efficiency. Hence,
collaborating in this space will be mutually beneficial.
As we already
have this rich network that has been made available through the BRICS
International Forum, I am certain that it is time to further exploit the
available resources to maximize our potentials and expand our horizons. In
order to develop a bottom-up approach, we need to deepen the means of
communicating with one another at the youth level and create opportunities for
ourselves. After learning about the establishment of councils such as the BRICS
think-tank engagement, we must utilize such opportunities and engage with these
types of platforms through online and off-line sessions, explore internship
opportunities and part take in exchange programmes.
Through this article, I would like to congratulate
all the delegates and participants for sharing their valuable inputs during the event and for having taken the first steps of initiating youth
dialogue and debate. It would be opportune to carve a way forward by enhancing
these engagements to be able to influence policy at the national and
international level.
This event summary was presented by the author at the International
Conference on "BRICS- Evolution from Acronym to Global Power", organized by the
BRICS International Forum, January 29, 2015, New Delhi.
About The Author:
Sanna Bedi working at Ending
Violence Against Women Unit, UN Women MCO for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri
Lanka. She is also associated with Global Youth, New Delhi, India and IndraStra Global, New York in various capacities.
