WFYS aims to amalgamate international youth community, building up international ties, as well as promoting intercultural cooperation. One of the main goals of the festival is modelling a common vision of future by young leaders from different countries, trying to articulate response to the most demanding challenges of the generation. The WFYS was initiated by the USSR and the Eastern Bloc after World War II.
The main agenda of the discussion programme is to encompass the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations. The platform of the WFYS 2017 involves various avenues, including panel discussions and open lectures on current issues of youth course of action and international relations, sports competitions, as well as a number of cultural and creative events.
On the journey of exploring new direction of creativity and innovation, we had a chance to talk to Saira Mansoor, chosen from Pakistan for attending XIX World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) held in Sochi, Russia, from 14 to 22 October. Saira told us many exciting things about her experience as a delegate.
“As an artist, travelling through various parts of the world, I have immersed myself into art and culture to examine the relationship between media, values, nature, diversity, culture and development in art,” she explains about her journey.
Saira participated in various art and cultural programmes that include painting, flower making, dancing, cultural day event (she wore traditional gharara paired with handcrafted embroidery shawl) robot walk, industry of future, library of the future, master art class of water-colour, and classical music performance.
She celebrated Diwali festival with some Indian delegates and describes the experience as ‘an overwhelming one’. She continued that enjoyment and excitement of seeing things in a unique perspective, especially with computer modelling, four-dimensional video and two-digital image manipulation ‘fuels’ her current art exploration curiosity.
Upon asking what sparks her interest in the festival, she explains, “I am investigating art-making traditions with multiple goals in mind. Different mediums allow me to express different ideas. My goal is to inspire those who carefully look into my work and discover the beauty at unusual places.”
This grand event brought together twenty thousand young international delegates from 185 countries.
Apart from Saira Mansoor, Sakhi Mansoor is a software engineer at Venture Dive. He has been to many parts of world. But he has now become a part of this amazing global community. He aims to intermingle diverse cultures. Let’s see what’s going to be his next destination.
Tahir Khattak is a chairman of Global Youth Clan (GYC) working for the implementation of sustainable development goals in Pakistan. He is a management graduate with specialization in marketing. He has been a part of the management team for several national and international conferences in Pakistan. The Youth Minister of Punjab awarded him with ‘Pakistan Youth Icon Award’ in 2006.
We are glad that the youth of Pakistan is making us proud by participating in such diverse programmes internationally, which not only inspires the younger generation but also helps in building a positive image of our country worldwide.