The ongoing World Youth Festival (WYF 2024) in Russia is a platform for like-minded people from all over the world to come together and share insights and experience, Richard Mensah from the UN Youth Association in Ghana told RT on Sunday.
According to Mensah, who is also a volunteer and community development activist in his home country, the forum allows participants to build lasting connections with various youth groups and join forces in solving pressing problems, both within their communities and on a global scale.
“My goal is to transform the youth in my society, the youth in Ghana. This [festival] is an opportunity to network with people from across the world, spearheading the objectives in the same field so we can draw conclusions, solve pressing problems together – so when I go back home, I can also team up with my people, with colleagues from across the world to help us innovate together,” Mensah stated.
“With this we will be able to achieve a sustainable community where each youth in each community in Ghana will achieve his dream.”
The WYF 2024 kicked off in the city of Sochi in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region on Friday, and the main program will run through March 7. The event brings together some 20,000 young experts in various fields, from education and science to business and media from over 180 countries to discuss the most pressing international problems and developments. This year’s event also welcomes people aged 14 to 17 for the first time as part of a specially designated children’s program, ‘Together into the Future’.
The festival’s program features over 800 educational, cultural, scientific, and sporting events. The main event in Sochi will be followed by a regional program that will run until March 17 and see 2,000 foreign participants of the festival travel to 30 Russian cities for cultural exchange purposes.