Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Multimedia press center MIA «RUSSIA TODAY» press conference “Civil BRICS: Russian Presidency innovative process” was held. Press conference’s participants – representatives of the initiative working group from the Russian civil society – talked about substantial preparation for the Civil BRICS Forum that will take place in Moscow at the end of June 2015, and also shared the achievements of Civil BRICS thematic working groups’ activities.
During the event was also held videoconference with New Delhi. Indian experts – Senior Fellows at the Observer Research Foundation – Rumi Aijaz and Niranjan Sahoo on behalf of national civil society expressed interest in participating in the Civic BRICS process and warmly welcomed the initiative of inclusion of civil track in official program of the BRICS in 2015.
Following the idea to ensure effective engagement with non-members-partners including regional associations, international organizations, youth and academic institutions, non-governmental organizations Civic BRICS will promote an extensive outreach dialogue that currently based on the following topics: Healthcare, Education and Science, Culture and intercivilizational dialogue, Sustainable Inclusive Development, Economics and Trade, Peace and Security, Harmonization of interethnic affairs.
Preparations for the Civil BRICS Forum started in the fall of 2014, and since April 1 – the first day of the official Russian presidency – Civil BRICS participants in Russia started actively discussing the drafts of thematic working groups’ position documents. Key messaged of these documents will be turned into recommendations for BRICS national leaders and will be presented at the Summit in Ufa.
The Russian side assumes that Civil BRICS process will become a traditional track within the BRICS Summit work and that the subsequent presidencies will be committed to facilitate the dialogue between authorities and civil society institutes. “The format of BRICS is defined as alliance today, but comes nearer to international quasi-organization. It should move forward on the way of institutionalization, has to evolve in the context of the increasing coordination of joint efforts in all areas. Now we have 25 tracks of cooperation, but they are irregular … Russia begins the civil society movement within BRICS, and we would like to see this initiative taken up. India will hold the next Presidency, and I encourage our Indian colleagues to think who they want to pass the Civil forum relay race to” – Mr. Georgy Toloraya [Executive Director of Russian National Committee on BRICS Research] noted, finishing the press conference discussion.