The "Grow Up Together" Foundation at the #WEARETOGETHER forum

The "Grow Up Together" Foundation for the Promotion of Charity took part in the International Forum of Civil Participation #WEARETOGETHER, which took place December 2 through December 5 in Moscow under the auspices of UNESCO. The forum was dedicated to social partnership for sustainable development and gathered the leaders of the non-profit sector, of socially responsible businesses and of the media industry.

Using the idea of partnership to achieve common goals, the forum united volunteers from more than 40 countries and 85 regions of the country: volunteers, large non-profits, businessmen, journalists and bloggers. The country’s top government officials were among the guests, including President Vladimir Putin, as well as pop stars. They awarded the winners of the #WEARETOGETHER International Prize, held educational training sessions and helped people on equal terms with the volunteers. Over the entire period of the forum, it gathered 5 thousand visitors.

The capital's “Manezh” Central Exhibition Hall turned into a place with the highest concentration of usefulness and goodness for four days. Within the framework of the forum’s exhibition program, more than 30 stands were located on its territory. The exhibition program included more than 200 activities: from assessing one's competencies and consulting a nutritionist to joint participation in a challenge of good deeds together with famous TikTok bloggers.

As part of the “Grow Up Together” Foundation’s stand, we invited forum attendees to finalize their social projects in the field of healthcare, including support for children with disabilities and digital technologies. In the future, the Foundation’s expert commission will choose projects among them which will be financed and will receive promotional support.

On December 3 and 4, Narek Sirakanyan, the founder of the Grow Up Together Foundation, took part in the forum’s panel discussions titled “From inequality and exclusion to cohesion and integration: the main drivers of the development of an inclusive society” and “Measures to support social projects: tips and instructions in the first person.”

“I want to thank everyone participating in the volunteer movement, all the people who unselfishly come to help those who need it every day. Over the past seven years, the number of volunteers in Russia has increased by 13%, according to statistics from the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia. The pandemic has brought the volunteer movement to a qualitatively and quantitatively new level. Only within the framework of the #WeAreTogether campaign, about 119 thousand people became volunteers, and more than 3.2 million received help.

I am glad that in our country the climate of charity and the attitude towards it in society is changing before our very eyes. Russia has improved its position in the CAF’s World Giving Index and in 5 years it has almost halved its path to the top of the ranking, having moved from 124th to 67th place. But this is just the beginning: I believe that by 2030 the country will be in the top 25 of this ranking. Among other things, this will happen thanks to our joint efforts,” said Narek Sirakanyan, President of Freedom International Group following his participation in the #WEARETOGETHER forum.

Reference

The “Grow Up Together” Foundation for the Promotion of Charity was established in November 2020 in Freedom International Group's ecosystem to provide gratuitous support to non-profit organizations specializing in helping children with disabilities. The foundation helps charitable NPOs build effective public communications with the general public offline and in the digital environment. Official website: https://fondvv.ru