Source: Silk Road Cities Alliance
The 3rd Awarding Ceremony of Silk Road & Young Dreams was held in Beijing on Saturday, 17th of October. The contests, held from February to August, attracted more than 700 young representatives from nearly 50 countries. The participants demonstrated their understanding and insights on the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) and global development through five contests: speech, music, photography, sand painting and sculpture, themed with health, youth, dream, silk road and peace separately.
At the awarding ceremony, 111 young people from 32 countries were praised for their talents and insight and won various awards. A total of 200 people attended the awarding event, including some distinguished guests, such as H.E. Mr. Archil Kalandia, Ambassador of Georgia to China, H.E. Mr. Simon Pierre Adovelande, Ambassador of Benin to China, Mr. Ahmed Farooq, Minister/Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of Pakistan, Mr. Javier Fernando Sanchez Lopez, Consul of the Embassy of Ecuador in China, Mr. Naoto Ito, Counselor of the Embassy of Japan in China, Dr. Omayma Ghanem, Counselor of the Embassy of Egypt in China and some other guests and contestants.
（Wu Weishan, Curator of National Art Museum of China introduced sculpture works to guests）
The Georgian Ambassador to China Archil Kalandia said that against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is of great significance to hold the "Silk Road & Young Dreams Contest" with the theme of "health". Through this activity, young people from many countries along the Silk Road can gather, communicate and grow together. This is extremely relevant as the younger generation represents the future and hope of each country. The organizers help new generations to better understand each other's culture, history and traditions through people-to-people connectivity. "I highly appreciate and support this. " Ambassador Kalandia also encouraged young people to continue to learn and grow every day during the pandemic in order to achieve greater success in this challenging period.
（Li Xikui, vice-chairman of CPAFFC spoke on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the SRYD Contests）
Addressing the ceremony, Mr. Li Xikui, vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said that "These young people have shown enthusiastic support for the BRI, making us feel more confident about the prospect of global cooperation under the initiative." The aim of the contests is to provide a stage for the youth from different backgrounds and with different dreams to showcase their talents and potentials, and to feel the pulse of the era and share dreams, as well as to build a bridge between different societies, he added. At the award ceremony, the winners and famous artists presented a splendid audio-visual feast for the guests. Fourteen Silk Road youth representatives from different countries chanted the "Silk Road Youth Health Declaration" in Chinese and English, calling on contemporary young people to participate in global health governance, work together for our common destiny, and promote sustainable development together.
（贝宁驻华大使Simon Pierre Adovelande阁下致辞）
Simon Pierre Adovelande, Benin's ambassador to China, said the event provided a good platform for young people to exchange talents, build friendships, and enhance trust. In the future, more Beninese youth will be encouraged to participate in the event.
（Winners of The Best Original Works）
（Winners of The Best Group）
（Winners of singing group of music contest）
（Winners of instrumental group of music contest）
（Winners of photography contest）
（Winners of sand painting contest）
（Winners of speech contest）
（Winners of the Award of Excellence）
（Winners of Silk Road Youth Outstanding Contribution Award）
（Speech by the representative of contestants）
Fathiya Said, the second winner of the third "Silk Road &Young Dreams" speech contest, said that as the COVID-19 epidemic rages around the world, "health" has once again become a major issue that people care about and urgently need to face".
"As young people, we should attach importance to health, actively promote international exchanges and cooperation, and demonstrate the responsibility to participate in global health governance," she said.
The aim of the contest is to provide the youth who come from different backgrounds and dreams a stage to shine with talents and potentials, and a platform to feel the pulse of the present era and share dreams, as well as a bridge to link up societies, she added.
（Hosts: Ms.Ji Meng, Mr.Daniel Newham）
Song: The Light of Love
Performer: Mao Yihan
Song: Your Answer/ Friend
Performer: Shenzhen University International Chorus
Program: Silk Road Youth Health Declaration
Performer: Silk Road Youth
Beijing Opera: Dream of Chang'an
Performer: Mr. Dong Fei
String performance "Kangding Love Song", Persian folk music "Girl in Veil"
Performer: Arian/ Qiao He
Sand Painting Performance: I am a sand
Performer: Su Dabao
Song: Love is Power
Performer: Xiao Yuxin
Song: Winner
Performer: Maria
This year's events were co-organized by the Silk Road Cities Alliance, China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, Beijing Belt & Road Cooperative Community and Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. Special support from China Urban Sculptor Association, Su Dabao Sand Painting Art International Exchange Center.The prize winners accepted the award at the ceremony.
Appendix: Silk Road Youth Health Declaration
The Covid-19 pandemic is killing lives and is impacting our economies. A virus respects no border or race. We, young participants from 44 countries along the Belt and Road, all believe that health has become a significant global issue that’s worth attention.
We call on the Silk Road youth to much forward together, shouldering the responsibility of this era.
We advocate a shared destiny to promote common development.
We hereby again call on the Silk Road youth, with their young dreams and passions, to devote to global health governance, to fight against the coronavirus and safeguard human’s health and security.
We have already entered the global village era, with a shared interest and destiny on security and development. We call on countries to hold an open, inclusive, cooperative and win-win attitude, to develop our beautiful earth and together establish a community with a shared future for mankind. Indeed, common goals and dreams invite development.
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