Baikal youth forum opens in Buryatia.

ULAN UDE, June 14 (Itar-Tass) - "The young family is the strategic
resource of Russia"is the motto of the second Baikal youth forum (BYF)
that opened here on Tuesday.
The forum, which has drawn representatives of more than 20 regions of
Russia and guests from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, is being held
under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth
Policy, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, the Federal Assembly
(parliament) of Russia, and the Russian Family National public committee.
A BYF organizing committee official has told Itar-Tass, "The purposes
of the forum are to generalize the regions' positive experience in
supporting young familites, including the solution of housing and
employment problems, to prepare recommendations for the pursuance of
youth policy at both Federal and local levels".
Participants in the forum are to touch upon matters concerning the
popularization of family values. Special attention is to be devoted to
support for young families that live in the countryside and support for
family youth entrepreneurship.
President Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn of the Republic of Buryatia, when
greeting BYF participants, pointed out, "The key theme of the forum
reminds us that the young family is the basis of the future of our
society. It is very important that decisions and recommendations that will
be adopted at the forum contribute to reducing divorce rate and and
stabilize the life of the young families of Russia".
Roundtable meetings and discussions are to be held in the
municipalities of Buryatia. An all-Russia conference on the theme of
"Conceptual Approaches to State Policy with Regard to the Young Family" is
also to be held in Ulan Ude. Deegates to and guests of the BYF will tour
Lake Baikal, where they will become participants in an environmental
protection action "The Clean Shores of Baikal". The forum is to come to a
close on June 17.