“Your Friendship is Future of CIS Countries”: Forum “Children of Commonwealth” Held in Minsk
07 August 2025
The 10th International Cultural and Educational Forum “Children of Commonwealth” was held in Belarus. Schoolchildren took part in a series of workshops “Youth. Science. Innovation”, organized by the National Children’s Technopark in Minsk.
Students from Armenia tried basic robotics tools and wrote a program for their own robot. Belarusians learned about working with power sources. Delegations from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan explored aerospace technologies. Russian and Uzbek students discovered how programs for creating games, 3D applications, and other interactive projects work—tools that help “bring objects to life.”
Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalia Kochanova welcomed the participants and noted the expanding geography of the forum.
A greeting to the forum participants was sent by Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. At the opening ceremony, it was read by Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy.
Every day, one of the CIS country delegations presents its nation.
On 9 July, the Day of the Republic of Belarus was held. Participants visited the tourist complex “Apothecary Garden” and the ethno-cultural tourist complex “Nanosy Rest”, located in the Narachanskiy National Park—known as the pearl of Belarus.
On 10 July, the Day of the Republic of Armenia took place at the forum. A greeting was sent by Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan. The Armenian delegation introduced the children to the culture of their country. Through the play “Armenia: History in Dance”, they presented the story of the origin and development of the ancient state.
Also on 10 July, students from Kazakhstan - representing East Kazakhstan and Abai regions - spoke about their country’s culture and traditions. That day, forum participants immersed themselves in Kazakh customs, learned about ancient rituals, tried national games, and met heroes of Kazakh legends.
On 13 July, the Day of Uzbekistan was held. The Uzbek delegation sang, danced, and demonstrated national games. Attendees heard the doira - a traditional tambourine, an important musical instrument in Uzbek folk art. Schoolchildren became acquainted with Uzbek poetry and tasted national dishes.
At the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, a meeting took place between Natalia Kochanova and schoolchildren from eight CIS countries—participants of the 10th International Cultural and Educational Forum “Children of Commonwealth”.
Natalia Kochanova spoke about the structure of the Belarusian Senate, its work, and the development of interparliamentary cooperation. She emphasized that Belarus is a member of 42 international organizations, including the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.
The 10th Forum “Children of the Commonwealth” was held in Belarus from July 7 to 16, with participants from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The event is organized by the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, with the support of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Countries.
