From February 25 to May 14, 2021, the multi-stage competition "Human Rights Through the Eyes of Russian Students" was held. The competition is dedicated to the 45th anniversary of the signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the formation of the UN Human Rights Council.

The organizer of the competition is MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation with the support of the Student Union of MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The official partners of the competition were: the Russian United Nations Association, the UN Information Center in Moscow, the National Network of the UN Global Compact in Russia and the International School of Youth Diplomacy, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and the Office of the Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation.

The geography of the competition covers more than 50 Russian universities from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin and 750 participants. To get to the final, the participants had to show erudition when completing test tasks, creative skills and knowledge when preparing video presentations and writing a scientific essay on the stated topic.

From May 13 to May 14, the final face-to-face stage of the competition took place at the MGIMO site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. 15 students made it to the final. The Ural State Law University was represented by Maria Bogdanova, Nadezhda Karanova and Nikita Lepekhin.

The program of the two final days was more than intense. The finalists had the opportunity to participate in an interactive game, listen to a lecture by prof. A. A. Malinovsky on the topic “Human Rights in the Postmodern Era”, undergo a training in public speaking from a psychologist at the MGIMO Medical and Psychological Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Chairman of the Student Union, and also take part in a number of discussions on the issues of international protection of human rights.

Already on May 14, the finalists defended the theme developed within the framework of the essay in front of an expert jury represented by S.I. Surovtsev, Vice-Rector for Social Work and International Relations of MGIMO of the Russian Foreign Ministry; Deputy Head of the Working Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation MS Vinogradov; Director of the European Educational Institute MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation T. V. Shashikhina; First Deputy Chairman of the UN RAS, Vice-President of the World Federation of UN Associations A. N. Borisov, representative of the Association "National Network of the UN Global Compact" Sh. V. Tagirov and the faculty of MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

All the finalists adequately demonstrated their knowledge and competencies and, following the results of the competition, received an unforgettable experience, as well as prizes from the partners of the competition. Separately, it is worth noting the professionalism and mastery of oratory by Nadezhda Karanova, who took part in a public debate on the topic “Human Rights - the Cause of Regional Conflicts” and, following the results of her speech, took 1st place.

Congratulations colleagues! Keep it up!