Today the Singapore Democratic Party is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The International Federation of Liberal Youth is congratulating the SDP and its youth organization, the SDP-Y, with this milestone in the party's remarkable history of being the most important democratic actor in the authoritarian country.

Find below the letter written to the attendants of the anniversary celebration:

Dear Friends of the Singapore Democratic Party,

On behalf of the 2.5 million young liberals forming the International Federation of Liberal Youth, I would like to congratulate you with your 30th anniversary. The International Federation of Liberal Youth is the primary global political youth movement which stands for and defends human rights and democracy around the world and we are very proud to have the Youth of the SDP among our membership.

Your tireless work and dedication is not only crucial for a free and fair destiny of your country and your people, but also for democratic movements abroad who you inspire. Moreover, due to your continuous scrutiny and critique of your government's policies, you provide the bare facts to be used against the propaganda of those favoring Singaporean-style authoritarian capitalism around the world.

I am wishing you all the strength, inspiration and commitment necessary to move forward with your struggle in the weeks, months and years ahead. Please be aware that you can count on the support of all the activists involved in our Federation as your sisters and brothers in the quest to a more free, fair and democratic world,
of which you are so much part and parcel.

Sincere and respectful regards,

Bart Woord
IFLRY President

 

On the 5th of December, IFLRY delivered a speech at the Focus Iran International Solidarity Convention in the Netherlands.

Sandra Reynaers, International Officer and Deputy President of JOVD, addressed the delegates in the Convention hall as well as viewers via the Internet from Iran and beyond.

Find the video of her speech here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1QZF3sd_LI .

Find the text of the full speech at the bottom of this item.

For any questions or for more information, please consult the IFLRY Office (office@iflry.org).

[START]

Dear friends,

My name is Sandra Reynaers and I am the Deputy President and International Officer of JOVD. I represent here the International Federation of Liberal Youth on behalf of its President, Mr. Bart Woord, who unfortunately couldn't attend this conference.

The International Federation of Liberal Youth, or IFLRY, is the worldwide umbrella of over 100 liberal, democratic, centrist, radical and libertarian youth organizations. In the Netherlands, both my organization as well as the Jonge Democraten are Full Members of IFLRY. Our Federation was established 62 years ago, in 1947, in order to peacefully spread liberal values around the world by engaging young people.

Over the years, many of our members have been battling oppression. Whether this was political oppression in authoritarian countries, where young people were silenced to speak out; whether this was economic oppression in communist countries, where people were prohibited from pursuing their dreams; or whether this was social oppression in conservative countries, where cultural and religious freedoms were being suppressed.

We have seen progress with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the waves of democratization in parts of Latin America, Africa and Asia. However, we shall be the last to declare that the dream of freedom, democracy and human rights for every individual on this globe is close to being finalized. In fact, we're worried.

We are particularly worried about our sisters and brothers in the great country of Iran. The world witnessed your revolt this summer and we are still in shock over the blatant injustice that you are facing every day since.

The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) expresses its sincere solidarity with the Iranian youth and their people in their right to expresses their grievances towards the establishments of Iranian society through peaceful and non-violent means. Taking into account Iran sensitive situation where elections are farcical and there is no genuine right of political participation, we viewed the riots as the natural result of built-up frustration by young people within a system that does not take their voice into account.

IFLRY believes in the freedom of expression and individualism. While we recognize that religion can be an important part of people's lives, a certain life style cannot and should not be enforced upon a person by the state, let alone with the use of coercion. We adhere to the ideal that each generation needs to define its own paths of life: the young Iranians should have a chance to decide upon theirs. We are in full support of all Iranian citizens especially the youth who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law. IFLRY continues to affirm the importance of democratic and fair elections. No government should rule without a clear and clean mandate from its people.

We are thankful to the organizers of this conference as well as to all those other people around the world who show that they care about their friends in Iran. By these acts of solidarity we show our common humanity and our dedication to the fundamental values of freedom and justice.

We hope that this spirit extends beyond civil society and reaches governments and international organizations. Whereas they seem to be only concentrated on the nuclear issue, one cannot lose sight of the connection between an authoritarian and populist government and the instability that it brings to the international community. We are skeptical about any change on the diplomatic level if the roots of the Iranian regime remain the same.

Our call for an international engagement to promote democracy and civil society in Iran is not a call for boycotts. Too often, it is the people who suffer from economic boycotts instead of their wicked governments. Instead, we believe that a solid and sustained engagement with Iranian civil society is what will help the change. Exchange programmes for students, professors, academics, business women and men, may all lead to the influx of new ideas and skills with which democracy can be built from bottom up.

Brothers and sisters, there is still a long way to go, but you can count on the young liberals of this world to support you in every step you take. Keep in mind that evil cannot be rooted out by evil and that only respect for freedom and the difference of people provides the way for true and sustainable change.

Thanks for your attention.

[END]

_____________________
IFLRY President

Fédération Internationale des Jeunesses Libérales
Federación Internacional de Juventudes Liberales
Международная Федерация Либеральной Молодежи

E: bart@iflry.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bartlemot

[Due to a technical problem, our standard news and events features on the front page of our homepage are temporarily out of order. Until it is fixed, the Bureau blog will be used for this purpose.]

Dear friends,

It is my pleasure to invite you to the 32nd General Assembly of the International Federation of Liberal Youth to be held in The Hague, Netherlands from the 12th to the 14th of November 2009 hosted with IFLRY Full Members JD and JOVD. The General Assembly will be electing a new Bureau and dealing with a major revision of the IFLRY Manifesto.

Find the invitation, technical information and the nomination form in the Document Center. All information related to the GA will be updated in the Document Centre. Please have a look there from time to time.

IFLRY is also offering a Seminar after the General Assembly titled "Human Trafficking: I am not for sale" in Amsterdam from November the 16st to the 21st. A separate invitation with more details can be accessed in our Document Center.

An invitation and a copy of the nomination form have been sent to IFLRYs Member Organisations. If you are interested in attending, please contact your Member Organisation for information regarding nominations. Nomination forms must be sponsored by the International Officer or President of a Member Organisation. Please submit the nomination form for these events to events@iflry.org by appropriate deadlines.

If you have any questions after reading this invitation and the enclosed documents, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat in London or the respective Bureau member responsible for your region.

Looking forward to meeting you in the Netherlands!

Best regards,

IFLRY Bureau
 

From the 5th to the 9th of August the biannual national convention of the Young Democrats of America was held.

IFLRY President Paola Silva, Secretary General Bart Woord and Bureau Member Roger Albinyana attended the event and were present at the sessions.

During the convention a special international session was held, where were present delegates from Belgium, Netherlands, Catalunya, Canada, Germany and Colombia. At the session IFLRY's work was presented and also the activities done by YDA abroad

Agenda of the convention included election of the new president and other officials, therefore Crystal Strait was elected as new YDA President. The programme also included a speech from the IFLRY President, as well as LYMEC President Aloys Rigaut, to the delegates at the general session, which you can find below:

 

Good morning Young Democrats of America

Muy buenos días.

It is an honor and also a pleasure for me, to be here addressing for first time a national young democrat’s convention.  I want to thank my friends David Hardt and Juan Ayala because they invited me to come and gave me the chance to be here with you, and they have been truly committed with YDA’s work abroad.

Some of you might be wondering what is all this IFLRY thing about?. I can start with an anecdote. Yesterday at the passport control procedure, police officer asked me what was the purpose of my visit. I explained I was coming to the YDA Convention and he told me: “ahh, then it means that you are liberal minded. Thank you guys, you did a great job at the last elections, and we are all very happy about that”. I said, thank you, I didn´t do so much, but I’m also very happy about the results.

This is what all this is about. IFLRY was founded in 1947 and it is the international umbrella of the liberal youth organizations. Our mission is to engage young people to promote liberal values across the globe. We have around 100 member organizations from around 80 different countries of the globe. And you guys as YDA belong to this worldwide network of liberal youngsters from the five continents.

Yesterday it was a great start for my dream that is becoming true right now. Two years ago, in 2007 when the official candidate for President of the Democratic Party wasn’t defined yet, we as IFLRY came to Dallas to give you our support and to welcome you as full members of the Federation. Also two years ago I was doing my own campaign to become the first Latin American president of the Federation and also the first non-european after 60 years of IFLRY’s history. At that time, I was sitting, looking and listening all people that came here to gave us their speeches. At that time, when election campaign for the White House was starting and expected results were not even close to  what did happen, I was wondering myself if I would had the chance to share with you the sweet taste of the victory as the first Latin American and the first non-european president of IFLRY.

And here we are. My dream became true. I did it and you guys rocked.

I’m here to bring you a message from millions of young liberals and democrats of the world. We all, want to congratulate you, we want to express you our respect and admiration for your outstanding and great victory at the last presidential elections, but my message, is also to let you now, that you were not only able to change the present and future of your country, but to let you know that we are aware of the challenge and that you are not alone. You have millions of young liberal and democrats to support your work.

What happened at the last election campaign, is not only a proof that yes, you can, but it also proofs that embrace diversity is the new key issue that really can make changes. You were not only able to start a change in your own country. You are also changing situation in other countries. Countries like Lebanon, Germany, or mine, Colombia.

President Obama has created a new political environment in the world. Just to take Colombia as an example, it was easy to realize the impact of Obama’s administration.  When we all knew the results of the elections, and the greatest performance of the Democrats, issues like human rights and protection and respect for minorities increased their interest for the current Colombian government, and it has had an important impact on the people of my country. But also in Latin America we felt very happy to have Obama’s administration as partner to make important changes in the region.

With the result of the elections, you, the Young Democrats of America brought us hope. Hope in the sense that we saw that yes, you can, and you empower us to believe that we can do it too. Hope, because we knew that not only your country but also the world was going to be back on track. Hope because we knew that it was possible to create a better future. Hope, because you changed traditions and created a new chapter in the history of your country and the history of the humanity. But even more important than those things mentioned, you brought us hope, because we got certainty about the fact that young people are the leaders and that they have a key role building not only a promising future, but a better present for people’s live. You, the Young Democrats of America, took back your present and your future and at the same time you did it for many people all over the globe.

This certainty has created a new soul, a new spirit among youngsters in the world, not only in Latin America, but also in Asia, Africa and Europe.

You can see trough the work we do as International Federation. And those of your members that have attended our events have felt also the treasurer of your experience. We are all confident that all our hopes are, step by step, becoming a reality.

That is why I want to invite you to make this treasurer bright even more, because your experience can change the present and future of many more countries and people of the world. I want to invite you, and your coming national board to keep working on the international scenario. To use the International Federation of Liberal Youth as a tool to increase the impact of your experience, to use IFLRY as a tool to get first hand information of millions of youngsters like you, that every day face big challenges fighting for freedom and democracy in their countries. To use IFLRY to create a joint effort with other youngster from around 80 countries not only to promote liberal and democratic values, but to go even further, to globalize freedom and to make real changes in the present and future of the world.

Because we in IFLRY have the deeply belief that YDA not only works, YDA rocks.

Thank you. Muchas gracias

 

Once more, I had the opportunity to represent IFLRY at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, in Strasbourg 27-29 of April. During the 2nd part of the 2009 Ordinary Session, I was able to help the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) during their group meetings. The ALDE group meetings took up the preparations for the sessions, examination of the reports, appointments of spokesmen of the group in the plenary sessions and the discussions of the parliamentary elections in Albania and Bulgaria. Mr. Luc van den Brande and Mr. Thorbjørn Jaglund, candidates for Secretary General of the Council of Europe also paid visits to the group meetings. It is a bit unfortunate that no liberal candidate was running for the position as Secretary General.

In between the ALDE meetings, I went to listen to the plenary discussions. On Monday 27th, I enjoyed learning more about the protection of human rights in emergency situations and the fact that emergency powers should always be limited in time. The following day, I listened to a report on the situation of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states. Later on, I went to listen the President of Finland, Mrs. Tarja Halonen’s address and her answers to questions from the members of the assembly. Among many subjects the President emphasized the importance of human rights, regulations to prevent violence and sexual exploration of women and children and how to survive the financial crisis with education, preparation and co-operation.

During Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, I attended two INGO seminars and a few more parliamentary assembly sessions. Two reports; Action to combat gender-based human rights violations, including abduction of women and girls and Follow-up given by Georgia and Russia to Resolution 1647 were presented by ALDE group members.

It was nice to meet the liberal politicians from all over Europe again and this time I knew more about the outcome of the meetings. I furthermore had the opportunity to take part in the Spring Asparagus Dinner on Monday evening that was arranged by the ALDE group in Erlach, Germany.

Sabine Nygrund

The IFLRY Bureau is now present on the increasingly popular Twitter network. Already several members of the Bureau are contributing to the IFLRY account which you can find at http://twitter.com/iflry . Start following us in order to be as up-to-date as possible on all ongoing IFLRY affairs!

Over the past month I have traveled throughout practically the whole Southern Caucasus, collecting the border stamps of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. It has been an amazing experience, conducting trainings every day for young (and some older) political activists, mostly on capacity building and communication skills, but also specifically several times on 'blogging & politics'.

The people I have met have all been truly inspiring and I would have had the highest hopes of the future of this region, if it weren't for the depressing state of democracy and general political governance at the moment. Azerbaijan has just passed a referendum in a predictable fashion, with made-up participation rates and an imaginary approval level of over 90%. As I wrote earlier, the constitutional changes put forward through the referendum are another step down towards the dark pit of authoritarianism.

In addition, Georgia is preparing for a new round of mass demonstrations and the once almost ubiquitously glorified president Saakashvili is doing all that's in his power to stay in power, which is never a good sign. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen on the 9th of April and after, but the country could certainly come to a standstill.

Finally, Armenia is still suffering from last year's 1st of March lethal crackdown on the opposition that had gathered to demonstrate against the falsified presidential elections that February. With some of the opposition members still in prison, the country is highly polarized and this will only aggravate as elections are coming up for the position of the mayor of Yerevan. With 1/3 of the country's population living in Yerevan, this person is highly influential and now that the leader of the opposition, Levon Ter-Petrosian, has announced his candidacy, tense times are again ahead.