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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
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Last week was one of those weeks in which I lost sense of time and space while on duty for IFLRY. I am still not sure where I have been precisely so allow me to just try recapitulate it with you here. On Saturday the 18th I left in the earliest hours of the morning my new home base Baku for Geneva, where IFLRY was co-organizing the Geneva Summit for Tolerance, Human Rights and Democracy on Sunday the 19th. Info on the programme, videos as well as pictures (you might see me passing by) are all on www.genevasummit.org . The event was attended by representatives of JD (Netherlands) and JFS (Switzerland), as well as Liberal International's Human Rights Committee Vice-Chair Andy Sundberg. It was an amazing and inspiring event, with lots of emotions particularly due to the personal accounts of victims of human rights abuses.
On the 20th I spent most of the day at the actual - fairly notorious - Durban Review Conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, where I experienced the tumultous speech by the Iranian President Ahmadinejad from closeby. Thanks to UN Watch for helping me with the accreditation to take part in this conference, by the way!
Next, in the evening of the 20th, I flew to Tbilisi, Georgia, in order to spend a day with the local Young Republicans and talk through the preparations for the upcoming IFLRY seminar there. At the same time, and as some of you may know, there are large and ongoing demonstrations in Tbilisi aimed at forcing President Saakashvili to resign, and the YRs took me with them to take part. The members of the wide coalition organizing the demonstration have all slightly different motivations for asking for his resignation, but the common denominator is that Saakashvili, in all his lunatic authoritarian behavior, is a danger to the country and a threat for democracy in the Caucasian republic.
Another night later - flights in the Caucasus usually arrive and depart in the middle of night, unfortunately - I flew to Brussels, Belgium, in order to have several meetings in and around the European Parliament. I met with Aloys Rigaut, LYMEC President, as well as with colleague Frederik Ferie (IFLRY VP) in the premises of the ELDR party in order to give a briefing on the state of democracy in Azerbaijan (a sad story...).
The next day, we're speaking of the 23rd now, I took off my IFLRY hat to spend two days on holiday with my mother in Rome, only to fly back to the Netherlands on the 25th to attend the 25th anniversary Congress of the Jonge Democraten, my Dutch Member Organization. Jelena Spasovic, also IFLRY VP, joined the congress as well, together with several international representatives from Jong-VLD (Belgium), YOLDP (Moldova) and SU (Finland).
Then the week was finally over and I took a long, long sleep! (By: Bart Woord)
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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!
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Cyberspace has from its beginning generated an intense discussion on
its implications for democracy and freedom around the world.
Essentially a new medium for free expression by individuals, largely
unhampered by the censor of editors or governments, it promised to be
the stab in the back of authoritarian governments and closed societies.
A new generation of people would grow up in a world where border
controls are considered largely obsolete and where new communities with
like-minded people can be formed on a daily basis without any regard
for physical location. News and ideas would flow around automatically,
eradicating traditional information controls.
Hmm, not so fast.
Governments are becoming smarter in dealing with the so-called 'social
danger' that the Internet poses them. It is not just a matter of
notorious censorship and filtering
by governments like China or Iran, but it is also increasingly becoming
a struggle against governmental attempts to fracture the Internet into
national spaces and to fill it up with government rubbish, as a recent
article in the New York Times attests.
Cyberspace
is still young and growing. For it to live up to its early promises of
globalizing freedom, we cannot just let it go and see what happens.
Governments need to be called upon to keep their hands off the
Internet's content as well as those providing it, particularly bloggers.
Contributions as to what young liberals can do to protect the Internet are welcome in the Comments section below!
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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.
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Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to indite and issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudan's President for war crimes in Darfur. President Bashir was charged with crimes against humanity , war crimes and genocide, for actions in Sudan's Darfur region. I think the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is a major step toward peace process and for justice of Darfur. This is a step towards the development of international justice as the courts have made it clear that heads of state are not beyond the reach of the law. I believe that we as liberals have to continue on the promotion of this processes as to make clear that the rule of law is meant to be for all citizens around the globe. Even though the rule of law is respected in many places around the world, disrespect for it, remains as a big challenge for many countries and citizens worldwide. And a as sort of invitation Juventude Democratas from Brazil launched their new magazine. It is a very good tool that reflects not only youth perspective for communications but also its becoming an important victory for the organisation itself. At first sight, you will see an interesting design and those of you that would like to practice Portuguese will also find some very interesting content. http://www.juventudedemocratas.org.br/revista/2009_001/index.html IPL from Peru has created a new website www.libertadparacuba.org . After the experience of some members being expelled from the Cuban regime last December, IPL decided to increase their commitment with the visibility of the extremely difficult situation that citizens of the island are facing. They, in a joint effort with other institutions, and our IFLRY Cuba Project Manager, are working on increase the awareness. The website is in Spanish with very interesting content. Finally, I would like to send a solidarity message to all young liberal women all over the world on the upcoming celebration of the international women's day the 8th of march. I would like to encourage all of us to continue, in a joint effort with people from around the world, working and leading towards the promotion of liberal values.
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Since the middle of February I have been living in Azerbaijan, one of the three Southern Caucasian states. It is a particularly interesting time: the government has put forward almost 30 changes to the constitution and has called for a referendum to take place on the 18th of March. The changes are largely innocent, except for a couple, which unfortunately promise to take Azerbaijan even further down the road of authoritarianism. The changes include a ban on elections in times of war (a rather tricky concept, considering that Azerbaijan is actually still at war with Armenia), the abolition of presidential term limits (knowing that the current leader, Ilham Aliev, is the son of the former learder Heydar Aliev, this seems to many another move towards a monarchy) and the ban on taking pictures or making video materials of people without their prior consent (which is generally considered as further restricting the already severely limited press freedoms). Nobody whom I have met so far expects the referendum to fail, as the government has become too sophisticated in ensuring that all public voting follows its own wish. It is still trying to keep up some sort of democratic facade of the kind of electoral authoritarianism that have become the dead-end road of so-called 'transitional democracies', but I doubt anyone who takes even a quick look at it will fail to see what it actually is. Deleting limits to presidential terms has recently become very popular, with previous cases in Russia and of course Venezuela. It is important to keep on speaking out against such erosion of democracy, as they only facilitate further concentration and monopolization of power.
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IFLRY was invited to Strasbourg to join and assist the meetings held by the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) group during the 1st part of the 2009 Ordinary Session of the PACE (The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) meetings in Strasbourg 26-30 January 2009. As a guest of the ALDE group I assisted their meetings during the first three days of the week and I was also able to view the plenary discussions and participate in the Conference of NGOs of the Council of Europe.
Monday morning started with the ALDE group meetings where preparation of the sessions took place. During the afternoon I went to the plenary discussions to listen to Mr. Terry Davis’, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, speech on the state of the Council of Europe. Mr. Davis talked about the critical situation in Gaza and the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia. He also mentioned that currently there are three major problems for the Council of Europe to discuss. The first problem that would need a better solution is that the pension funds needs to rise, the second problem is that the war in south Caucasus has a negative effect on the whole region and the third problem for the Council of Europe to discuss is the financial crisis affect on the world economy. The plenary discussions continued with a report on access to rights for people with disabilities and their full and active participation in society. It was mentioned that more than one person in every ten suffers from some form of disability, which gives a total worldwide of 650 million people. All disabled people should have the opportunity to full citizenship and no one should be denied their rights to reach their full potential. The ALDE evening meeting followed with a speech by Mr. Andrei Illarionov, former economic advisor to Mr. Putin and his conclusion of Russia was “what is predictable about Russia is its unpredictability”. Later that evening the ALDE group gathered to a dinner at Restaurant de la Vignette, that I was delighted to take part in.
During Tuesday, I was glad to take part in a NGO meeting held by the Civil Society and Democracy Committee. There were discussions about how and where the NGO meetings should be organized in the future. Should the meetings continuously be held in Strasbourg or in different countries and cities every time? Regional civil participation was also mentioned and that it was important for a NGO on a national level to provide a service in order to survive. The European Local Democracy Week (ELDW) will be held 12-18 October 2009 and is a new annual European event with simultaneous national and local events. ELDW will be organized by participating local authorities in all Council of Europe member states. In the evening I went to listen to the plenary discussions reporting on crimes allegedly committed by high officials during the Kuchma rule in Ukraine – the Gongadze case as an emblematic example. The highest level of government was involved in the murder of outspoken Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze nine years ago, but no guilty is yet prosecuted. The progress is very slow and the free journalism might be distinguished with power and money. Everybody agreed in the importance of the report and more reports were more than welcome trying to solve other murders of journalists in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation.
Wednesday started early with a debate about the current situation in Gaza. After the ALDE group meeting I went to listen to the plenary discussions on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia. According to the Migration committee, this must be one of the Assembly’s most immediate priorities. The situation remains tense in the former buffer zone, where people continue to be killed. People who have returned home to the Gali district and to the buffer zone are facing insecurity and a hard winter. In south Ossetia people have to try to survive under the same conditions and with little or no access to international humanitarian aid or human rights monitoring. For the time being it is impossible for humanitarian aid to reach South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which means that the population is suffering. The stabilization of the region is very important to avoid future conflicts.
I enjoyed observing the meetings taking part in the Council of Europe and I hope that some solutions can be made to the many problems discussed during my three days there.
Sabine Nygrund
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The International Federation of Liberal Youth, as part of a multinational coalition of 25 human rights organizations, will gather leading human rights, democracy and anti-racism activists from around the world for a summit in Geneva on April 19, 2009, on the eve of the U.N. Durban Review Conference. Entitled the Geneva Summit for Democracy, Human Rights and Tolerance, the activist gathering will be held one day before the UN world conference on racism, to support its objectives of promoting universal human rights through the eradication of discrimination, intolerance and persecution.
The Geneva Summit will be a unique opportunity for activists to place on the international agenda some of the world’s most pressing human rights issues and situations, to ensure that the U.N. makes the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a reality for millions of victims of discrimination and repression around the globe. More information on the website (http://www.genevasummit.org/).
If you want to participate on behalf of IFLRY, please get in touch with IFLRY Secretary General Bart Woord (bart@iflry.org). Please note that IFLRY cannot cover accommodation or food costs.
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The United Nations is the only truly worldwide association of countries and that makes it a wonderful thing. It allows for multilateral discussions and conflict resolution, generally ensuring peace and stability between at least the major powers. It has also been successful in bringing the issue of global poverty and the need for development assistance on the international agenda. Nevertheless, it also has its major downsides. The Security Council has an atavistic composition that doesn't resemble 21st century realities, to name one of the more saillant issues. IFLRY has been experiencing another: strongly diverging opinions on the understanding and value of freedom and democracy among the UN's member states.
In 2006 IFLRY started the application process for NGO consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council. This status would allow us to have a stronger say on issues regarding the work field of the UN ECOSOC, which is fairly wide. Particularly, it would give us access to the meetings of the UN Human Rights Council. Unfortunately, our application process has been stalled repeatedly and it doesn't seem to be ending soon. This January we were for the first time personally present at the committee hearing at the UN headquarters in UN to engage in discussions with the assembled delegates in person, but to no avail.
What's the problem? The status is granted by a committee that consists of diplomatic representatives of ECOSOC members and the selection does not take place on the basis of any democratic principles but rather on whether or not the NGO in question is to any extent a political danger to the powers-that-be. After all, authoritarian-ruled countries like China, Cuba and Egypt are not particularly known for their vibrant non-governmental civil societies, or at least not by their government's willingness to support such a development. Still, they rule on NGO applications and have the implicit right to defer decisions infinitely through a sort of 'filibustering' as the committee members can ask every applying NGO any question or request any document they deem relevant until they drop dead or lose interest in getting the status. Annually, the committee meets twice for 8-9 days a year, so the window for answering the committee's questions is very tight indeed.
I have uploaded all the questions and answers to the IFLRY documents center and you'll see that many of the questions are fairly irrelevant, particularly considering the fact that about 4000 NGOs have already received the status without much of a fuss. Moreover, very similar organizations like ours have received the consultative status over the past years, for example Liberal International, International Union of Socialist Youth, the Socialist International, the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the Centrist Democratic International.
It is tricky to speculate here about the exact intentions behind Cuba's and China's problems with 'us', but at the same time it also shows that we are drawing serious attention with our insistence on the respect for human rights and democracy. The UN might often have to compromise on those issues, but we are certainly not. - Bart
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In one of my more memorable IFLRY endeavors, I was in Washington, DC, for the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. It was cold and a very early morning, but definitely a great experience. To me, the most interesting feature of the day was being amid the hundreds of thousands of people and hearing them chat among themselves about Obama, the campaign and the future of the United States. It’s about seeing the tears in my neighbour’s eyes during Obama’s inaugural speech and peering over the uncountable bowing heads during the invocation by Reverend Warren. This is really a completely different thing from any European political event that I’ve attended and certainly had a sense of magic.
So much is being written about the inflated expectations of the Obama presidency, and surely some people will be disappointed. From an international point of view, the air does suddenly feel much lighter though. The hawkish rhetorics combined with the unilateral policies of the Bush administration have tainted America's picture around the world. Let's hope that Obama's promise to bring the USA back at the forefront of the peaceful fight for freedom and democracy, while sticking to the principles of multilateralism, is going to be kept. Thanks to Jeff Leanna (YDA) for arranging the inauguration tickets!
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Find here our special Holiday Card! The year 2008 has been a year of many revelations, both good and bad. This is the case be it in politics, economy, sports, religion and even in showbizness. Surely, we cannot miss the historical significance of the triumph of Barack Obama who has become an icon for change, or the unprecedented stumbling of world economies, crashing of stock markets and the roller-coaster rise of the price of oil, and even the breath-taking opening of the Olympics in Beijing. Topping it all, the state of freedom and democracy in the world has not attained any significant ascent. The people in many of the African nations and many other parts of the world still suffer from suppression and willful disregard of one's humanity. Truly, the young freedom warriors of the world still have a great deal of work ahead of us. The challenge of 2009, the year of the Ox, is tall. While we have proven our commitment through our work year after year, we must continue pushing forth. We – all the 3 million young liberals associated with our federation - are the beacon of light that gives hope to all whose rights and freedoms are repressed. We should look forward to the challenge that we will face in the coming year, with honor and valor, like a true liberal. Considering our efforts, we can be likened to the thoughts of Milton Berle: I'd rather be a "could-be', if I cannot be an "are'; because a "could-be" is a "maybe" who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a "has-been" than a "might-have-been', by far; for a "might-have-been" has never "been", but a "has" was once an "are'. While our mission is not yet complete, we never wane. May we all remain firm to our commitment to the cause of freedom. Happy Holidays! The IFLRY Bureau Paola, Bart, Chris, Aicha, Frederik, Jan-Argy, Jelena and Sarah Mensaje de IFLRY para éstas Fiestas! Este año 2008 ha sido un año de muchos cambios, de los dos tipos: buenos y malos. Este ha sido el caso en la política, la economía, los deportes, la religión e incluso en “negocio del entretenimiento”. Sin duda, no podremos olvidar el triunfo histórico de Barak Obama quien se ha convertido en un ícono del cambio, tampoco olvidaremos la caída sin precedents de las economías mundiales, ni la crisis de los bolsas de valores, ni los impresionantes cambios en el precio del petróleo, ni mucho menos la apertura de los juegos olímpicos de Beijin que nos dejó sin aliento. Pero, a pesar de todo esto, la libertad y de la democracia en el mundo no han tenido ningún ascenso importante y significativo. Muchas personas en países africanos, así como en muchos otros lugares del mundo, siguen sufriendo de la represión y siguen siendo víctimas de todo tipo de transgresiones de su propia humanidad. Con toda certeza, nosotros los jóvenes guerreros de la libertad en el mundo, todavía tenemos una tarea importante por hacer. El reto del 2009, el año del Buey, es enorme. Hasta ahora hemos probado nuestro compromiso con el trabajo que hemos hecho año tras año, y sin duda alguna debemos seguir haciéndolo con todas nuestras energías. Nosotros, - los 3 millones de jóvenes liberales asociados en nuestra federación – somos un faro de luz que ilumina y da esperanza a todos aquellos que tienen sus derechos y libertades confiscadas y reprimidas. Nosotros tenemos que seguir trabajando para enfrentar el reto que tenemos en el año venidero, con honor y valor, como verdaderos liberales. Para este importante tarea, podemos tener en cuenta estos pensamientos de Milton Berle: Yo prefereriría ser un "puede ser”, si no puedo ser un "es”; porque un "puede ser" es un "tal vez" que está alcanzando una estrella. Yo preferiría, de lejos, ser un "ha sido" que un "hubiera podido ser”; un "hubiera podido ser" nunca ha "sido", pero un "ha sido" alguna vez fue un "es'. Mientras nuestra misión no esté completa, nosotros nunca podremos desfallecer. Esperamos que todos mantengamos firme nuestro compromiso con la causa de la libertad. Felices Fiestas! El buró de IFLRY Paola, Bart, Chris, Aicha, Frederik, Jan-Argy, Jelena y Sarah
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By: Bart Woord
The whole city of Mumbai seems to have been taken over by terrorists, if I have to believe the TV presenter that is shouting at me. It is 2 o’clock at night in New Delhi but due to my slight jetlag I am still wide awake. The well-known, continuously repeating images are filling the screen. After having spent several days at the South Asian Youth Summit together with IFLRY VP Jan-Argy Tolentino, organized by the Liberal Youth of South Asia, I have noticed that I am already somewhat numbed to be truly shocked. Whether you speak to Sri Lankans, Kashimiri, Afghans, Nepali or Pakistani, the story is the same: violence, ranging from terrorism to outright civil wars, is the burning scar that stretches all throughout the South Asian region.
Obviously, the challenges that are being faced by the governments in the region – comprising more than 1,5 billion inhabitants – are diverse and perhaps even incomparable, and the prospects for peace diverge. In Nepal there is certainly a peace agreement between the government and the communists, but the progress is still marginal and fragile. The monarchy has not just been overthrown, it has been fully dissolved and an alternative national symbol has yet to be found. In a country with more than hundred ethnic groups and where the government has over many years not been able to take effective control over its territory, new instability might be looming. Already now there are regular conflicts between governmental forces and separatist groups in the south of the country.
Whereas in Nepal the government eventually had to accept a compromise with the communist guerilla, the civil war in Sri Lanka seems slowly but steadily to be concluded by military force alone. That is, on the surface. The governmental troops have been proceeding far into the Tamil territory and it only seems to be a matter of time until they take over the headquarters in Kilinochchi. However, conflicts are never solved by the point of a gun only and continued violence is very likely, primarily in terms of terrorist attacks. As long as the Tamils continue to feel discriminated against and do not receive the necessary autonomy that is required for them to give effective meaning to their right of self-determination, resistance will remain.
As a consequence of the attacks in Mumbai, the verbal battle between India and Pakistan has once again been fired up; a battle that unfortunately has already went out of hand twice and led to outright war. India doesn’t only present a pivotal role in the region due to its geo- or demographical size; it is also already for decades the only functioning democracy which makes it an inspiration for many. The threat transpiring from the terrorist attacks is therefore more than just physical: it also undermines the country’s democracy, both through the direct effects for religious tolerance between Hindus and Muslims, as well as indirectly via the potential domestic, repressive reactions to the fear. The question is now whether Pakistan, so clearly failing in its handling of the Taliban in the border regions with Afghanistan, can take effective action in order to appease the Indian worries to at least a certain extent.
It was thus slightly ironic that just two days before the Mumbai attacks, the delegates at the South Asian Youth Summit had held an outside picket at the National Monument in New Delhi against terrorism…
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Sarah recently attended the European Youth Forum- Youth Event
and the 8th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Youth,
8-11 October 2008 in Kiev, Ukraine. *** I recently attended the European Youth Forum- Youth Event and the 8th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Youth, 8-11 October 2008 in Kiev, Ukraine.
The youth event prior was attended by many young people representing different international Youth Non-Governmental Organisations and National Youth Councils. The event prior represented a great opportunity to network and work along side other organizations who promote youth work.
The Council of European meeting saw Ministers responsible for Youth from across the region set a declaration illustrating "The future of the Council of Europe youth policy: AGENDA 2020" which stated that they "are committed to actively promote, in all the member states of the Organisation, the development of youth policies which are likely to result in the successful integration of all young people into society."
The declaration listed priority headings such as:
- Human rights and democracy (with a new dimension added for promoting awareness education and action amongst young people on environment and sustainable development)
- Living together in diverse societies
- Social inclusion of young people
With this message, the young people were asking the Ministers for a co-management system to be considered, that young people be included in the development and implementation of policies for young people.
The Conference was an example of a lot of talking…so now we need to see that states follow up and are successful with the integration of the declaration. Many of the youth representatives asked how they [as ministers] were to follow up from this declaration…and the response was not clear. It was also noted that it's one thing to talk about integration and intergenerational dialogue, but it's an other to engage in it....
Pictures of the event
For more information from the Council of Europe
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Dear IFLRY Members, I would like to inform you that I am standing as IFLRY candidate in the election of the Advisory Council (AC) of the Council of Europe (CoE), which will be taking place at the upcoming European Youth Forum (YFJ) General Assembly in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 14. November 2008.
On behalf of the IFLRY Bureau, I am responsible for following the work and policies of the CoE and the YFJ. I have had the opportunity to attend the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Meetings and the meetings of the INGO, which has given me an insight into the work of CoE and also INGO work within CoE. Last year, I had the opportunity to attend two Advisory Council meetings as substitute and a CoE DYS Summer School, which was a great opportunity for me to familiarize myself with all current policies and development processes in the Directorate of Youth and Sport. These experiences have provided me with an understanding of the structure and work of the CoE related to the youth sector, which is very relevant to the work of the AC.
I always had an enormous interest and respect for the Council of Europe as the institution which actively promotes Human Rights Education. I think it is important to invest in a structural youth policy and active youth organizations and I believe that IFLRY needs to show an active profile in this forum. I see my membership in the AC as a great possibility to help in the development of youth policies and as an opportunity to integrate liberal views in to those policies.
I expect the position to be highly challenging and I know I am ready to make the best out of it and I believe that I will represent IFLRY in the best possible way.
If you have suggestions for me or you need more info please contact me jelena@iflry.org. Jelena
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