Dear Member Organizations,

Following the nomination of Vice President Jordi Villanueva for the position of Secretary General there is another vacancy in the IFLRY Bureau. Hence, at the upcoming Executive Committee and General Assembly in Beirut, from the 19th to the 21st of November 2010, there will not only be elections for the President and the Secretary General of the International Federation of Liberal Youth, but also for one position of IFLRY Vice President.

The statutory nomination deadline for all positions is the 22nd of October 2010, midnight, London time. All Full Member Organizations can nominate candidates for all positions. Candidates are strongly encouraged to depart from Beirut not earlier than Monday night, 22nd of November, in order to take part in the post-GA Bureau meeting, if elected.

Organizations may still submit nominations for participation due to remaining slots. All information about the events in Beirut can also be found in the Documents Centre. There are still some sponsored participant slots available (75 EUR all-inclusive, excluding travel), but it is highly advisable to send in nomination forms as soon as possible if interested.

The Vice Presidents play a central role in the Bureau as active contributors to the further growth of the Federation. Their responsibilities include the development and execution of the Plan of Action, in which they work closely together as well as with the President in the achievement of the vertical objectives and provide support to the achievement of the horizontal functions. Vice Presidents take over clearly defined responsibilities and authorities and are directly accountable for them. Also, they keep an eye out on political developments around the world to spot situations in which liberal values are under threat and where young liberals need additional support.

Some important qualities for a Vice President are:
- A positive, entrepreneurial mind set;
- Experience with liberal politics and liberal youth and student organizations;
- Strong sense of responsibility;
- Sufficient amount of time available (min. 8 hours a week);

In case of questions, please do not hesitate to contact the IFLRY Office and the Bureau.

Liberal regards,

The IFLRY Bureau

Dear liberal friends,

I am delighted to invite you to the 34st General Assembly of the International Federation of Liberal Youth in Beirut, Lebanon, from the 19th to the 21st of November 2010.

The event will be hosted by Full Member 'Future Youth' and promises to be an even more interesting, well-organized and productive event as the Executive Committee that was organized by Future Youth in 2009.

Our aim is to make this General Assembly a meeting that will be of more direct benefit to your member organization than ever before. Whether this results from one of our workshops, the special Caucuses or the informal networking elements: in the end we want you to go home full of inspiration and ideas of how to move forward your political agenda. This is the real power of bringing young liberals from around the world together in the same place.

The preparation of the event is of course still taking place but we can already promise some highlights:

- Our event coincides with the General Assembly of the Network of Arab Liberals, which will take place in Beirut as well. This makes it possible for us to welcome seasoned representatives from around the Arab world to take part in our panels on freedom of expression and on liberalism in the Middle East.

- We are hosting for the first time a Presidential Caucus and an International Officer Caucus. The Presidential Caucus aims at providing a platform for the leaders of our Members to build a network and exchange high-level best-practices. The International Officer Caucus aims at providing a space to discuss challenges pertinent to International Officers, for example but not exclusively the mobilization of members to engage in international work.

- Special workshops are organized that will give the participants the latest insights in issues ranging from the latest political campaign tricks to the way Lebanese politics actually work. We want to make them as demand-driven as possible and satisfy the different needs of the delegates and our Members at large.

- Of course, IFLRY hacks don't need to worry: the agendas of the GA and the various Standing Committees will be filled with important membership issues, resolutions and especially proposed changes to our Statutes and Rules of Procedure. Now that our Manifesto has gotten a firm 21st century brushing at the GA in The Hague, it is time to also get these documents ready for another generation.

- Finally, our events are the best opportunity for the recruitment of volunteers for our Programme Teams and other positions. The future of our Federation is to get more and more young liberals involved in tackling liberal challenges on the international level. Let's join hands and start leapfrogging our competitors!

You will find all information necessary for your nominations in the Documents Center. Please note that the day schedule is slightly different from previous events: arrival is foreseen in the course of Friday the 19th  and departure on Monday the 21st. Also, due to the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday which coincides with our event, we have put most of the political content on Sunday in order to guarantee the presence of high-profile speakers.

You will be able to keep up to date about this event through this dedicated blog which you can always access at www.iflry.org/blogs/ga2010 .

I look forward to receiving many delegations to this most important international liberal youth event of the year. Friends: Lebanon is calling!

Liberal regards,

Bart Woord

IFLRY President

On behalf of the IFLRY Bureau 2009-2011 and the Office,
Frederik, Joao, Jordi, Mateusz, Mirna, Naomi, Mane, Helena.