April 2009

Please forward to other young liberals
(or liberals young at heart)

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, that instead of the hoped-for liberation turned the island into another dictatorship, IFLRY is stepping up the pace in spreading awareness about the devastating political, social and economic situation in Cuba. Many IFLRY Member Organizations are planning special thematic events, featuring documentaries and experts, in order to debunk the myth of social harmony and prosperity that still surrounds Cuba.

If your organization wants to participate or if you would like to receive more information, please contact IFLRY Project Manager for Cuba, Jordi Villanueva (jordi@iflry.org).

IFLRY also issued a statement on the sixth anniversary of the Cuban 'Primavera Negra', see here .

For the last week the President of the Young Democrats of America (YDA), David Hardt, and his International Officer Juan Ayala traveled through Germany to train members of Junge Liberale (JuLis) for the upcoming German Federal Election in September, as well as for the European Parliament Elections in June. Their tour started in Dresden where David and Juan attended JuLis 38th Federal Congress together with IFLRY President Paola Silva and Vice President Frederik Ferié. From there, they set off to a journey that let them to 6 cities all over Germany - from Hamburg in the North to Munich in the South.

During their seminars, David and Juan presented the campaigning techniques YDA used in last year's Presidential elections and introduced the JuLi-members to YDA's campaigning success factors. Johannes Vogel, President of JuLis, sees the seminar series "as another highly successful example of JuLis's and YDA's close cooperation within the IFLRY framework, which will help the German Liberals to gain a significantly larger share of votes in the upcoming elections and secure the way back into the federal government."

During the 21st meeting of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, on the 23rd of March in Mollina, Spain, IFLRY VP Jelena Spasovic was elected as a member of the Programming Committee (PC) on Youth. This committee is consisting of 8 government representatives from Council of Europe member states and 8 youth representatives. Role of PC in Directorate of Youth and Sport of Council of Europe is to establish, monitor and evaluate the programmes of the European Youth Centres and of the European Youth Foundation. Previously, IFLRY was also represented in the PC by former Executive Director Monika Jankauskaite as well as by former President Emil Kirjas.

For more information, please contact Jelena (jelena@iflry.org).

The International Federation of Liberal Youth, as part of a multinational coalition of 25 human rights organisations, 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 Geneva Summits website (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.

The Student Peace Prize 2009 was awarded to the human rights activist Elkouria "Rabab" Amidane from Western Sahara, in Norway on the 27th February. Amidane is awarded the Prize for her work for human rights, students' rights and peace in Western Sahara. Even though Amidane uses peaceful means in her fight for human rights, she has been exposed to torture and arrested by the Moroccan police several times.

IFLRY Member Organization NUV is a long-time supporter of Amidane's work and with their cooperation, IFLRY President Paola Silva as well as IFLRY MO Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth recorded two videos in support of her. Find these videos on IFLRY's YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/iflry . For more information, please contact Marte Enerud (marte@liberal.no).

Between the 21st and 29th of March, IFLRY President Paola Silva visited several locations in Western Europe. First of all, Paola attended the Federal Congress of the Junge Liberale in Dresden, Germany, where she addressed the 320 young delegates and encouraged them to continue working on the international scene with professionalism and commitment. Next, Paola spent a day in Brussels where she met with representatives of - among others - LYMEC (European Liberal Youth) and the European Youth Forum, in both cases discussing possibilities for further cooperation between IFLRY and their respective organizations. Finally, in London IFLRY Treasurer Chris Gallaway, Executive Director Sarah Wong and Paola took part in the Auditors Meeting with IFLRY Auditors Tom Kibasi and Jan van Run. Meanwhile, IFLRY Secretary General Bart Woord at the end of the month wrapped up 28 days of consecutive trainings in the Southern Caucasus, visiting different parts of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

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.

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”.

On the 18th of March, citizens of authoritarian-ruled Azerbaijan were able to vote on the adaption of constitutional changes as proposed by the governing party through a referendum. The referendum passed with an overwhelming and incredible majority of over 90% and an equally distorted percentage of participating voters (over 60%).

The ongoing dispute between Israel and Palestine dominates the news stories from the area. Although much can be said about the conflict it is important to note, that progress is being made and that the visions of freedom and peace have not diminished.

As the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth, our aim is to promote the liberal ideas and the concept of personal freedom. Hardly any other word is misunderstood and confused as much as the word liberal. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find good texts about liberalism in the Arabic language. Often the enemies of liberalism, radicals and extremists on the left and the right, write about the ideas. Also: the majority of the publications in Arabic are translations from foreign languages.

IFLRY, the International Federation of Liberal Youth, is an international political umbrella organisation promoting cooperation among youth and student organisations to spread liberal values.
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