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The International Federation of Liberal Youth held its 31st Extraordinary General Assembly in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, on the 5th and the 6th of December.

More than 180 young liberals from all around the globe convened to set out new directions for the Federation and to discuss some of the burning topics of today.

IFLRY President Paola Silva (Colombia) summed up the achievements of the General Assembly in her closing speech: "In Kiev the International Federation of Liberal Youth made several decisive steps forward: with our new members, revised statutes and several well crafted resolutions IFLRY, now more than ever, is extremely well equipped to meet the challenges that currently face young liberals all over the world."

Key note speakers at the GA included Matyas Eorsi, president of the liberal group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Kristiina Ojuland, ELDR Vice President and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. The GA included panels on Ukraine's political future between Europe and Russia and on the liberal dilemma of the choice between self-determination and state sovereignty. In addition, a Young Leaders Speaking Out session featured addresses by Aloys Rigaut, President of LYMEC, David Hardt, President of the Young Democrats of America, Oleg Kozlovsky, leader of the Russian opposition movement Oborona, and several representatives of the Belarusian liberal youth opposition. Workshops were organized on a variety of topics, from digital freedom, Ukrainian domestic politics to campaign lessons from the Obama election.

The event was enthusiastically hosted by the youth of the Republican Party 'Sobor', with additional help of LYMEC, the European Youth of Ukraine and the Institute for Political Education. It was supported by the generous contributions of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for Liberty, the Dutch Liberal Party (VVD), the Dutch Liberal-Democratic Party (D66) and the Liberal Democrats (UK).

In conjunction with the GA, an ELDR fact-finding mission took place as well as a seminar for Belarusian young opposition members organized by the Norwegian Young Liberals (NUV) and the Danish foundation SILBA.

Prior to the General Assembly, a four-day seminar was organized on active citizenship, bringing together 35 representatives to exchange ideas and best-practices on civic youth involvement.

The next Executive Committee will take place in Beirut, Lebanon, in July 2009.