There’s
a palable spring in each step of CALD’s steps these days, and it could well be
because of te renewed vigor it is feeling with with the latest addition to the
organization: CALD Youth, born in August 2010 at a workshop in Taiwan.
Currently
made up of the youth wings/desks/departments of CALD member and observer
parties, CALD Youth is inviting other similar liberal and democratic
organizations to become part of it. Its main goal, it says, is “to bring
together… politically oriented liberal youths into on forum for discussion and
action on common agendas.”
The organization hopes that by doing so it would be
able to:
a. Promote liberal and democratic values through education and
capacity-building among youth nationally and regionally;
b. Create regional solidarity among
liberal youth on national issues relating to the violation of liberty,
democracy, and equality;
c. Create regional networks and
build relationships among liberal youth and potential future liberal leaders in
the Asian region; and
d. Increase membership in national liberal party youth wings and provide
for the smooth transition of youth wings into the political mainstream with an
added advantage of regional linkages and liberal relationships.
“In
essence,” says CALD Youth, “we work together to ensure a democratic and free
Asia for our future generations and quintessentially, we wish to influence
common liberal solutions to problems with the overarching aim of uniting and
creating a progressive and democratic Asia.”
CALD
Youth’s programs include:
· Strategic
Political Communication for Youth Candidates (August 2012 | Siem Reap,
Cambodia)
· Preparing
the Asian Youth for Leadership (March 2012 | Colombo, Sri Lanka)
· Strategic
Planning Workshop (March 2011 | Kandy, Sri Lanka)
As of December 2012, CALD is a regional
member organization of the International Federation of Liberal Youth
(IFLRY). CALD and IFLRY first collaborated with each other for a discussion on
the role
of youth in promoting nonviolent political change in June 2011. CALD Youth representatives have also
participated in programs of IFLRY and the Alliance
of Liberals and Democrats of Europe.
