4,152,642. That is the combined number of members within the new organisations which recently joined IFLRY. At the IFLRY 53rd General Assembly, held earlier this month in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 18 organisations joined as observers, associates and full members. Most of them are based in Africa, and represent the huge variety of young activists and politicians in our diverse liberal family. Based on this, we can easily say that liberalism is attractive to young people across the world, especially in Africa. 

I attended the General Assembly as the official representative of LYMEC, travelling from Bucharest to Abidjan (via Istanbul) to meet with the young liberals of the world. The General Assembly is IFLRY’s equivalent to LYMEC’s Congresses, and is the highest decision making body of the organisation. 150 in-person delegates attended the event, coming from around 40 different countries. Ivorians are very hospitable and warm hearted people. I felt welcomed to be there, and I had no difficulties striking up conversations with the local people I met. 

The IFLRY 53rd General Assembly took place between 9-12th of May in Abidjan, the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire. We were hosted by the Ivorian liberal party RHDP (Rassemblement des Houphouëtistes pour la Démocratie et la Paix). Cote d’Ivoire is a country of approximately 28 million people, with around 6 million residing in the largest city, Abidjan. It is a liberal country with a strong tradition of free and fair elections. IFLRY counts 3 organisations as members from this country. Including the youth wing of the RHDP; who are the ruling party in Cote d’Ivoire and a member of the Liberal International. IFLRY last organised a West African General Assembly back in 2022, in Dakar, Senegal, and this time we were pleased to be welcomed once more in West Africa. Thanks to the RHDP, whose generous hospitality and partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation allowed the IFLRY Bureau to once again bring liberals from across the world to West Africa. 

As LYMEC’s representative, I can already say that for the most part, European delegations have a lot of new faces onboard. Many of the delegates that I spoke with were first time delegates or quite new. The agenda was intense over the course of the 4 days of the General Assembly. Friday and Saturday were the busiest days, as we dealt with membership, finances, resolutions, statutes and Bureau elections. We only finished with the Bureau elections at 1:30 in the  morning, which made this event particularly thrilling, having elections spanning so long into the night. It is also worth noting that the African Liberal Youth for Freedom (ALYF), which is the largest liberal youth organisation in Africa and one of IFLRY’s key partners, actually started its works a couple days before the GA. They organised seminars and workshops centred on African politics and liberalism. 

However, amidst the activity and successes of this General Assembly, there is a key challenge facing IFLRY that must be solved. With the ever-expansion of the Federation with mostly French-speaking organisations, IFLRY will need to deal with the question of what language it is going to use for its General Assemblies. At this General Assembly we had an on-site translator who took everything being said in English and translated it to French and vice-versa. However, I’m not sure if this is the best long-term approach. 

No matter how good the intentions are when providing live translation, there is always going to be a small delay for French-speaking delegates taking part in the debates. Meaning they cannot participate as rapidly as English speaking delegates normally do. My idea of how this could actually work long term would be to ask French-speaking organisations to make sure that they have at least 1 in-person delegate who speaks English. This would allow all organisations to engage in the debates in real time, to take the floor and speak on the agenda points and also network with English-speaking organisations. 

Ultimately, whilst the challenges of translation present an issue that must be fixed, it is also a testament to how quickly IFLRY is expanding. Overall, I can say that there is an undeniable growing interest of youth organisations to join IFLRY, which means things are going in the right direction. We see populists gaining so much territory these days and with so much ease sometimes, that having a strong liberal international community feels somewhat like a very nice dream. I’m looking forward to sharing more about this General Assembly during my report to the next LYMEC Congress in Warsaw in November 2024.

The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) alone. These views do not necessarily reflect those of LYMEC.