International Young Democrat Union

The International Young Democrat Union (IYDU) is an global alliance of centre-right political youth organisations,^[1]. Re-established in 1991, the IYDU has 107 full and observer members across 76 countries and is the youth wing of the International Democrat Union (IDU).

The IYDU website lists the organisation's core values as democracy, respect for human rights, free markets, and free trade:

• The IYDU believes that real democracy, with strong roots in a fully engaged community, is the only sustainable form of government.

• The IYDU believes that it is a basic human right to live without fear of persecution, in particular on the grounds of race, religion or gender. This basic freedom is a pre-condition without which other human rights cannot exist. When there is freedom from fear, all opinions can be expressed. Only then can true democracy flourish.

• The IYDU believes that free markets create free people, as free markets are the only way to build a system which promotes creativity, supports economic growth, and secures the individual freedom that underpins all human rights.

• The IYDU is strongly opposed to trade barriers between states, as only with free trade comes real economic freedom. We believe that in order for the poverty cycle for the world’s one billion people who live in extreme poverty to be broken, free, but not exploitative, trade must play a pivotal role.

IYDU host a number of events for member organisations each year including a Freedom Forum (mid-year), an Annual Council Meeting, and overseas study visits. Speakers at IYDU events have included current and former heads of state and other prominent political figures from the centre-right family. Participants at IYDU conferences have progressed to become cabinet ministers, members of parliament, senior advisors, and leaders of industry in both the public and private sectors.

The IYDU is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

The History of IYDU

The parent organisation to IYDU, the International Democrat Union (IDU) is a working association of over 80 centre-right parties. Formed in 1983, founder members included Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; then US Vice-President George Bush Sr; Mayor of Paris, and later French President, Jacques Chirac; and the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

A prototype IYDU, formed by a group of young centre-right politicians, predated the IDU by some 2 years but was disbanded after the establishment of the parent group in 1983. The IYDU as it is recognised today, was re-established in 1991 under its first Chairman, Mark Heywood (Young Liberals, Australia), and in 1998 Baroness Margaret Thatcher became patron of the organisation.

Freedom Campaigns

IYDU Freedom Campaigns support democratic movements and free-market groups in nations under authoritarian rule.

Current Freedom Campaigns

• Forward to Freedom
• Freedom for Belarus
• Freedom for Cuba
• Religious Freedom

Chairmen

Footnotes

External links

• IYDU official site