Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine

Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine Ліберально-демократична ліга України (ЛДЛУ)
President	Arthur Kharytonov
Vice President	Olha Tsurkan
Secretary	Yevgeniya Shulga
Founded	06 May 2015
Headquarters	Kiev, Ukraine
Ideology	Liberal Democracy, Right-Liberalism
International affiliation	International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY)
Website	http://ldlu.org.ua/

Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine (LDLU) is a non-governmental and nonprofit organization that is composed of the representatives of a new generation of Ukrainian youth, which aim at building and developing the liberal democracy in Ukraine.^[1]

History

The organization was established on 6 May 2015 by joint initiative of the students of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Being headquartered in Kiev, Ukraine, the League still provides a solid ground for a direct cooperation between all of its members, which are students of the leading Ukrainian, Polish, Dutch as well as British universities. Those students are young lawyers, political scientists, international affairs experts, sociologists, economists etc.

At the beginning of 2016 the organization has applied to the International Federation of Liberal Youth.^[2]

Purpose and Objectives

The main purposes of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine are the preservation and distribution of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including their social, economic and cultural aspirations and interests. For these ends the organization aims:^[3]

• to develop and equally distribute liberal democratic ideas;
• to unite Ukrainian youth with liberal outlook, who strive to see Ukraine as a strong and progressive liberal democratic state;
• to take effective collective measures to protect the fundamental human rights and freedoms;
• to foster the liberalization of the Ukrainian law;
• to improve Ukrainian legislation by preparing projects of regulations, providing scientific and legal opinions, examination in all branches of the law, conducting political and social research;
• to achieve fruitful cooperation with the new generation of patriotically minded Ukrainians;
• to develop international cooperation with liberal, democratic and liberal democratic organizations and associations from different countries.
• to popularize Ukrainian history, culture and traditions both regionally and internationally;
• to practice public control over the processes of adoption of laws as well as challenging the accountability of the Ukrainian government.

Its members also look forward to establishing a liberal democratic political party based on the values and objectives of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine in the nearest future.

Ideology and concepts

According to the Charter of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine, the Manifesto of the organization involves the following principles:

• The liberty of one citizen ends where the liberty of another citizen begins;
• Personal responsibility for own deeds and actions is the basis for the successful and progressive society;
• Individuals agreed to surrender some of their freedoms and submit them to the authorities in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. Thus a state serves as an instrument for the successful realization of the aspirations and goals of its citizens;
• Market economy and private property have proved to be the best means to earn capital and build wealth, therefore a laissez-faire practice is sine qua non in domestic affairs.
• The right to life, liberty and security of people along with the personal happiness of each are the main values, which must be promoted and protected.
• Apart from the aforementioned ideas, the very framework of the organization is based on the principle that Ukrainian people can live in prosperity provided that the political power is exercised by young yet matured Ukrainians, which were born in an independent Ukraine.

Furthermore, an international activity of the organization is carried out in accordance with the principle that "Ukraine is not only Europe, but also the whole world".^[4]

Structure

In order to embody these objectives, the organization has a unique internal structure, which corresponds with all main trends of the LDLU. The organization is composed of different Departments, which in turn are subdivided into Sectors. As of August 2016, the key Departments of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine are as follows:

• Liberal Democracy Department
• Human Rights Department
• Education and Youth Department
• Domestic affairs Department
• Foreign affairs Department
• Law Department
• Sociology, Analyses and Prognoses Department
• PR-Department
• HR-Department

The Viche

The Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine Viche is the principal organ of the organization that comprises all members. Every member has one vote and nobody has the right of veto. It is the Viche, which is in charge of making all core decisions.

The Council

There is also a Council of the LDLU, which is another decisive organ responsible for making decisions in between the sessions of the LDLU Viche.

As of the year 2016 the Council consists of:^[5]

• Arthur Kharytonov – the President of the Organization;
• Olha Tsurkan – the Vice President of the Organization;
• Yevgeniya Shulga – the Head of the Secretariat of the Organization;
• Serhii Tytiuk – the Head of the Liberal Democracy Department;
• Olha Bezverkha – the Head of the Human Rights Department;
• Maria Akulinina – the Head of the PR-Department;
• Yaroslav Tkhoruk – the Advisor to the President;
• Yevhenii Yatsyshin – the Advisor to the President.

Activity of the organization

Public liberal enlightenment

The project was introduced to conduct classes and lections dedicated to liberalism, which are believed to spread liberal seeds among students. The program of lections is made up of topics dedicated to protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms, strengthening the rule of law, pluralism, coherent society and liberal democracy. The project was introduced in the Ukrainian Humanities Lyceum, Kiev, in winter 2015. Both the school’s administration and students warmly welcomed the idea of program. The LDLU is about to run the same projects in other schools of the Ukrainian capital.^[6]

Lessons in Dissent in Ukraine

The Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine was among very few Ukrainian organizations, which supported the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong in 2014. Being inspired by the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, the representatives of the LDLU have contacted Matthew Torn, a producer and expert in Hong Kong politics. He showed his interest and even supported the idea of a project aiming to show his Lessons in Dissent movie in Ukraine.

Matthew Torn also gave an exclusive interview, in which he expressed his respect to and admiration of young Ukrainians, which do their best in fighting kleptocracy. Notably, the actions of governments of both the European Union and the United States were said to be very weak in solving the Ukrainian crisis, hence were even criticized by Matthew Torn.^[7]

Meanwhile, in his conversation with Arthur Kharytonov, who is the President of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine, the leader of the Umbrella Revolution Joshua Wong for the first time commented the political situation in Ukraine by supporting the Ukrainian struggle against both internal and external enemies.^[8]

The premiere of Lessons in Dissent in Ukraine took place on 25 April 2016 in Kiev,^[9] and next day in Lviv.^[10]

Inclusive friendly

Disabled people in Ukraine face a number of problems in all main spheres of social life, as the Ukrainian authorities do nothing in order to improve the standards of life for people with disabilities, which eventually have to spend their free time at home. Inclusive friendly project was introduced to conduct a number of trainings designed for the staff of Ukrainian catering industry in order to teach them to serve disabled people professionally, so that these people can enjoy spending more time out in an appropriate environment. The project is being successfully practiced in Lviv, where local catering workers have a chance to gain professional skills from experienced trainers.^[11][12]

References

External links

• Facebook of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine
• Twitter of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine
• Instagram of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine
• YouTube-channel of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine