Convening in Rome, Italy for their third and final module of the Liberal International Democratic Training Academy (LIDTA) 2024-25, students from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region graduated last weekend after 6 months and three weekends of carefully tailored political training.

The group of young liberals who were carefully selected for their political and social leadership potential in their home countries developed a number of key skills. Kicking off with an in-depth social media training from the VVD parliamentary team’s data specialist, Marike Oranje, the group exchanged ideas and undertook practical exercises in personal and campaign advertisement and messaging. The young liberals later engaged a personalised development dialogue with VVD talent scout Hans van den Broek, who has played a pivotal role in identifying some of his parties most prominent politicians and ministers.

After the graduation, LI Secretary General William Townsend said: “The LIDTA academy is LI’s flagship training programme. Now in its fourth year, the Academy has already produced and developed dozens of talented young people who have gone on to achieve incredible things in social and political life on their country, region or continent. With LIDTA, LI and the VVD International are building a talent pool and developing a strong alumni network across the region. Any young liberal from the MENA region who wants to get more involved or better understand how to navigate politics should look out for call for the fifth LIDTA, which will be launched later in 2025.”

Having been put through their paces in a session dedicated to navigating internal party dynamics, the students finally put together everything they have learnt in the preceding weekends with a crisis simulation, which gave the students limited time to react to an evolving political crisis at which they were tested at every step.

Four days in Rome also meant the students were lucky enough to receive a briefing from, and exchange ideas directly with, Lucrezia Conte, the international relations officer for LI think tank, Foundazione Luigi Einaudi (FLE). Liberal International and the VVD are grateful to the FLE for their support in bringing LIDTA to Italy for the first time.

To find out more about LIDTA visit this page of the LI website: https://liberal-international.org/liberal-international-democratic-training-academy/