Young liberal leaders from the Middle East & North Africa, and the Caucasus region came together on the first weekend of September to participate in the third session, and first in-person training, of Liberal International’s Democratic Training Academy (LIDTA); in partnership with VVD International.
Representatives of six countries took part in four days of training delivered by experts, met with professional politicians from Europe and Lebanon, met LIDTA 2020 alumni and attended a high-level discussion on coalition building.
Over a period of four days, LIDTA participants were taken through a series of training delivered by experts in their respective fields.
Roald van der Linde, a former Member of Dutch Parliament for VVD (2012-2021) and lead trainer, guided the young leaders through a series of sessions where they got to know each other and discussed their political ambitions.
Participants received the results from their Lumina personality tests. Lumina trainer, Robert in ‘t Veld, focused first on what personal values and attributes drive them to strive for liberal values, as well as beginning work on interpersonal skills required for any aspiring politician.
Karima Bouchtaoui, a member of a provincial council in Rotterdam and campaign trainer, took the group through training on how to craft a personal story to effectively communicate with voters and how to draw inspiration from their own personal experiences.
Participants had the unique opportunity to attend an intimate round table discussion, learning first-hand about coalition building. In this closed session, Minister of Civil Service and Reform of the Administration Andorra – Judith Pallarés i Cortes, Vice President Future Movement and Vice president Al Huria Liberal Network – Mustafa Allouch, Dutch Ambassador to Lebanon – H.E. Hans Peter van der Woude, and VVD Member of the Provincial Council – Karima Bouchtaoui engaged with the participants and addressed comparisons between Europe and MENA in forming successful coalitions. This session was moderated by lead trainer Roald van der Linde.
Leaders will meet again in November 2021 to continue their fourth training session and deepen the connections already made in the past few sessions.
The purpose of the Academy is to build and strengthen a network in the region, for participants as well as for internationally-minded liberal organisations; cycling through participants has no value if the skills they are taught cannot be continued to be supported once they graduate.
