Press Release

Third Annual Asia Young Leaders for Democracy (AYLD) Program concluded with inspiration to form youth democracy network in Asia

        The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) has held the third annual Asia Young Leaders for Democracy (AYLD) program and concluded today with participants penning a plan to form a youth-based democracy network in Asia. This year, the program includes 22 international participants from 18 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe and northern Africa, as well as three Taiwanese participants. The participants of this year’s AYLD already had rich experiences participating in social movements or working in NGOs in their respective countries.

        This year, the TFD invited leading scholars, NGO and civil society leaders, and government officials from Taiwan and overseas, such as Mr. Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, Professor Larry Diamond of Stanford University, Dr. Amor Boubakri, a Jasmine Revolution participant and former member of Tunisia’s National Commission of Human Rights, Dr. Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, an expert on Taiwan social movements and Distinguished Research Fellow from Academia Sinica’s Institute of Sociology, Taiwan’s former representative to France, Ambassador (Dr.) Michel Lu, Dr. Michael Y. M. Kau, Senior Research Fellow at TFD and Taiwan’s former Representative to European Union, Professor Jan Zielonka, expert in European politics, and Ms. Po-yu Tseng, a Sunflower Student Movement activist and legislative candidate for the Green Party for the 2016 general elections, to serve as speakers on a range of topics regarding democracy and human rights.

        In addition to these in-depth lectures and discussions, the participants also visited the Legislative Yuan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which the participants were received by Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister, Dr. Chih-chung Wu and engaged in substantive discussion on Taiwan’s foreign relations. Other than visits to Taiwan’s political institution, the participants also visited Jingmei Human Rights Memorial and Culture Park, and Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation to further their understanding on historical development of Taiwan’s human rights and democracy. Moreover, on the weekend, the participants traveled to Tainan, Taiwan’s oldest capital, to further their understanding on Taiwan’s multifaceted history.

        The AYLD program began in 2014, with the intent to encourage young Asian leaders who have been working in democracy and human rights movements. The goal of the program is, through understanding of the core values of democracy, human rights, and good governance, as well as the challenges and opportunities that may be faced during the process of democratization, the participants can be even more active in their participation in public affairs.

        Before the end of the program, participants discussed, through a roundtable discussion, the extent to which a network of young democracy advocates can be realized. The participants concluded that they will keep in touch with one another through social media and will report to TFD and other AYLD alumni on the current political situation of their respective countries as well as their NGO endeavors. The participants also expressed that in the past two weeks, they not only gained knowledge on Taiwan’s political history, but they also became even more positive and hopeful on their efforts to push for democratization and deepening of human rights.

For more information please contact:

Mr. Bo Tedards (02)2708-0100 Ext.601 or email: bo@tfd.org.tw