The International Young Democrat Union is an international grouping of centre-right

Centre-right

The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

 political youth organisations, encompassing conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

, classical liberal, and Christian democratic

Christian Democracy

Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...

 traditions. It is the youth wing

Youth wing

A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous or independently-allied front of a larger organization that is formed in order to rally support and allegiance for that organization's campaigns from members and potential members of a younger age...

 of the International Democrat Union

International Democrat Union

The International Democrat Union, abbreviated to IDU, is a centre-right international alliance of conservative and liberal-conservative political parties. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, the IDU comprises 45 full or associate members...

 (IDU), which brings together centre-right political parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

. It is headquartered in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

The organisation specialises in bringing together young people of great skill and talent to network and develop political and professional partnerships. Meetings often include the presence of current or former heads of state and prominent historical political figures from the conservative or right-of-centre spectrum.

The IYDU is an international political youth organisation comprising over 100 organisations from 50 countries. The IYDU links right-of-centre political youth organisations internationally.

Freedom agenda

Among other activities the organisation runs a "Freedom Campaign" dedicated to supporting democratic conservative movements and free-market groups in nations under authoritarian dictatorships. Nations targeted by this campaign include:

• Burma
• People's Republic of China
  People's Republic of China
  China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
  
  
• North Korea
  North Korea
  The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
  
  
• Iran
  Iran
  Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
  
  
• Belarus
  Belarus
  Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
  
  
• Zimbabwe
  Zimbabwe
  Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
  
  
• Haiti
  Haiti
  Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
  
  
• Cuba
  Cuba
  The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
  
  
• Syria
  Syria
  Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
  
  
• Libya
  Libya
  Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
  
  
• Vietnam
  Vietnam
  Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
  
  

Chairmen

Name	Years	Country	Organisation
Elmar Brok Elmar Brok Elmar Brok is a German Member of the European Parliament and the former Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was elected on the CDU ticket and sits with the European People's Party group...	1981 – 1983	Germany	Junge Union Junge Union The Junge Union Deutschlands or JU is the jointyouth organisation of the two conservative German political parties CDU and CSU...
Mark Heywood	1992 – 1994	Australia	Young Liberals Young Liberals (Australia) The Young Liberal Movement is the youth division of the Liberal Party of Australia, and membership is open to those between 16 and 30 years of age. Members of Young Liberals have full party-membership, and have the choice of which part they join...
Tony Zagotta	1994 – 1998	United States	College Republicans College Republicans The College Republican National Committee is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States...
Andrew Rosindell Andrew Rosindell Andrew Richard Rosindell is an English Conservative politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Romford constituency in Greater London...	1998 – 2002	United Kingdom	Conservative Future Conservative Future Conservative Future, abbreviated to CF, is the youth movement of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom for members aged up to 30 years old.Founded in 1998, Conservative Future is the largest political organisation on British campuses...
Shane Frith Shane Frith Shane Frith is a New Zealand politician and political activist. He is director of the Brussels-based think tank New Direction. He was director of Progressive Vision, a classical liberal think tank in London, and managing director of the Stockholm Network, an international network of classical...	2002 – 2004	New Zealand	Young Nationals New Zealand Young Nationals The New Zealand Young Nationals are the youth wing of the New Zealand National Party a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is a member of the International Young Democrat Union.-History:...
Donald Simpson	2004 – 2006	United Kingdom	Conservative Future Scotland Conservative Future Scotland Conservative Future Scotland is the youth wing of the Scottish Conservative Party.The organisation formed in early 2005 by the merger of the Scottish Young Conservatives and the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Students group, a process which had happened with its sister organisation in the...
Peter Skovholt Gitmark Peter Skovholt Gitmark Peter Skovholt Gitmark is a Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party. He is currently a representative of Vest-Agder in the Storting, first elected in 2005...	2006 – 2008	Norway	Young Conservatives Norwegian Young Conservatives Norwegian Young Conservatives is a Norwegian youth party. Its ideology is liberal conservatism, and the party is in many ways more liberal than its mother party, Conservative Party of Norway. Henrik Asheim succeeded Torbjørn Røe Isaksen as leader in 2008.- Leaders :...
Tim Dier	2008 – 2010	United Kingdom	Conservative Future Conservative Future Conservative Future, abbreviated to CF, is the youth movement of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom for members aged up to 30 years old.Founded in 1998, Conservative Future is the largest political organisation on British campuses...
Daniel Walther	2010 – present	Germany	Junge Union Junge Union The Junge Union Deutschlands or JU is the jointyouth organisation of the two conservative German political parties CDU and CSU...

External links

• IYDU official site