More than 170 invitees filled the auditorium of the Sawy Cultural Centre in Zamalek/Cairo on the evening of June 16, 2009 for the award ceremony of the essay writing competition "Why I am liberal" jointly organized by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) and the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth (EULY). An evening of suspense and joy - and a series of prominent liberal speeches culminated when Mr. Hani Abdel Malak of FNF announced the first winner of the competition: The first prize – an invitation to a leadership training in Germany – went to Mr. Mohamed Saad Mohamed, a young leader of the liberal Al Ghad Party from Alexandria for his essay "Liberalism is sustained by Flexibility".

Towards the end of the two hours event, Mr. Mohamed was joined on the stage by 17 other prize-winning authors. Their essays also are published in the book entitled "Why I am liberal. Youthful texts on liberalism" presented to the public during the ceremony. All the winners addressed the audience and gave short messages why they consider themselves liberals. Their winning essays deal with various subjects - political, social and also personal: "I chose liberalism because I am a woman," is the title of the work by Ms. Hind Hassan, or: "Whoever is different is not against me", argues Ms. Mariam Mourad Ali in another prize winning contribution.

Addressing the audience, FNF’s Regional Director Dr. Ronald Meinardus highlighted the importance of the competition and the ensuing publication: "This book shows the strength and the intellectual vigour of the liberal youth movement of Egypt". He added that the Foundation would continue on the path to promote liberal thoughts and ideas of Egyptian and Arab writers and thinkers and demonstrate that these ideas are entrenched in the midst of Egyptian society. Speaking on behalf of the 4-member-committee of judges, Dr. Gamal Abdel Gawwad said he found all the contributions "really refreshing, great". They show us "how the young people of Egypt think today", he said.

For most of the young liberal writers it was the first time to see their thoughts published and acclaimed in public. Apart from the personal joy of being a winner, the political message of the event was not lost. Said Mrs. Cynthia Ferhat, whose essay "Richness lies in Difference" was also chosen: "It was the first time that the Egyptian liberal youth was awarded and not punished for their contribution." She added: "For me and others, this was a very special evening. It is very rare in Egypt, that young people talk and the old actually listen."

The event in the Sawy centre, which was cosponsored by Egypt’s leading broad sheet newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, attracted half a dozen television channels and many journalists from the press and online media. An English translation of the book will be published soon. Meanwhile FNF is planning a new series of educative and innovative public events under the slogan "Ana librali" (I am liberal).

More information is available at www.librali.net and the FNF Regional Office’s Fan-Page at Facebook.