Young leaders from liberal Arab political parties laid the ground for the establishment of a pan-Arab liberal youth organization at a regional workshop in Beirut/Lebanon from October 28.-31, 2008. Titled "Cooperation for Freedom: Creating a Liberal Arab Youth Network" the workshop brought together young liberal politicians and activists from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The three-day event was sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) in cooperation with the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL).

In a first step, the participants discussed the ideological and political dimensions of cooperation among Arab liberal youth. In special sessions, they talked about the present economic crisis, the widespread political disenchantment with politics among the Arab youth and the repressive nature of most governments in the region.

Furthermore, the delegates agreed that the organization would be formally established at a General Assembly to be held in the region in early 2009. The organizational preparations for this event and the drafting of the statutes were delegated to a provisional Steering Committee with members representing political youth wings in Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon.

In a special session, Frederik Ferie, vice president of the International Federation for Liberal Youth (IFLRY) gave an overview of liberal international and regional organizations. According to Mr. Ferie, IFLRY represents two million young liberals in all parts of the world.