Tag Archives: africa liberal network

Africa Liberal Network takes a strong stand against gender-based violence

By Harriet Shone | Mon 27th March 2017 - 9:08 am

At the 13th Annual Africa Liberal Network (ALN) General Assembly, Africa’s largest political network adopted the flagship Nairobi Delegation condemning the common practice of violence against women on the continent and committing the Network’s members to working stringently to eliminate gender-based violence in their home countries.

Acknowledging that violence against women remains one of the most widespread forms of human rights violations, the ALN has committed to working with their partners in Liberal International (LI) and liberal parties across the world, in opposition and in government, to condemn and eliminate gender-based violence.

The Network’s members agreed to promote and, where in government, implement policies to secure women’s access to education – the single most effective method of empowerment – as well as working with judicial branches and police forces to ensure the effective protection of women from acts of violence.

The declaration also commits ALN members to working to bring more women into public life and politics, believing strongly that we can only eliminate violence against women when women are comfortable taking over leadership roles.

Posted in Op-eds | 5 Comments

Africa Liberal Network undertakes first ever election observation mission in Zanzibar

By Luke Akal | Mon 16th November 2015 - 1:26 pm

White sandy beaches, glamorous resorts, history and beautiful architecture. These are some of the things that come to mind when we think of the exotic island of Zanzibar. But for the Africa Liberal Network (ALN), Zanzibar was – and is – much more than that.

For the ALN, Zanzibar was the destination for our first-ever election observation mission. Following the unanimous decision taken by the network’s executive committee, the ALN Secretariat arranged and coordinated this mission in partnership with the LibDem International Office and the Friederich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF). The mission was led by our East Africa Vice President, Rosemary Kariuki (Orange Democratic Movement, Kenya).

Arriving in Zanzibar, the team and I quickly realised that we were truly the ‘’guinea pigs’’ of this new ALN project, and what an exciting challenge it was!

A liberal postcard from South Africa…

By Luke Akal | Thu 22nd October 2015 - 12:57 pm

Dear Liberal Friends,

It is a great privilege to introduce myself to you all as the new Coordinator for the Africa Liberal Network (ALN). The ALN is the largest network of political parties in Africa and has been strongly supported by the Liberal Democrats, through the work of the International Office, since its inception in 2001.

I have recently taken up the position and the Secretariat remains based here at the Federal Head Office of the Democratic Alliance in Cape Town, South Africa.

I am originally from Nelspruit (Mpumalanga), South Africa, but grew up and lived majority of my life in Cape Town. I began my interest in politics as an activist and volunteer. This passion was then pursued during my undergraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch and the University of South Africa, where I graduated with a degree in Politics and Communication Science.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged a postcard from and luke akal | 1 Comment

Africa Liberal Network General Assembly concludes with spectacular success

By Harriet Shone | Mon 15th December 2014 - 11:52 am

This year saw the 11^th Africa Liberal Network (ALN) General Assembly, which took place in Marrakech, Morocco, between 26 – 29 November 2014. President of the ALN Olivier Kamitatu said: “This year, the ALN accomplished a number of historic firsts including the election of a gender representative executive committee, the adoption of a robust new constitution and the acceptance of 9 new observer member parties, taking the total number of members to the largest in the Network’s history, with 44 parties.”

It was also the first conference to bring the ALN and the Arab Alliance for Freedom and Democracy together making this the biggest in the history of the network with over 90 delegates from 22 African countries.

Posted in News | Also tagged Liberal Democrats’ International Office and westminster foundation for democracy | 5 Comments