Liberal Democrat International

Wishing you all the best for 2021 🎄🌟

Earlier today we attended the ALDE Party Council Meeting - first ever online edition! Together with liberals from across Europe we discussed some of Europe’s most pressing challenges and the liberal solutions. Great to see everyone again, albeit virtually.

‪🔶If you are interested in applying to the European Women’s Academy (EWA) class of 2020 - send an email to [email protected] and we will give you all the necessary information. ‬🔶

On the occasion of we would like to showcase the Women’s Leadership Programme that we run together with the Africa Liberal Network and Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

We launched Africa Liberal Network’s Women’s Leadership Programme in 2019 where 14 brilliant campaigners got the chance to develop their leadership skills further. After a year long mentoring and training programme they graduated and right now we are training another 14 excellent women in the WLP class of 2020.

We are very proud of working with excellent women from all over Africa producing the future liberal women leaders of the world.

Check out our new Women’s Leadership Programme participants for 2020👇👩‍💼

Together with the Foundation for Democracy - Multi-Party and the Liberal Democrats, we are meeting the15 participants of our Leadership Programme 2020, hosted in Nairobi, Kenya by our the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)

We want to wish the Africa Liberal Network a fruitful, engaging and safe General Assembly as they kick off their 16th annual GA in Ouagadougou 🇧🇫🌍

We would like to wish our Irish sister party Fianna Fáil good luck today as Ireland heads to the ballot box!

Joyce Onstad, member of our Federal International Relations Committee, partook in the 2019 European Women’s Academy.

This multi-part series will let you in on her experience of the academy [PART 1/5].

Introduction of yourself, your political experience and your current role within the Lib Dems

I joined the Lib Dems in 2015 after that catastrophic election in which the party moved from having 57 seats in parliament to only 8, out of which non were held by women or members of a minority community. I signed up in order to help the party recover, improve its diversity and ensure that there is a strong voice for the values of fairness, freedom, equality and internationalism.

Since then, I have held various roles within the party, starting from being the treasurer for Lib Dem Women, to being a member of the Ealing Executive, a member of the Federal Board and board representative to the Federal International Relations Committee. Until this month, I was Vice Chair of the Federal Board. I have also run for local and parliamentarian elections and I am currently number 5 on the list of the London Assembly candidates for May 2020.

On Brexit Day – Progressives Must Fight On

For the last four years, the Liberal Democrats fought to stop Brexit, and all of you that shared our beliefs that Brexit was fundamentally wrong for the UK held street stalls, town halls, and came out and marched in millions to make sure others would know that too.

So tonight, when the clock strikes 11pm, we can all stand strong in the knowledge that we did everything we could.
Worries about what the future holds – for families, communities, and businesses – are shared by us all, but our pro-Europeanism is build on patriotism and Britain’s European story does not end tonight. Our futures, just like our histories, are inevitably intertwined.

The UK’s response to the huge challenges that now lies before us must not be defined by Boris Johnson and the others who are responsible for Brexit, but by us: progressives, together.

Through pain comes wisdom, and the immense pain we feel tomorrow should at least remind us of one important truth:

That which unites us is far greater than that which divides us.

That is true whether “us” is the United Kingdom, Europe or humankind.

And it is also true of “us” as progressives.

We cannot let small disagreements or tribal labels stand in the way of our common values: Compassion. Fairness. Equality. Internationalism.

So as our movement regroups, let us remember that we are larger than ever and that creating economic opportunity, achieving social justice and protecting our environment can be achieved only by being open, inclusive, outward-looking and optimistic.

That is who we are. That is what we will be. And that is the future we will build.

Regretfully, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on 31st January 2020. Amongst other things, this means that people living in the UK interested in becoming ALDE Individual Members can no longer do so after 31st January. However, If you register now they will honour your membership for 1 year.

Do you want to continue being liberal in Europe? Join ALDE Party Individual Members!

One year membership of ALDE Party – Standard Standard membership is €20 per year. However, you can of course choose to pay more as many our members do. Please select the amount that you would like to pay for membership and click ‘Next’. Your individual membership is valid for one year from the date of payment.