The Africa Liberal Network is composed of 16 parties in Africa, from 14 different countries, and is an associated organisation of Liberal International, the political family to which Liberal Democratic parties belong. The ALN serves to promote liberal democratic objectives and principles throughout the African continent. The parties involved in the network are bound by a policy stating that they: exist to ensure the freedom and dignity of all people through; establishing political and civil rights, ensuring basic freedoms, the rule of law, democratic government based on free and fair elections with peaceful transition, ensuring religious, gender, and minority rights, fighting corruption, and establishing free market economies. This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology, not the usage of the term in specific countries. ... Look up Politics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Politics (disambiguation) Democracy History of democracy List of democracy and elections-related topics List of years in politics List of politics by country articles Political corruption Political economy Political movement Political parties of the world Political party Political psychology Political sociology Political... Classical liberalism is a political and economic philosophy. ... American liberalism (also called modern liberalism) is a political current that claims descent from classical liberalism in terms of devotion to individual liberty, but rejects the laissez faire economics of classical liberalism in favor of institutions that promote social and economic equity. ... The liberal theory of economics is the theory of economics described by classical liberal authors such as Anders Chydenius, Adam Smith and the French Physiocrats. ... According to federalism, the state must create a proper legal environment for the economy and to maintain a healthy level of competition through measures that adhere to market principles. ... In political science, the label radical denotes one who desires extreme change of all or part of the social order. (Britannica Deluxe CD2000). ... Social liberalism is either a synonym for new liberalism or a label used by progressive liberal parties in order to differentiate themselves from the more conservative liberal parties, especially when there are two or more liberal parties in a country. ... This is an (partial) overview of individuals that contributed to the development of liberal theory on a worldwide scale and therefore are strongly associated with the liberal tradition and instrumental in the exposition of political liberalism as a philosophy. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy... A mixed economy is an economy that combines capitalism and socialism [1]. Some sources prefer the use of command economy over socialism in defining a mixed economy (see external links below). ... Individual rights is a legal term referring to what one is allowed to do and what can be done to an individual. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... The philosophical concept of negative liberty is the absence of coercion from others. ... Positive liberty, essentially identical with the concept of positive right, an idea that was first expressed and analyzed as a separate conception of liberty by John Stuart Mill but most notably described by Isaiah Berlin, refers to the ability to act to fulfill ones own potential, as opposed to... Liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy where the ability of elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law and moderated by a constitution which emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and minorities (also called constitutional liberalism), and which... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article discusses liberalism as a major political current in specific regions and countries. ... The Liberal International is an international organization for liberal parties. ... Logo of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (founded in 1993) is a liberal party, active in the European Union, uniting liberal and centrist parties around Europe which together represent more than 20 million European voters and is an international non-profit... ALDE logo The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (French: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour lEurope) is a Group in the European Parliament. ... This article is part of or related to the Liberalism series Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | International liberal organizations ... The Liberal Network for Latin America (Red Liberal de América Latina, RELIAL) is an international network founded in 2003 with the official launch taking place in Costa Rica November 2004. ...

Objectives

· Facilitate the development and growth of Liberal Democratic parties. · Encourage solidarity among member parties with the aim of assisting them to achieve power through democratic means. · Establish an alliance of like-minded Liberal Democratic parties in Africa for sharing information and experiences.

Projects and Activities

The ALN focuses on:

· Coordination and Leadership Meetings · Election/Campaign support · Policy development · Party organisation and development · Political education, civic awareness, voter education and registration · Joint policy positions · Training seminars, workshops. · Gender and youth Mainstreaming · Information and Skills exchange through visits, website, bulletin, publications, research.

Brief History

The network developed from what was originally the Organisation of African Liberal Parties and was established during an initial meeting of parties in Mombassa in July 2001. It was formally launched at a subsequent meeting in Johannesburg in June 2003. This meeting adopted the Johannesburg Declaration, committing the parties to core liberal democratic principles. The network is now run from the Liberal Democrats headquarters in London, but the hope is to have more regional based representation of the Network in Africa in the future. At present, however, the focus is on laying the foundation for the network and ensuring that it is sustainable before such a move is contemplated.

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy primarily supports the ALN and since its inception it has maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with other partners. To ensure sustainability the ALN is seeking to diversity and broaden its support and partnership base to include other institutions.

ALN Secretariat Nelson Muffuh 4 Cowley Street Westminster, London, UK SW1P 3NB Tel.: +44 20 7227 1369, Fax: +44 20 7227 1375, Email: n.muffuh@libdems.org.uk, Website: www.africaliberalnetwork.org

External link

• Africa Liberal Network official site