OUAGADOUGOU DECLARATION ADOPTED AT THE 2020 GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON
14 FEBRUARY 2020, BURKINA FASO

Recommendations on the theme: Peace and stability for economic and social development

• Considering its General Assembly, convened during 13 – 15 February 2020 in Ouagadougou, themed: Peace and stability for Economic and Social Development in Africa;
• Recalling the principle of solidarity and union of liberal parties to meet the aspirations of the African populations who expect from governance more justice, more peace and stability for equitable development;
• Recalling the interactive link between peace and stability, necessary conditions for economic and social development understood as a situation where there are no prospects for wealth, acquiring knowledge, power and whose achievement requires predictability and durability;
• Deploring the intensification of violence, the increasing attacks and kidnappings perpetrated by extremist groups in several African countries, in recent months, such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, making the security situation worrying and disturbing;
• Considering that respect for the Constitution is the first pledge of stability of a nation;
• Considering that stability and peace, without which all national construction is doomed to failure, constitute the guarantee of a country’s prosperity;
• Recalling the creed of the Africa Liberal Network, which is to defend freedom, democracy and institutions;
• Wishing to promote economic and social development through entrepreneurship and the stimulation of the private sector;
• Aware of the harmful consequences of a constitutional forcing for unconstitutional mandates;
• Noting the perverse effects of the Internet on education, culture, social relations and the animation of political parties;

The Africa Liberal Network (ALN),

• Follows with concern the recent developments in the political crisis in Guinea, born of the will of the President of the Republic, Alpha Condé, to amend the Constitution in order to grant himself a third mandate;
• Recalls its attachment to the limitation of presidential mandates, as indicated in the Liberal Pan-African Manifesto adopted at its General Assembly in Abidjan in 2012;
• Encourages African States to adopt in their Constitution the limitation of mandates in order to promote democratic change and avoid the detention of supreme power by one person for an extended period, with all the known consequences;
• Condemns, therefore, the obstinacy of the Guinean President to change the Constitution of his country, eight months ahead of the end of his second and last mandate, with the sole aim of being able to seek a third term, at the tender age of 83 years;
• Support and encourage the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) – a coalition of opposition political parties, unions and civil society organizations – which is fighting with courage and determination against this project to change the Constitution despite the ruthless repression to which his supporters are subjected to;
• Condemns the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the recurrent use of lethal weapons in Guinea, during political or trade union demonstrations, which have to date resulted in the death of 134 innocent civilian demonstrators who are opposed to the Constitution amendment and the Guinean statutory laws amendment;
• Recommends that the elections in Africa which are a source of instability and conflict take place in compliance with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;

Formulates, in accordance with the principles of peace, stability and economic development of the Liberal Manifesto for Africa, the following recommendations:

1. Bring together traditional, religious and political leaders in each country in order to deeply identify the causes of internal conflicts;
2. Establish an inclusive, frank and permanent dialogue between the living forces of the nation on questions of national interest concerning elections, living together, etc. in order to prevent and mitigate electoral disputes, pre- and post-election violence;
3. Promote inter-religious, inter-ethnic and inter-community dialogue at the base and sanction any case of extremism, however slight, in order to prevent and mitigate inter-community, inter-religious, inter-ethnic conflicts;
4. Mobilize and involve all internal human resources for effective and less costly management of the consequences of conflicts and promote traditional and endogenous mechanisms for managing the consequences of conflicts;
5. Improve governance in our young states to assert the authority of the state without violence;
6. Respect individual and collective freedoms with a view to accepting differences and building strong nations;
7. Identify areas of complementarity in terms of conflict prevention and the sustainability of peace in the region with a view to pooling efforts for greater efficiency;
8. Identify the mechanisms, indicators and actors for the effective implementation of preventive diplomacy by the early warning system;
9. Promote a new model of economic development, based on a dynamic private sector, independent of the ruling system but rather supported by innovation and by sustainable, decent employment for young people and women;
10. Know how to count on your own strength. This requires an effort to mobilize internal resources by finding specific mechanisms for financing development projects and programs in crisis countries aimed at promoting the collective interest while relying on private actors and market instruments and in working for solidarity between African countries;
11. Promote economic integration through intra-Africa trade and the creation of optimal monetary zones.

As the Africa Liberal Network, we call upon ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to refer to their statutory obligations and action appropriate measures applicable to President Alpha Condé and intervene to:

• Stop the massacre of Guinean compatriots;
• Respect the Constitution of the Republic by renouncing the illegal and conflict-generating third term project;
• Complete the local elections in accordance with the Electoral Code and the Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 26, 2019;
• Organize free, transparent and inclusive elections based on a Consensual Electoral Register, faithfully reflecting the reality of the electoral body;
• Open a dialogue in good faith with the Opposition to resolve differences and organize free, transparent and inclusive elections for both the legislative and presidential elections of 2020;
• Conduct serious investigations to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the crimes during demonstrations against the third term.

14 February 2020 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Marrakech Declaration on Women’s (Political) Empowerment

Building on the adoption of the Nairobi Declaration on Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women and the Andorra Liberal Manifesto, we the member parties of the Africa Liberal Network, lament the status of women in our countries, and see the improvement of women’s lives as a primary political goal. We acknowledge the unequal distribution of economic and political power between men and women in our countries and recognise this as an obstacle for the realisation of life, liberty, autonomy and equal access to civil and political rights for women in Africa.

The UN Women report Progress of the world’s women 2015–2016: Transforming economies, realizing rights highlights the need for resolute action within our developing countries to deal with these issues promptly. Not only for the sake of individual women, but also for the modernisation and sustainable institutional change in Africa.

Similarly, the 2019 Global Gender Gap Report recognizes the achievements of several African countries like Rwanda and Namibia in closing the gender gap, although improvements in the Sub- Saharan African region still leave much to be desired.

As liberals, we want to see women flourish as individuals, and be able to realise their dreams and potential on equal terms with men. For us to achieve this goal, we, the member parties of the Africa Liberal Network, propose the following declaration, to promote agency and autonomy of women in Africa.

We therefore commit ourselves to:

1. Promote female representation and participation in all executive and legislative bodies while also acknowledging that simply having a numerical representation of women does not accurately represent an equal distribution of power. Therefore, measures should be made to enable women to enjoy true equality not only in principle, but also in outcomes.
2. Enable women to increase their economic liberties by promoting female entrepreneurship and leadership and ensuring equal access to the formal labour market as a necessary condition for achieving true power and autonomy for women
3. To counter traditional and stereotypical views on the role of women in society, which have traditionally forced women into low-income jobs or unpaid care and domestic work.
4. Proclaim that women should not only enjoy the same level of education but should also be able to compete with men on equal terms in all labour markets.
5. Adopt, expand and ensure an equal access to a formal social security system which will enable women to pursue careers without having to remain in informal and traditional family structures.
6. Promote female agency in politics, give equal access to political or civil society experience, as well as education. This is essential in giving women equal ability to formalize independent goals and policies. Formal access to political posts is not enough. Instead, women should have the right to be included into political party structures and formal and informal power spheres.
7. Make everyone enjoy true freedom of expression, without threat of repercussions based on stereotypes or gender roles.
8. Eliminate all forms of physical violence and verbal harassment against politically active women as a prerequisite for attracting more women into politics

As a clear signal of our network’s conviction in these issues, we obligate ourselves to these actions:

1. Formulate a clear strategy for promoting the status and inclusion of women in ALN parties and related organisations;
2. To include the above principles when proposing candidates within our parties;
3. To encourage and support internal education and formal training for women within our parties in order to allow for experienced female candidates;
4. To actively seek to attract talented women for political party membership and activities;
5. Through the ALN Executive Committee, work with Liberal International’s Human Rights Committee as a represented committee on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council when promoting and advancing political party diversity and inclusivity;
6. To actively work with civil society and other relevant stakeholders on the African Continent in achieving the goals set out above

Nairobi Declaration on Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women / Déclaration de Nairobi sur la prévention et l’élimination de la violence à l’égard des femmes

We, the member parties of the Africa Liberal network, understanding that violence against women and domestic violence constitutes one of the most widespread forms of human rights violations, is a major impediment to economic development, and prevents the fulfilment of all other basic rights, hereby set out the ALN Nairobi Declaration on Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women. Building on the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Platform of Action, UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and the ALN Marrakech Declaration on Human Rights, we commit to work towards the full elimination and prevention of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls in Africa. We further commit to achieve full gender equality by 2030 in accordance with the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The member parties of the ALN undertake to work and promote, through cooperation with Liberal International (LI) and its member parties, the LI Human Rights Committee, and other global and regional institutions, towards the fulfilment of these commitments by all state institutions across Africa. In particular we identify the following as key priorities for political action:

1. Recognising that the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is the most far-reaching legally binding international instrument addressing violence against women both as a form of discrimination and a human rights violation and as such can serve as a guiding principle for all relevant national and regional legislation
2. Recognising the positive effects for women’s economic and political empowerment which stem from ending violence against women, including by eliminating violence against women in politics, and formulating party and government policies to deliver progress on this key issue
3. Ensuring the implementation and application of laws designed to prevent all forms of gender-based violence including psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, and sexual violence such as rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced abortion, forced sterilisation and sexual harassment. The ALN member parties are committed to adopting measures to end these abuses.
4. Ensuring the implementation and application of laws which include provisions for achieving equality between women and men as the most effective and genuine way of ending and preventing violence against women
5. Ensuring the implementation and application of laws designed to prevent all forms of gender-based violence which contain a definition of gender thus applying a gender perspective in the design and evaluation of measures taken in their implementation
6. Ensuring that law enforcement and judiciary officers protect women’s rights at all time
7. Recognizing that state institutions, officials, politicians and elected bodies have a responsibility to speak up on behalf of women
8. Understanding that it is imperative for states to create a dual assessment framework whereby accountability lies not only with the perpetrators of the violence but also with all those who fail to protect and prevent
9. Securing the provision of a specific implementation monitoring mechanism in all legislation aimed at preventing violence against women and domestic violence
10. Recognizing the importance of engaging men, the media and civil society at changing attitudes and eliminating stereotypes at both the individual and institutional level in regards to the role of women and girls in society
11. Understanding that equal access to education for all women and girls is crucial for their economic and political empowerment which in turn is a major deterrent to violence
12. Recognising the necessity for implementing gender-sensitive asylum provisions whereby migrant and refugee women are acknowledged as a particularly vulnerable group thus requiring states to recognise gender-based violence as a ground for asylum

We commit to this ALN Nairobi Declaration on Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women Framework, and encourage all governments and political parties across the African continent to adopt these principles, and to integrate them into their manifestos as a basis for action(s) to be taken.

Nous, les partis membres du Réseau Libéral Africain, comprenant que la violence à l’égard les femmes et la violence conjugale constituent l’une des formes les plus répandues de violations des droits de l’homme, entrave considérablement le développement économique et empêche l’accomplissement de tous les autres droits fondamentaux, par la présente exposons la Déclaration de Nairobi du RLA sur la prévention et l’élimination de la violence à l’égard les femmes. S’appuyant sur la Convention des Nations Unies sur l’élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination à l’égard des femmes, la Déclaration et Programme d’action de Beijing, la Résolution 1325 du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies et la Déclaration de Marrakech du RLA sur les droits de l’homme, nous nous engageons à éliminer et à prévenir tous les formes de discrimination et de violence à l’égard des femmes et des filles en Afrique. Nous nous engageons en outre à parvenir à une pleine égalité des sexes d’ici 2030, conformément au Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 des Nations Unies. Les partis membres du RLA s’engagent à travailler et à promouvoir, par la coopération de Liberal International (LI) et de ses partis membres, le LI Commission des droits de l’homme, et d’autres institutions mondiales et régionales, en vue de la réalisation de ces engagements par toutes les institutions publiques de l’Afrique. En particulier, nous identifions les priorités suivantes pour l’action politique :

1. Reconnaissant que la Convention d’Istanbul du Conseil de l’Europe sur la prévention et la lutte contre la violence à l’égard des femmes et la violence domestique est l’instrument international juridiquement contraignant de la plus grande portée qui traite la violence à l’égard des femmes comme une forme de discrimination et une violation des droits de l’homme. Par conséquent, c’est le principe directeur pour toutes les législations nationales et régionales
2. Reconnaissant les effets positifs de l’émancipation économique et politique des femmes qui découlent de l’élimination de la violence à l’égard des femmes, notamment en éliminant la violence à l’égard des femmes en politique et en formulant des politiques des partis et du gouvernement pour progresser sur cette question clé
3. Assurer la mise en œuvre et l’application des lois visant à prévenir toutes les formes de violence sexiste, y compris la violence psychologique, le harcèlement, la violence physique et la violence sexuelle tels que le viol, le mariage forcé, les mutilations génitales féminines, l’avortement forcé, la stérilisation forcée et le harcèlement sexuel. Les partis membres du RLA sont déterminés à adopter des mesures pour mettre fin à ces abus.
4. Veiller à la mise en œuvre et à l’application des lois qui prévoient des dispositions visant à parvenir à l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes en tant que moyen le plus efficace et authentique de mettre un terme et de prévenir la violence à l’égard des femmes
5. Assurer la mise en œuvre et l’application des lois visant à prévenir toutes les formes de violence sexiste qui contiennent une définition du sexe en appliquant ainsi une perspective sexospécifique dans la conception et l’évaluation des mesures prises dans leur mise en œuvre
6. Veiller à ce que le police et les magistrats protègent en permanence les droits des femmes
7. Reconnaissant que les institutions étatiques, les fonctionnaires, les responsables politiques et les organes élus ont la responsabilité de prendre la parole au nom des femmes
8. Comprendre qu’il est impératif pour les États de créer un cadre d’évaluation dans lequel la responsabilité incombe non seulement aux auteurs de la violence, mais aussi à tous ceux qui ne protègent pas et ne les empêchent pas
9. Assurer la mise en place d’un mécanisme spécifique de suivi de la mise en œuvre dans toute la législation visant à prévenir la violence à l’égard des femmes et la violence domestique
10. Reconnaissant l’importance de faire participer les hommes, les médias et la société civile aux changements d’attitude et à l’élimination des stéréotypes au niveau individuel et institutionnel en ce qui concerne le rôle des femmes et des filles dans la société
11. Comprendre que l’égalité d’accès à l’éducation pour toutes les femmes et les filles est cruciale pour leur habilitation économique et politique qui, à son tour, est un facteur de dissuasion majeur de la violence
12. Reconnaissant la nécessité de mettre en œuvre des dispositions d’asile sensibles au sexe en vertu desquelles les femmes migrantes et réfugiées sont reconnues comme un groupe particulièrement vulnérable, exigeant ainsi que les États reconnaissent la violence sexiste comme un motif d’asile

Liberal Democratic parties 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.
• Establishing free market economies.

THE AFRICA LIBERAL NETWORK, WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL, EXISTS TO;

Facilitate the development and growth of Liberal Democratic parties in all African countries. Encourage solidarity among member parties with the aim of assisting them to achieve power through democratic means; the creation of a Liberal Democratic Africa.

THE AFRICA LIBERAL NETWORK WILL;

1. Establish an alliance of like-minded Liberal Democratic parties in Africa for the sharing of information, experiences, skills and ideas.
2. Assist member parties to promote Liberal Democracy within their own countries and throughout Africa by providing support (either through reciprocal/ bilateral means or from donor institutes) in the areas of:
   • Election support- exchange visits, support through capacity building, identification of campaign issues, and the sharing of physical, financial and human resources.
   • Supporting parties in difficulty, rapidly and appropriately.
   • Policy development / details.
   • Party organisation and development, creation of mass membership and support.
   • Civic awareness, voter education and registration.
   • Media, press and lobbying, training, joint statements to international press.
   • Training, training the trainers.
   • Meetings of the network, regional meetings.
   • Networking between liberal women, youth and local representatives.
   • Establishing information exchange through a website, newsletter, (e-mail) bulletin.
   • Communication among and between African parties.
   • Co-ordination with other institutes.
   • Lobbying and project bids.
3. Seek to expand membership of the network, by existing members supporting inclusion of like-minded parties from their regions who aspire to the terms of the Johannesburg Declaration and are accepted by a majority of existing members.