Our Impact Overseas’ P

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the editor.

International Office UK Liberal Democrats

8-10 Great George Street London SW1P 3AE United Kingdom [email protected] http://www.libdems.org.uk/international

@LibDemInternat LibDemInternat 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword - Iain Gill p. 4

Why Party Political Assistance Matters p. 6

Africa Liberal Network p. 8

Botswana p. 11

Serbia p. 14

Bosnia p.16

South Africa p. 18

Georgia & Moldova p. 20

Political Ideology Barometer p. 22

Conclusion - ‘Our Impact Overseas’ p. 23

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 4 FOREWORD

IAIN GILL HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL OFFICE ipation and representation of women, youth and minority groups such as the LGBT community through strengthening internal party pro- cesses and cultural practices. This is a crucial part of advancing human rights, equality of opportunity and greater internal party democracy. Funded by the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by way of the Westminster Foun- dation for Democracy, we have established an outstanding reputation in the field of democracy develop- While the Liberal Democrats are ment. Evaluations carried out by focused on campaigning across all both DfID and the FCO have con- levels of government and promot- sistently praised our work overseas ing liberal values within the UK, the as the most effective and impactful International Office carries out the projects across the Westminster same functions in transitional de- Foundation for Democracy. mocracies overseas, working with We are very proud of our liberal sister-parties primarily in Af- achievements overseas, and rica, the Middle East and Eastern through constant innovation and Europe. striving for excellence, we are confi- Through providing technical dent that the Liberal Democrats will support in constituency campaign- remain at the forefront of interna- ing, training candidates and policy tional democracy development. development, we enable our sis- Yours, ter-parties to fight elections more effectively and hold governments to account. We promote the partic- FOREWORD 5

In Serbia, we have helped the LDP to become the first political party in the Balkans to form an LGBT committee.

Harriet Shone Project Manager for Serbia

The Africa Liberal Network has grown exponentially and now encompasses 44 political parties across 30 African countries, and is a leading voice in promoting human rights, good governance and economic liberalism across the continent.

Luke Akal Africa Liberal Network Coordinator

In Bosnia we have been working as part of the first ever WFD integrated programme, providing technical support to our sister-party Nasa Stranka, to promote gender equality in politics.

Nick Thorne Project Manager for Bosnia

In Botswana, we helped the BMD to become the official opposition, and to hold the government to account.

Victoria Marsom Lead Trainer for Botswana

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 6 WHY PARTY POLITICAL ASSISTANCE

“Politics is about finding solu- nise the politicians who will run tions to real problems in peo- governments and occupy seats ple’s everyday lives. Interna- in parliaments. tional development is about 3. Parties have a ‘civic function’; politics, and political parties they promote a civic culture, are the most effective vehi- making political participation cles for achieving democratic available for the wider popula- change and socio-economic tion, not only for elites. progress.” “The neglect of political par- Lynne Featherstone ties, and parliaments, can un- former Minister for International Development dermine the very democratic process that development as- Democracy and parties sistance seeks to enhance”

Democracy empowers citizens and Ivan Doherty provides a framework in which they National Democratic Institute can change politics and hold politicians to account, and helps differ- Parties supporting parties ent societal groups to work out their differences through discussion and The Liberal Democrats have devel- compromise rather than conflict. oped strong relationships and pro- vided forums for cooperation with Democracy enables people to pro- a large network of sister-parties. tect their rights and liberties, and at Through building productive trust the centre of democracy are politi- relationship, we are able to share cal parties. experiences to learn from each other. 1. Political parties provide democracy with a ‘representative func- Our approach is not a giver-receiver tion’; they link citizens to the relationship; we organise trainings, state by representing them and conferences and study visits and enable them to participate. exchange skills as equals. This ex- 2. Parties have an ‘institutional change spreads hands-on practical function’; they gather and orga- experience, enabling sister-parties MATTERS 7 and their leadership, MPs, coun- political parties in developing de- cillors, staffers and activists to fulfil mocracies, creating viable alter- their roles in policy development, natives for the electorate. Working legislative oversight and party build- together as sister-parties, we are ing. able to support democracy development, good governance and hu- Through strengthening liberal par- man rights at a level which NGOs ties overseas, we contribute to the and civil society are unable to de- emergence of multi-party politics liver. and greater competition between

Building links with the National League for Democracy in Myanmar. Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Liberal Democrats Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs in the House of Lords, Iain Gill, Head of the International Office, and Robert Woodthorpe Browne, Chair of the International Relations Committee meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 8 AFRICA LIBERAL NETWORK

ALN facts powering liberal parties and spread- ing liberal values in Africa. By being • Launched in 2003 in Jo- a forum to discuss liberal ideas and hannesburg. by offering training and expertise, • Made up of 44 mem- the ALN facilitates the strengthen- ber-parties, of which 32% ing of liberal parties across the con- are in government, 30% in tinent. opposition and 38% embryonic as of November In 2013 ALN took a huge step in 2014. adopting the Zanzibar Declara- • An associated organisation tion on Jobs and Growth in Africa, of Liberal International. committing the member parties to • The largest liberal network free trade, property rights, and im- outside the Alliance of Lib- proved infrastructure among other erals and Democrats for policy initiatives. Many parties have Europe. already incorporated the declara- • Managed by the UK Liber- tion into their economic policies. al Democrats through the ALN Secretariat in Cape In a survey, 75% of ALN respon- Town. dents said their parties had promot- ed new policy initiatives as a result “The Africa Liberal Network of being part of the Liberal Demo- programme, managed by the crat family in Africa. UK Liberal Democrats, was a shining example of an innova- In 2014 the Zanzibar Declaration tive and impactful programme” was followed by the ‘Marrakech Declaration on Human Rights,’ UK Foreign and which formalised the commitment Commonwealth Office to provide free primary and second- Triennial Review 2014 ary education for all children and prohibit discrimination on the basis ALN Successes of sexual orientation – a milestone in the work to promote LGBT rights The African Liberal Network has in Africa. been an effective vehicle for- em 9

The 2014 General Assembly was the biggest in the history of the ALN, with more than 100 delegates attending from 44 political parties across 35 African parties, in addition to representatives from the Arab Alliance for Freedom and Democracy, the Friedrich Nau- mann Foundation, the Dutch VVD party and the Liberal Democrats. (above)

The 2014 General Assembly in Marrakech, bringing together the executives of the ALN and Arab Alliance for Freedom and Democracy. (below)

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 10 AFRICA LIBERAL NETWORK

“The ALN is proactively pursu- Political Communication – providing ing a policy-oriented network invaluable knowledge and tools for that reflects common values ALN parties building future cam- and principles with clearly paigns. measurable impact” Through helping its member parties UK Department for to reach out and connect their elec- International Development torates, the ALN fosters political en- Mid-term Evalulation 2014 gagement and civic culture based on policy and ideology. The ALN is a powerful tool for parties to help themselves and each other – sharing best practice and identifying solutions to common problems. To improve communication strategies, a challenging area for many member-parties, the ALN and the Liberal Democrats pro- duced a ‘Best Practice Guide’ on

The 2013 ALN General Assembly, where the Zanzibar Declaration on jobs and growth was adopted. BOTSWANA 11

A movement for democratic managed not only to stay in the change game but to establish itself as the main opposition party as part of the Since Botswana’s independence in Umbrella for Democratic Change. 1966 it has been a one-party state and opposition parties have strug- Liberal Democrats and the BMD gled to compete. Leading up to the 2014 election, our sister-party the The election in Botswana was the BMD (Botswana Movement for De- final phase of a three year project mocracy) was at a critical juncture. between the Liberal Democrats Their leader, Gomolemo Motswale- and the BMD, a centrist liberal par- di, had died and the future of the ty founded in 2010. The project party was uncertain. With help from helped the BMD to increase grass- the Liberal Democrats, the BMD roots campaigning and recruit lo-

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 12 BOTSWANA

cal leaders, areas where BMD had ernment, the opposition is often ne- identified a need for assistance. The glected, despite its crucial role. Liberal Democrats as well as the Democratic Alliance, our sister-par- An effective opposition holds the ty in South Africa, helped the BMD government to account, scrutinis- to develop their manifesto and mes- es policies and provides a political sage script for the 2014 election. platform for citizens to vocalise their opinions. Through helping out on the ground, the Liberal Democrats engaged The absence of a viable opposition constituency teams from the BMD party can lead to complacent gov- in peer-to-peer discussions on how ernance and corruption. to improve campaigning, for example introducing handwritten letters Through supporting the BMD, the and text messages to connect with Liberal Democrats have played a the voters. role in promoting good governance and democratic change in Botswa- As a result of this project: na.

• The BMD won 30% of the vote “Constructive help on the as part of the Umbrella for Dem- ground makes a huge differ- ocratic Change, increasing its ence, especially when can number of MPs from 6 to 17 build effective relationships • The BMD Secretary General, swiftly. The work we did in Ndaba Gaolathe, won his seat in the 2014 election campaign Bonnington South demonstrates the effective- • Despite the sudden death of its ness of sister-party support.” party leader in July 2014, the BMD gained strength and mo- Victoria Marsom mentum in the election Head of Strategic Strategy and lead trainer in Botswana, 2014 Opposition and democracy

While the discourse on democrati- sation tends to focus on the Gov- 13

BMD Secretary General Ndaba Gaolathe on the campaign trail before winning his seat in Bonnington South

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 14 SERBIA

Promoting Human Rights LGBT-friendly agenda in a country where homophobia is widespread. A challenge all democracies face is They face the challenges both of to be inclusive towards minorities promoting LGBT-rights in national and avoid the ‘Tyranny of the Ma- politics and among their own offi- jority’ – sexual, ethnic or religious cials on the ground. A major mile- minorities are often marginalised stone was reached as the Liberal and see their human rights infringed Democrats worked with the LDP to upon. In Serbia, the Liberal Demo- establish a Human Rights Council crats have been working with our (HRC) as a vehicle for promoting sister-party, the Liberal Democratic LGBT rights. Party (LDP) to establish it as a platform for promoting LGBT (Lesbian, In 2014 we developed a bespoke Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) LGBT training curriculum which is rights, in a country where sexual used in the LDP to improve LGBT minorities face persecution and dis- cultural competency. crimination. The curriculum has been instru- “This is a unique opportunity mental in helping party-members to put the rights of the LGBT advocate LGBT rights. community at centre-stage on the political agenda. This is one of the first projects of its type in the region and makes an important start to tackling issues surrounding homophobia.”

Ed Fordham Lead Trainer and LGBT campaigner

LGBT rights in Serbia Lead trainer Ed Fordham and International Projects Officer The Liberal Democratic Party is a Harriet Shone with LDP International small liberal party in Serbia, with an Secretary Dusan Gamser 15

The Liberal Democrats also deliv- Ultimately, the LDP’s progressive ered two LGBT cultural compe- stance on LGBT rights will ensure tency trainings, which aim to ‘train greater equality of opportunity with- the trainers’, ensuring long-term in the party, and enable the party sustainability, providing LDP mem- to reach out to a broader sector of bers with the tools to further spread the electorate. LGBT cultural competency. “I am incredibly proud that the Inclusive democracy is better LDP has become the first par- democracy ty to establish a Human Rights Council to champion the rights An important part of our work of the LGBT community in involves helping our sister-parties Serbia. to help themselves. By establish- ing the Human Rights Council, the The UK Liberal Democrats LDP has taken a major step to- have been invaluable part- wards becoming a platform for pro- ners to us and we are grateful moting LGBT rights in Serbia and for their unfailing support to plans to roll the LGBT curriculum help LDP become the most out further, with trainings in less LGBT-competent party in Ser- developed and rural regions, where bia.” homophobia is more widespread. Čedomir Jovanović President of the LDP

Ed Fordham (centre), Lib Dem LGBT campaigner, training members of the Human Rights Council in LGBT cultural competency.

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 16 BOSNIA

The ‘Women’s Party’ to learn from the Liberal Democrats’ Candidate Leadership Programme, Fifty percent of the people in the to gain new strategies for support- world are female, but in politics, ing female candidates. In a series of especially in less developed coun- trainings, university seminars and tries, women are often severely study visits, female councillors from under-represented. In Bosnia, the the Liberal Democrats shared their Westminster Foundation for De- experiences with students, youth mocracy has launched an integrat- activists and female candidates. ed programme to promote women in politics, with input from the Lib- In the next phase of the project, eral Democrats, Labour, Conserva- we will assist Nasa Stranka in for- tive and smaller parties. Despite the mulating policies on gender-based introduction of a 50% female quota issues, which will be instrumental in Bosnian political parties, female in reaching out to female voters, candidates continue to suffer from a and lending greater credibility to lack of political support and funding the party’s female candidates. In within their parties, the media gives the longer-term, this will contribute female politicians little coverage and to changing the attitude towards gender equality in Bosnian politics women in politics, and to greater remains a distant goal. female representation.

Our sister-party, Nasa Stranka, “Nasa Stranka has established which translates as ‘Our Party’, is itself as the leading liberal and the most advanced in terms of gen- socially progressive voice in der equality, with 46% female can- Bosnia. With continued sup- didates at the municipal level, earn- port from our international ing them the nickname ‘Women’s partners such as the Liberal party’. Beyond this, Nasa Stranka Democrats, we will give wom- is one of the first political parties in en an equal voice in Bosnian Bosnia to challenge the dominance politics.” of ethnically-driven politics. Through the partnership with the Albin Zuhrić Liberal Democrats, representatives Secretary General of Nasa Stranka from Nasa Stranka have been able 17

Helping the under-represented reach out to female and minority to help the Party voters.

The lack of gender equality and the “It was a privilege to share exclusion of minorities in politics some tips on classic local Lib is an injustice which leads to poor Dem campaign building, vis- governance and representation. ibility in the community and Overcoming this problem is not only how to design a powerful lo- imperative as matter of justice and cal campaign. By the end of equality; it is also the key for political the day, I was convinced that parties to succeed in elections. I had just met Bosnia’s future leaders!” Supporting female and minority Flo Clucas candidates is essential for party to Lib Dem Councillor and trainer

Councillor Flo Clucas sharing Lib Dem campaign strategy with female candidates from Nasa Stranka.

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 18 SOUTH AFRICA

Background bitious young liberals and helps them to develop the skills to suc- In South Africa, the Liberal Dem- ceed as future leaders. ocrats are working with the Dem- ocratic Alliance (DA) through the Through our work, facilitated a Young Leaders Project to help cre- series of retreats, where the can- ate a pool of knowledgeable, artic- didates meet with key decision ulate and emotionally intelligent in- makers within the DA who provide dividuals with the skills to become them with ongoing mentorship. future leaders of the party and the We have increased access to the country. programme for youth from under-

Young Leaders in African Politics

The Democratic Alli- ance is a key member of the African Liberal Network, and a rising star in African politics: in the 2014 Gener- al election the DA increased its share of the vote from 16% to 22%. Supported by the Liberal Democrats, the DA promotes youth with political as- pirations through the Young Leaders Proj- ect.

The programme se- Head of International Office Iain Gill (front right) with alumni lects a number of am from the Young Leaders Project and youth leaders from across Africa. 19 privileged socio-economic back- Good politicians lead to grounds, and several graduates of good governance the programme have moved on to become elected MPs or local coun- The quality of governance is tied cillors for the Democratic Alliance. to the skills of politicians. In transitional democracies without a long In the 2014-2015 period the Young tradition of free and fair elections, Leaders Programme reached a it is imperative that aspiring politi- milestone as an alumni programme cians are equipped with the skills was set up for the top graduates, to to formulate and communicate serve as a foundation upon which policies. Training future leaders we aim to build an Advisory Youth and giving them the opportunity Council in the African Liberal Net- to spread their knowledge is an work. This will ensure that the youth investment which will pay dividends perspective is firmly established for the politicians, their parties and among liberal parties across the Af- their country. rican continent.

“This programme is a gold standard in intra-party youth leadership development. The programme has resulted in a rejuvenation of the leadership of the DA, with significant numbers of the participants that have graduated since 2007 assuming leadership positions in the Par- ty and in elected office.”

DfID Mid Term Evaluation 2014

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 20 GEORGIA & MOLDOVA - COALITIONS

Liberals in Coalition best practice for coalition building in transitional democracies Georgia and Moldova have a similar based on the experience of nu- recent political history as new de- merous European parties, as a mocracies in the shadow of Russia. document for future reference. Over the last few years, our liberal partners (Free Democrats and the • Moldovan Liberal Reformist Republican Party in Georgia; Liberal Party became members of Lib- party and Liberal Reformist Party in eral International. Moldova) have, with help from the Liberal Democrats, become minor • Liberal Reformist Party and coalition partners in both Georgia’s the Liberal Party in Moldova and Moldova’s Governments. improved their relations signifi- cantly and were able to work A peer-to-peer approach with each other in coalition.

The Liberal Democrats have previ- The peer-to-peer approach meant ously worked with our sister-parties that all parties were able to learn in Georgia and Moldova on political from each other and shared their communications tools. Building on unique experiences on how to face that work, we developed a peer- the challenges to liberals in coali- to-peer exchange programme, the tions and how to succeed in a coa- ‘Liberals in Coalition programme’. lition Government.

The programme included Dutch, A counter-weight to extremism German and Danish parties, who all have experience of being Liberal Georgia and Moldova have similar parties in coalition with bigger par- recent political histories – indepen- ties from the left or the right. dence after the fall of the Soviet Union, moderate unrest with siz- The Liberals in Coalition programme able Russian populations in some achieved several important aims: regions - in the Georgian case the unrest turned into armed conflict in • The publication of a guide to 2008. 21

Former Lib Dem MP and WFD Governor Andrew Stunell, and Head of Membership Aus- tin Rathe presenting their experience of being a junior coalition partner (above)

Lib Dem Trainers Andrew Stunell and Austin Rathe with participants from the Georgian Free Democrats and Republican Party, and Moldovan Liberal Party and Liberal Reform Party, after training on coalition building (below)

In such countries, moderate parties united by a liberal ideology play a crucial role in counteracting ex- tremist political views.

In many states, especially those with proportional voting systems, coalition governments are common. Being in the owed or even swallowed up by political centre, liberal parties are bigger coalition partners. Learning often essential parts in those coa- from other parties’ experiences is litions. a crucial step towards resolving the difficulties faced by liberal parties in However, it is easy to be overshad- these political conditions.

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats 22 POLITICAL IDEOLOGY BAROMETER

Working closely with many of our social and economic policies, and sister-parties is not without its risks. their relationships with other in- In the Ukraine, a dormant liberal stitutions. The Barometer is used party and former member of Liberal throughout our project work with International was ‘resurrected’ and sister-parties, from the project iden- tried to regain entry into the liber- tification stage, through the risk as- al family. Upon detailed scrutiny it sessment and implementation to emerged that the new party leader- the monitoring and evaluation. ship was far from liberal and that the party had been acquired by a rich The Political Ideology Barometer politician who was defamed in the is crucial to ensuring that the Liberal overthrow of the previous Ukrainian Democrats remain at the forefront government. of democracy development, and that that our international projects In transitional democracies, political continue are effective and impactful. parties are often embryonic, ideo- logically fluid and subject to frequent changes of leadership. Working in these environments, assessing and monitoring a party’s ideological principles is crucial – it enables us to identify appropriate sister-parties, establish a baseline from which ideology can be tracked, alert us to red flags and changes in a sister-party’s policies and avoid reputational risk. In order to do this, the Liberal Dem- ocrats have developed a Political Ideology Barometer.

Through conducting assessment visits as well as desk research, we gather information about our sister-parties and rate them on their OUR IMPACT OVERSEAS 23

With our many projects, our sis- “the maintenance of relation- ter-parties and networks, Liberal ships between UK political par- Democrats work hard to make the ties and their sister parties and world a better, more democratic the trust that has been estab- and liberal place with equal oppor- lished has resulted in political tunities for everyone. We are proud parties that are more inclusive, of the efforts and achievements of are able to engage citizens (in our sister-parties who fight to pro- particular young leaders and mote liberal democracy where it is women) on policy issues, and needed the most. Liberal values do are better able to communi- not end at the border; they connect cate their messages.” and unite us across the world in the struggle for human rights and free- DfID doms. Mid Term Evaluation 2014

The International Office brought 20 campaigners from sister-parties to the 2015 Spring Conference in Liverpool.

Our Impact Overseas | International Office | UK Liberal Democrats

International Office UK Liberal Democrats

8-10 Great George Street SW1P 3AE London United Kingdom www.libdems.org.uk/international [email protected]