Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Liberal International has been on the frontline calling for the measures to combat the consequences of the pandemic are fair, democratic and respectful of human rights.

On Friday, 26 June 2020, Liberal International (LI) was proud to bring together a multi-regional panel of LGBT+ activists, politicians, human rights defenders and allies entitled "Pride & Prejudice: A new decade for LGBT+ rights."

Liberal International endorses World Refugee Council’s call on United Nations Secretary General to do more to support refugees and internally displaced persons threatened by COVID-19.

Chaos and despair are rising in India as an unprecedented second wave of COVID-19 has now seen millions of people infected with the virus and over 200,000 people dead since the start of the pandemic. We reiterate our call to world leaders: no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Meeting virtually on Tuesday 7 April, the Council of Liberal Presidents convened by the President of Liberal International, Dr Hakima el Haité, applauded the speed with which vaccines have been developed to combat COVID 19 but expressed growing concern that the rollout has until now been so unequal around the world.

The bureau of Liberal International (LI) deplores the decision of the World Health Assembly to deprive Taiwan of retaking its seat as an observer to the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation on Monday 18th May.

As the LI HRC reflects on 2020 this Human Rights Day, we recall a year where a global pandemic has too often been used as an excuse for authoritarians and dictators, across the globe, to increase their own power at the expense of the rights of their people or the opposition in their countries.

While populist nationalism has already challenged liberal values of global cooperation, human rights, and openness, vaccine nationalism is showing signs of becoming the latest threat to international cooperation. Liberals must act to encourage that vaccines are thoroughly tested and safe before being mass distributed, and to encourage countries to act with solidarity with high-risk individuals in both poor and rich countries. The pandemic is by its nature global, and the world must act together to be able to defeat it.

In a statement to the 44th session of the UNHRC, Liberal International has called on the international community to take action to ensure that any measures taken to combat the virus do not unduly violate human rights, or cause permanent damage to crucial elements of functioning societies such as free media and a functioning political opposition.

We’re seeing recommendations from top economists that we use our recovery plans to simultaneously address the social and economic fallout of the pandemic by targeting the on-going challenges of climate change, social exclusion, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss.

For the first time in history, a global crisis has forced the confinement of 3 billion people, stopped 300 million children from attending school, and caused millions to lose their jobs across the world in record time.

Using renewable technology to adequately supply good quality nutrition is part of the COVID19 response necessary to keep our communities healthy, but it is also a solution for maintaining a sustainable supply chain that can be scaled internationally or kept local and that, importantly, can help us become more resilient to future global level environmental threats.