The Netherlands’ new coalition government was sworn in this week, with liberals now taking the helm with the most senior roles in Dutch politics.

European Liberal prime ministers and leaders convened recently in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the future of Europe ahead of the European Council Summit, at the invitation of Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament and LI President of Honour and ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen MEP.

In a keynote speech at a Forum on Democratic Governance organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Bangkok, Chair of LI's Human Rights Committee Markus Loening has spoken of the importance of civil society in a vibrant democracy.

LI President of Honour Lord John Alderdice has been recognized with an honorary degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario for his peace building efforts in Northern Ireland and around the world.

In line with its firm position against President Duterte's extra-judicial war on drugs in the Philippines, Liberal International has called on the United Nations to set up an independent international commission of inquiry into the alleged extra-judicial killings in the country in order to determine responsibility and ensure mechanisms for accountability.

Chair of LI LGBTI Working Group Frank Van Dalen has called on the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, to protect the rights of the LGBTI community in light of the news that Sofia Pride is in danger. The statement was prompted after a number of different anti-LGBTI incidents in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, which as it has recently emerged has allowed a so-called "clean up" action by the ultra nationalist group "National Resistance" on the same day and place as the annual Gay Pride in the city.

During the 70th Anniversary Congress, LI President Dr. Juli Minoves-Triquell addressed a letter to the newly elected President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron. “More than two hundred delegates from eighty liberal parties from around the world and I are celebrating your election,” says the LI leader in the letter to President Macron, who is also Co-Prince of Dr Minoves’ native Principality of Andorra.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, has championed female entrepreneurship during the Women20Summit panel, which took place as part of the G20 programme in Berlin, Germany this week. Alongside other high-ranking political figures including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Presidential advisor Ivanka Trump, IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, Minister Freeland said that there is still much more work to be done to support women in business.

In an interview for Esquire magazine, the Philippines Human Rights Commissioner and LI Human Rights Committee Member, Chito Gacon, has warned that firebrand president, Rodrigo Duterte, is the biggest danger to the Phillipines' democracy since the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

Gathering a diverse set of Liberal International Human Rights Committee (LIHRC) members, liberal politicians and representatives from across the civil society sector in Brussels this week, the LI Human Rights Committee met for the second time this year to discuss freedom of belief in an era of radicalization.

How to foster the next generation of female political leaders and entrepreneurs? This was the central question posed by Liberal International’s Vice-President and Human Rights Committee Chair, Markus Löning, as he introduced the fifth edition of LI’s Human Rights Bulletin, which saw contributions from top international liberal parliamentarians and NGO experts. Read the Bulletin here.

As the end of the first term of the very successful and productive LI Human Rights Committee mandate quickly approaches, Liberal International is pleased to launch a call for new Committee members.

Marking the last of three side-events organised within the framework of the 60th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Liberal International drew together a diverse number of liberal politicians, NGO representatives, and diplomats to discuss the extension of the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women beyond the borders of Europe.

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on behalf of Liberal International, Africa Liberal Network (ALN - LI cooperating organisation) Vice-President Medard Mulangala warned of the quickly escalating humanitarian crisis in Burundi and called on the global human rights body to provide peace-keeping support in order to restore peace and security in the country.

Following intense debates on the successes and failures of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) principle ten years after its adoption, the LI Human Rights Committee (LI HRC) has released a booklet drawing together the diverse viewpoints expressed from within the political, diplomatic and civil society circles at a recent bi-annual meeting, taking place this time at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Coinciding with International Human Rights Day on 10th December, the LI Human Rights Committee has met in the European Parliament in Brussels to debate the future of the Responsibility to Protect Principle, 10 years after its adoption. Bringing together liberal parliamentarians, diplomats, civil society representatives and human rights practitioners the discussions focused on the growing challenges and misconceptions attached to the implementation of the principle.