WEXFO MORE YOUNG VOICES
About the event
WEXFO More Young Voices will serve as another vital effort in our work to support youth and promote freedom of expression. Together with our appreciated partners and Utøya, with this project we will mobilize young people and strengthen their participation in society and democracy across national boundaries.
The target group for the project is young people aged between 18 and 25 who are interested in freedom of expression and eager to learn more. The central element of the program will be a 6-day youth exchange in May for 42 young individuals from four European countries. The participants will attend the WEXFO 2024 congress in Lillehammer and conclude the program with a workshop at Utøya. Following the exchange, they will organize activities on freedom of expression for youth in their respective countries.
The participants in the project will be nominated by WEXFO and the partner organizations.
The project aims to:
- Raise awareness about freedom of expression for young people as a fundamental right for young people
- Empower participants to overcome obstacles in expressing themselves, enabling them to voice their opinions and engage in public debates within their local communities or online
- Inspire and facilitate the exchange of experiences, encouraging knowledge-sharing on youth participation in democracy
- Build cross-border friendships and create a foundation for further collaboration among participating organizations, focused on freedom of expression and youth engagement in democracy
This project has received funding from Erasmus+ and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.
Please contact Project Manager Hilde Fauskerud Hansen for more info and nominations.
World Expression Forum will:
- be an inspiration internationally, nationally, and locally.
- be a hub, the central international meeting place for everyone who is concerned with freedom of expression.
- influence developments through reports and projects, discussions in the Forum and summary afterwards.
- share experiences, but especially search for best practices for improvement.
- seek cooperation with others to develop offers of Forum gatherings elsewhere as well.
- participate in developing the local cooperation in the region on freedom of expression, with
institutions such as the Norwegian Festival of Literature, Lillehammer UNESCO City of Literature and ICORN. - reflect diversity in the work and in the organization.
World Expression Forum (WEXFO) was established as an ideal joint stock company on 20 August 2021.
Norway is one of the countries in the world with the highest degree of freedom of expression, according to Freedom of Expression Index (Our World in Data). Lillehammer is a UNESCO City of Literature, an ICORN city of refuge for artists at risk, and is the host of the biggest literature festival in Scandinavia. Both the city, the region (Innlandet) and Norway as a country are committed to supporting freedom of expression around the world.
WEXFO wants to inspire progress for freedom of expression on all levels of society – internationally, nationally and locally.