WEXFO
TAKE ACTION
Lillehammer, Norway
4 June 2025
The WEXFO Take Action 2025 conference in Lillehammer starts in
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Welcome to WEXFO Take Action, a conference added to WEXFO 2025 where we bring together organizations, stakeholders and voices from around the world to promote young people’s participation in society.
WEXFO Take Action is dedicated to strengthening freedom of expression in practice. The conference emphasizes actionable strategies and practical applications to empower participants in their efforts to enhance freedom of expression.
This full-day event in Lillehammer serves as a vital extension of the main World Expression Forum (WEXFO). Our focus is on youth freedom of expression, and we invite you to join us in discussing this crucial topic and connecting with others in the field.
Here’s what you can expect at the conference:
- Platform for cooperation: WEXFO Take Action provides a unique platform for cooperation, coordination and knowledge dissemination specifically related to youth freedom of expression. We aim to facilitate exchanges and shared experiences, addressing the challenges faced by young individuals to express themselves freely.
- Sharing of insights: Our common goal is to empower young voices. Throughout the day, a diverse range of stakeholders will openly share their experiences and insights from relevant projects. This includes both successful approaches and valuable lessons learned.
- Assessing the current state: Experts and young people themselves will actively contribute to assessing the current state of youth freedom of expression. Their perspectives will help shape our understanding and drive positive change.
WEXFO Take Action takes place at Scandic Lillehammer Hotel. Participation is free of charge for all WEXFO 2025 ticket holders.
If you only wish to attend WEXFO Take Action, you can purchase a separate ticket for NOK 845 (including lunch).
Questions or suggestions? Please send an email to hilde@wexfo.no.
Program
09.00-09.30 Registration
09.30-09.45 Welcome, opening speech and artistic performance
Welcome and introduction speech by WEXFO Director Kristenn Einarsson and Lillehammer Mayor Hans Olav Sundfør. Artistic performance by WEXFO Young Expert and musician and Ghawgha.
09.45-10.30 Youth Freedom of Expression in the Year of Resistance
WEXFO Alumni and former Young Experts Arizza Nocum and Khaled Emam are the hosts of the conference. They will interview a selection of high-profile speakers, including Seyran Ates and Nik Williams, from the WEXFO conference about youth freedom of expression in the Year of Resistance. The interviews will also sum up main points from the conference.
10.30-10.40 Introduction to workshop sessions (World Café concept)
10.40-11.00 Workshop (World Café round 1)
Roundtable discussions
11.00-11.10 Motivation speech
Speech by Young Expert Ehad Badwi
11.10-11.30 Workshop (World Café round 2)
Roundtable discussions
11.30-11.50 Workshop (World Café round 3)
Roundtable discussions
11.50-12.00 Motivation speech
Speech by Young Expert by Karina Thyra Cordova
12.00-13.00 Lunch
Lunch in the hotel restaurant
13.00-13.20 Workshop (World Café round 4)
Roundtable discussions
13.20-13.40 Workshop (World Café round 5)
Roundtable discussions
13.40-13.50 Motivation speech
Speech by Young Expert Olesya Krivstova
13.50-14.00 Break
Coffee, fruits and snacks
14.00-14.20 Workshop (World Café round 6)
Roundtable discussions
14.20-15.00 Summary in plenary – Moving Forward
Hosts Arizza Nocum and Khaled Emam will summarize the discussions based on notes from the facilitators at each workshop/roundtable
Arizza Nocum
Host
Arizza is the Co-Founder and President of KRIS, a non-profit organization that promotes peace through education and youth leadership in the Philippines. In 2021, KRIS was recognized as one of Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) in the Philippines and received the YouthLED Democracy Award from The Asia Foundation.
Khaled Emam
Host
Khaled Emam is a human rights lawyer from Egypt who currently serves as the Middle East Program Associate at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and as a Research Assistant at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Previously, he was the Executive Director of Justice Call, a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering young people for Peacebuilding in the MENA region.
Seyran Ateş
Speaker
Seyran Ateş is a lawyer, muslim leader and feminist. She studied law at the Free University of Berlin and worked as a lawyer with interruptions from 1997 to July 2024. From a young age, she was committed to women’s and human rights as a schoolchild and student. In June 2017, Ateş opened the liberal Ibn Rushd Goethe Mosque in Berlin. Due to her commitment to fighting forced marriages and to a self-determined life for Muslim people, among other things, she has repeatedly received death threats. Since 2006, she has been under personal protection by the Berlin State Criminal Police Office.
Nicholas Williams
Speaker
Nik Williams is a free expression advocate based in Glasgow, with a focus on SLAPPs, online surveillance, censorship and dissent in the UK and countries such as India, Iran, and Belarus. At the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, he coordinated the inaugural year of the Media Freedom Rapid Response, which responds to violations of media freedom in Europe. Previously, Nik led Scottish PEN’s campaigning and advocacy, focusing on defamation reform, free expression, digital rights and surveillance regulation.
Ghawgha
Artist
Ghawgha is a musician from Afghanistan, renowned for her heartfelt peace songs. While pursuing her studies in law, she embarked on a musical journey in countries where singing was prohibited by law. During peace negotiations with warlords in Doha, she shared her songs on social media, garnering global attention in 2018. Her music resonated deeply, particularly in Persian- speaking regions, leading to repercussions for individuals in Afghanistan and Iran who engaged with her music through singing, dancing, and sharing.
WEXFO Take Action Collaborators
“World Expression Forum is the most interesting place to be for everyone who is interested in freedom of expression”
Anette Trettebergstuen
Former Minister of Culture and Equality in Norway
The WEXFO Take Action conference is for everybody interested in promoting youth’s participation in society.
At the conference you will meet activists, organizers, participants in projects, researchers, sponsors and others actively engaged in youth and freedom of expression to share best practices, ideas and activities.
Lillehammer – our conference city
The WEXFO Take Action conference is part of the main World Expression Forum event, which takes place annually in Lillehammer, Norway, in May/June. 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.
We all carry a responsibility to make sure that the right to Freedom of Expression is upheld. Freedom of Expression comes with both rights and responsibilities. This is a constant investment in the democratic fabric of our societies.
Laila Bokhari, academic, diplomat and politician
