World Expression Forum (WEXFO) is an international forum for the advancement of freedom of expression. It will take place annually in Lillehammer, in connection with the Norwegian Festival of Literature in May. The festival is a proud partner of WEXFO and will be the producer of the congress.
WEXFO aims to ensure and empower global free speech based on high-level guidance, best practice, and high-quality analysis. WEXFO will be a mutual arena for those with a firm belief in freedom of expression as a prerequisite for global sustainable development. The ambition is that the WEXFO will be as necessary for the development of freedom of expression as the World Economic Forum is for the development of world economics.
It is no surprise that WEXFO has chosen Lillehammer as its place of action. Norway ranks highly on Freedom of Expression indexes. The town of Lillehammer is a UNESCO City of Literature, an ICORN city of refuge for artists at risk and host of the Norwegian Festival of Literature, which is the biggest of its kind in Scandinavia.
Speakers that have been launched for the first congress in May includes the 2021 Nobel peace prize laureates Maria Ressa (PH) and Dmitry Murakov (RU); and the two recipients of the important awards for freedom of expression, Prix Voltaire, and the Golden Pen Award, Rasha Al Ameer (LB) and Sebastian Lai (HK).