Day 1 of WEXFO featured a number of compelling speakers, opening with one of the most arresting interventions early on as Syrian human rights advocate, and former political prisoner, Omar Alshogre, brought the audience into a Syrian prison, to the toruture, the deaths and, somehow, the hope that can survive.

The rpgram then zoomed out from the deeply personal experience of Alshogre to Staffan Lindberg of the V-Dem Institute returning to present another detailed look, at a global, statistical level, of the regeression of democracy and freedom of expression around the world. All of the indicators show autocratisation.  Never been so many countries autocratising at the same time. Freedom of expression related indicators are those deteriorating the most. You can read their latest report here.

The discussions also included speakers from the WEXFO Youth Programme which runs alongside the main conference and gives an amazing energy to the whole event. Their perspectives often provided enlightening contrasts and inspired hope in the willingness of future generations to stand ou for freedom of expression.

Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Ressa, returned to WEXFO with another high energy presentation of the power of big tech and their influence on freedom of expression and democracy and later as part of a panel disucssion urged everyone to fight against everyone holding their individual reality. We need a shared reality if we are to overcome our differences.

Ressa’s speech was well complemented by Nina Jankowicz, the co-founder and CEO of The American Sunlight Project, who spoke about her own experiences and urging the audience to set up their own tech safeguards, to learn how to cultivate joy in the midst of this crisis. Perhaps one of the statements that resonated the most throughout WEXFO however was:

Strategic silence doesn’t work

Jankowicz urged everyone to be active, to speak up, and, in line with the WEXFO theme, to resist.

IPA President, Gvantsa Jobava, then participated in a panel on the Election Aftermath Worldwide – Future Possibilities for Freedom of Expression and was able to speak about her experience in Georgia following the contested elections there, the ongoing demonstrations, and the impact on freedom of expression.

The afternoon featured a series of parallel workshops, with many IPA members attending the session on Literacy – A Precondition for Democracy. Moderated by Publishing Perspectives Editor in Chief, Porter Anderson, the session consisted of a presentation of a new porject claled DemRead or Democracies Depend on Reading and a panel discussion looking at dfiferent reading initatives in Australia and Germany.  Breakout groups then considered different ways of looking at the interaction between reading and democracy.

The day closed with artistic performances and, finally, the Gala dinner, where the WEXFO Young Inspiration Award was presented to NAME, and the IPA Prix Voltaire ceremony recognised the 2026 co-laureates, exiled Belarusian publishers, Nadia Kandrusevich and Dmitiri Strotsev with Strotsev receiving a standing ovation as he entered the stage and finished his speech.

Day two continued with a series of striking contributions.  Oleksandra Matviichuk, a keynote speaker at IPA’s Congress in Guadalajara, and a returning WEXFO speaker spoke emotionally about the loss of her friend Victoria Amelina. But, her powerful messages shone through and reiterated many of the themes that kept coming back in the discussions at WEXFO We are not just observers and  … it is naive to believe you need to wait long enough for things to settle down. She closed with a message of hope:
Hope is not the belief everything will be fine. Hope is the profound understanding that all our efforts have meaning.

Jobava’s second session was on how Democracies Depend on Literacy. Alongside Lubna Jaffery, the Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality, Miha Kovač, professor at the University of Ljubljana and Scottish/German writer Louis Hall. Their discussion took in everything from the Ljubljana Manifesto on higher-level reading, to the importance of reading in developing empathy and an understanding of the world around us.

You can show your support for the freedom of expression by signing the WEXFO Congerence Statement here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSckIdDcgzW7k8J9GKKqkqlILeURuIG72oS6NHSOwJAUx_FUHw/viewform