Words Matter! Tackling the Impact of Hate Speech

Tuesday 30th April - Conference Program

08:00 - 08:45

Registration, nametag and coffee

08:45 - 08:55

Seating

09:00 - 09:10

Opening of the conference

Finn-Jarle Rode, Executive Chairman of The Oslo Center

Moderator: Jacqui Thornton, award-winning global health journalist

09:10 - 09:20

Welcome to Norway and Oslo

Anne Lindboe, Mayor of Oslo

Olemic Thommessen, Former President of the Parliament of Norway

09:20 - 10:25

What is hate speech and why is it a collective problem?

HE Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League

The leaders’ perspective

Kjell Magne Bondevik, Former Prime Minister of Norway

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Former President of Croatia

Dr. Joyce Banda, Former President of the Republic of Malawi

Dr. Bernard Kouchner, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France and Co-founder of Doctors Without Borders

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, speaking in the capacity as Secretary General of PEN Norway, the freedom of expression organization (Frydnes is also Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee)

10:25 - 10:45

Coffee break

10:45 - 11:35

What is hate speech and why is it a collective problem? The humanitarian and civil society perspective

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Pierre Krähenbühl, Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (video speech)

Catharina Bu, Secretary General, UN Association of Norway

11:35 - 12:35

Lunch

12:35 - 12:55

The effects of cultural violence and hate in classrooms

Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, PhD Teachers College, Columbia University

12:55 - 13:15

How does online speech lead to offline harm?

Dr. Sebastian Schutte, Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO)

13:15 - 13:35

Making sense of hate: Young Muslims’ understandings of online racism in Norway

Dr. Marjan Nadim, Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research, Oslo

13:35 - 13:55

Coffee break

13:55 - 14:25

Education and counter-speech

Rolf Skjöldebrand, Co-founder of The Non-violence Project

Amanda Anvar, Advisor at Stopp hatprat, an international youth movement for human rights and against hate speech, an initiative of the Council of Europe's Youth Council.

14:25 - 15:25

Integration and inclusion

Phoebe Mungai, Country Director, Kenya and Somalia, for The Oslo Center

Hasina Shirzad, journalist and advisor on human rights

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, National Leader of Belarus and a Head of the United Transition Cabinet

15:25 - 15:45

The commitment of the conference

Joyce Banda, Former President of the Republic of Malawi

HE Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League

Catharina Bu, Secretary General, UN Norway

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and Secretary General of PEN Norway

15:45 - 16:00

Closing session

Finn-Jarle Rode, Executive Chairman of The Oslo Center

Moderator: Jacqui Thornton, award-winning global health journalist