The Human Rights Foundation has hosted the Oslo Freedom Forum as an annual event since 2008, which has developed into an annual global conference which brings human rights defenders all over the world together to speak up. November 3, 2022, marks the third time the Forum took place in Taipei, Taiwan.

This year’s theme is Champion of Change, a call for everyone to act, advocate and unite in the common cause of promoting liberal democracy and human rights.

The Garden of Hope was honored to be one of the supporter organizations, and we set up a booth to share with participants and speakers about our belief, our service work in Taiwan and around the world, this year’s Asian Girl Campaign Online Special Exhibition, and relevant videos.

Half of this forum’s invited speakers are women, including the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Matviichuk. Areej al-Sadhan, a human rights activist in Saudi Arabia who speaks out against the authoritarian regime under current leader MBS, Chung Ching Kwong, a Hong Kong political and digital rights activist, Toufah Jallow, a Gambian Anti-Rape Activist & Survivor, and Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, a Burmese pro-democracy activist.

Among all the speeches, Toufah Jallow shared her experience of being sexually assaulted by the former dictator of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, and she fled to get away from Jammeh’s control. Rather than hiding in shame, she became the first person who publicly spoke out against Jammeh and his atrocity. She inspired the social media campaign #IamToufah movement, which is called Gambia’s #MeToo movement. She also shared her experience of starting the first women’s shelter in the Gambia, which resonates a lot with us and our work.

After the forum, we were honored to meet with Toufah and exchanged our experiences and work with each other, and we hope to cooperate in the near future. Through this forum, we have been reminded that gender equality is essential for freedom, and to achieve this goal, it requires all of us to work together.

#奧斯陸自由論壇

#oslofreedomforum

#IAmToufah

#whereispengshuai

Garden of Hope joins Oslo Freedom Forum in Taiwan to advocate for women’s freedom

This year’s theme is Champion of Change, a call for everyone to act, advocate and unite in the common cause of promoting liberal democracy and human rights.

The Garden of Hope was honored to be one of the supporter organizations, and we set up a booth to share with participants and speakers about our belief, our service work in Taiwan and around the world, this year’s Asian Girl Campaign Online Special Exhibition, and relevant videos.