Lund is commemorating “The Week of Silence”, a week of activities, including the launch of a human rights cube and film, a silent minute, and a concert and panel discussion on freedom of expression.
Emma Berginger, the Deputy Mayor of Lund, Anna Ringborg, project leader at the Raoul Wallenberg Academy, and Rolf Ring, Deputy Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, will speak at the kick-off.
“Freedom of expression has witnessed dramatic setbacks in recent years in Europe and around the world,” says Morten Kjaerum, the director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. “Europe must once again become a beacon in the protection of freedom of expression if it wants to fight back the rising authoritarian and anti-democratic tide threatening people’s enjoyment of human rights,” he says.
“The Week of Silence” is a cooperation with the Raoul Wallenberg Academy, the Swedish Institute, Lund municipality, and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. It is a part of Vinterlund, an array of activities planned in the city of Lund from the first of advent to Valentine’s Day.
The event in Lund takes place at the same time as several other events around the world to commemorate the anniversary, including in Paris, Stockholm, Budapest, Belgrade and New York City. Jan Eliasson, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, will inaugurate the freedom of expression cube at the UN headquarters in New York City, in cooperation with the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, The Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations, the Swedish Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Academy.