World Forum for Democracy 2026: speakers

Abrar AHMED Youth Engagement Coordinator, Welfare Association for New Generation (WANG) Pakistan

Aleida ALAVEZ RUIZ Mayor of Iztapalapa Mexico

Liz ALDERMAN Journalist, Former New York Times European Business Correspondent

Miguel ALOR FLORES Executive Director, Plaza Cívica Peru

Arlande AROUKOUN Coordinator of the Northern Lab at the Foundation for Innovation in Democracy

Ève-Lorie AUGER-GAUTHIER International Studies graduate, Office franco-québécois pour la jeunesse Canada

Samia BADANI Co-Founder and Chief Executive, The SPACE United Kingdom

Sally BAILEY-RAVET Chief Interpreter and Head of Conferences and Travel, Council of Europe

Pierre BALLOFFET Professor, HEC Montréal Canada

Petra BAYR President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Alain BERSET Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Jean-Marc BERTHON French ambassador for the Rights of LGBT+ Persons France

Matias BIANCHI Founder and Director, Asuntos del Sur Argentina

Frédéric BIERRY President of the European Collectivity of Alsace France

Marie BOHNER Head of Development and Partnerships, Digital Investigation, AFP France

Felipe BOSCH Cross-Practice Lead, School of International Futures (SOIF)

Helfried CARL Founder & CEO, European Capital of Democracy (ECoD) Austria

Arthur CHAPMAN Professor of History Education at University College London and Vice-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the OHTE United Kingdom

Martina CHAPMAN Independent consultant specialised in media literacy policy and strategy development Ireland

Ambassador Nathalie CHUARD Director of Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance

Benedetta CIANCIO Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe Italy

Natalia COLOMBO Institutional Development Manager, Factchequeado

Enno COORDES European Movement Germany

Liz CORBIN Director of News, European Broadcasting Union

Juan CRUZ GUTIERREZ Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe Argentina

Ilda CUKAJ Human Rights Lawyer Albania

Sabine CULLMANN University of Strasbourg France

Prof. Olivier DE SCHUTTER Catholic University of Leuven, former UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Christian DEBEVE Regional Councillor for the Grand Est region and Chair of the Grand Est Commission for Cross-Border Affairs, Europe and International Relations France

Daniele DEL BIANCO Institute of International Sociology of Gorizia Italy

Ambassador Delphine DELIEUX President of Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers (GR-DEM)

Renzo DIAZ GIUNTA President & Founder of the International Institute for Liberty, Democracy & Progress (IILDP) Peru

Laure DONWAHI Senator and Mayor of Mayo Ivory Coast

Oche Precious EDEH Executive Director, YES Africa Nigeria

Clément ETORE Founder of the social network Bulle and finalist of the 2026 Council of Europe Hackathon France

Wojciech FIREK Founder and president of the Polish Democracy in Practice Association Poland

Marie-No GANDZION Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg responsible for equality, combating discrimination, and women's rights France

Natalia GAVRILIȚA Former Prime Minister Republic of Moldova

Wim GEERTS Ambassador for Human Rights the Netherlands

Gerardo GÓMEZ CRESPO Project Manager, Diversit Spain

Fabian GOMOND Journalist France

Tanja GONGGRIJP Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Michèle GRIFFIN Director of Electoral Assistance, UN Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs

Mattias GUYOMAR President of the European Court of Human Rights

Anace HEDDAN Chief Executive Officer, Les Citoyens Morocco

Vebjørn HEINES Norwegian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe Norway

Gunn Marit HELGESEN President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Eirik HOLMØYVIK Vice-President of the Venice Commission

Jeffry JEANTY Youth civil society representative to present the “Youth Innovating Democracy: A powerful Manifesto for a democratic Europe in 2049”

Věra JOUROVÁ Chair of the Task Force Democracy27, former Vice-President of the European Commission

Reda JUTELIAVICIUTE Co-founder, Ribologija Lithuania

Prof. Mary KALDOR Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science

Oleksandra KEUDEL Founding Director of the Center for Democratic Resilience, Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Ukraine

Omar KHALED Co-Founder and Executive Director, SpotCast Lebanon

Lorenzo KIHLGREN GRANDI City Diplomacy Lab and German Marshall Fund Italy

Tamar KINTSURASHVILI Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Georgian fact-checking platform Myth Detector Georgia

Georgios KOLLIARAKIS Senior Advisor, Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) Austria

Linda KOMÁRKOVÁ Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe Czech Republic

Catherine Natasha KOSKEI Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe Kenya

Maria-Andriani KOSTOPOULOU President of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO)

Adam LABARAN Founder and Director, ENRMSC Poland

Alannah LEWIS Associate, Human Systems Dynamics Global Association

Marília MACIEL Director of Digital Trade & Economic Security, DiploFoundation Brazil

Richard MAKON Sub-Regional Director for Central and East Africa, Foundation for Innovation in Democracy in Africa

Elina MAKRI General Manager, The Democracy & Culture Foundation Greece

Nsah MALA Next Generation Foresight Practitioner (NGFP), Coordinator of the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Global Coalition hub for Planetary Wellbeing Cameroon

Panashe MAPENDE Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe Zimbabwe

Rodrigo MAYORGA Chief Executive Officer, Momento Ciudadano Chile

David MEKKAOUI CEO of ALL Digital Belgium

Marcus MELAU Danish Network of Local Youth Council, Representative of the Youth Advisory Council Denmark

Emmanuel MIRUS PONON Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe the Philippines

Ambassador Sandy MOSS Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the Council of Europe United Kingdom

Simon MOUTQUIN Political strategist for Greenpeace Belgium

Ambassador Pap NDIAYE Permanent Representative of France to the Council of Europe France

Emma NELSON Journalist, broadcaster and presenter

Thibilisse NKURUNZIZA Founder and Editor in Chief, Shikiriza

Prof. Aoife NOLAN President of the Council of Europe European Committee of Social Rights

Eric NUSSBAUMER Former President of the National Council of Switzerland Switzerland

Adam NYMAN HelloFuture Founder, citizen insight expert

Hana OUTAIK Co-founder of the association #Stopfisha and finalist of the 2026 Council of Europe Hackathon France

George PAPANDREOU General Rapporteur on Democracy, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Aleksa PAVLOVIĆ Representative of the Student Movement Serbia

Mark PEARSON Acting OECD Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs

Andrej PLENKOVIĆ Prime Minister Croatia

Aikaterini POLYZOU Chair of the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI)

Jonathan REYES GONZALEZ Head of Design, Democratic Society Ireland

Damien ROY Territorial Marketing Project Manager, Eurometropolis of Strasbourg France

Marja RUOTANEN Director General of Democracy and Human Dignity, Council of Europe

Guy RYDER UN Under-Secretary General for Policy

Wamika SACHDEV Youth Delegation of the Council of Europe India

Julia SAMTLEBEN Mayor of the Stockelsdorf, Former First Federal Deputy Chair of the Young Mayors Network & Founder of Mayors+ Germany

Astghik SARGSIAN Journalist Armenia

Janis SARTS Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Exellence

Luc SIROIS Chief Innovator of Quebec Canada

Daryna SOKOLOVA Senior Project Officer, Secretariat of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

Georgios STAMATIS General Rapporteur on Roma and Travellers, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Greece

Lucia ŠTASSELOVA Member of the City Council of Bratislava Slovak Republic

Frixos STEFANIDIS Policy Officer, Oxygen for Democracy Cyprus

Svetlana STEFANOVIC Executive Director at Foundation BFPE for a Responsible Society Serbia

Ambassador Alexandre STUTZMANN Head of the EU Delegation to the Council of Europe

Emilie TAMO KAMGUIA Representative of the Youth Advisory Council France

Jaana TAPANAINEN-THIESS Expert on democratic foresight, Finnish Prime Minister’s Office Finland

Massimiliano TARANTINO Director of Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli and Corporate Communications and Sustainability Director of the Feltrinelli Group Italy

Gulsunai TOKTOBAEVA Project Officer, Urban Space Kyrgyzstan

Julia TORTEL Programme Specialist, Directorate of Political Affairs and Democratic Governance at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) France