POINT IRAQ’s 6th Regional Conference kicked off in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The coordinator of Metro Center is participating in a Right to Information panel discussing the relationship between the Right to Information and democracy. 40 guests from around the world will participate in the panels.

The conference will continue on September 12th-13th, 2025, which began with a speech by Wissam Jaafar, founder of Point Iraq.

The conference is a parallel event to the POINT-Sarajevo International Conference, organized by the Why not Foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Action C network active in Southeast Europe. 

Metro Center participates in the fourth panel titled "No Democracy Without Freedom of Information: Why the Authorities Want to Restrict Our Right to Access Information”.

The panel included Salwa al-Ghazwani, director of Article 19's Middle East and North Africa, Rana al-Sabagh of the Jordanian Anti-Corruption Project, Farooq Hana, head of the Iraqi Parliament's Culture Committee; Jamal Eid, President of the Arab Network for Information and Human Rights, Rahman Gharib, organizer of the Metro Center, speak.

This year's POINT IRAQ conference is being held in collaboration with several international and local organizations, including the Action C-Network in Southeast Asia. Europe, the National Endowment for Democracy and the NIRIJ Institute for investigative Journalism.

The POINT conference is a unique event that highlights the importance of using technology and new media to address democratic deficiencies and promote political accountability. It is a collaborative working space established in 2018 with international and national partnerships in Iraq, aimed at developing the capacities of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders in the areas of protecting civil and political freedoms and rights, and promoting democratic practices.

More than 40 guests from around the world will participate in eight panel discussions, 12 performances of success stories participants will share their experiences in using modern technology and media to promote democracy, it also discusses reviewing mechanisms for adapting civil society to the challenges facing freedom of association and restrictions on civil and political rights around the world.

The conference will be held across North Africa and the Middle East and will include several regional sessions to highlight the changes taking place in the region, especially after the events of October 7, the decision to cut the US budget and the response to the humanitarian crisis on the situation of human rights defenders, journalists and media workers. There is also talk of a rising wave of pessimism about the future of democracy and its values.

The conference will host the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of assembly and peaceful assembly as part of strengthening the capacity of civil society to adapt to measures that restrict freedoms and fundamental civil and political rights guaranteed in the Constitution. NGOs will have the opportunity to learn about best practices in advocacy, monitoring human rights violations, and restrictions on freedom of assembly.

Several sessions of the conference will also host civil movement leaders and activists who have participated in campaigns to stop the enactment of laws that violate fundamental freedoms and civil rights, such as the campaign to stop the amendment of the Personal Status Law and the Right to Information Law.