✊ A Movement Rooted in Vision. Driven by Action
🗣️ Events & Highlights
1. Modern Reformers Conference:
🗓️️ Fall 2024
Our first convening brought together activists, organizers, and thinkers committed to democratic reform in Saudi Arabia and the broader Arab region. It served as a platform for voices often excluded from mainstream narratives. These voices advocate for human rights, transparency, and political accountability.
We explored how cultural resistance challenges authoritarian influence, how digital strategy helps mobilize transnational solidarity, and how reform efforts must be intersectional, connecting struggles across borders from the Gulf to the diaspora.
2. Panel | Toward a Democratic State in Saudi Arabia:
🗓️ May 11, 2023
This virtual panel, held in 2023, featured leading Saudi and regional voices advocating for a democratic future in Saudi Arabia. Speakers included political activists, human rights defenders, and researchers such as Ahmed Hakami, Lina Alhathloul, Abdullah Alaoudh, Yahya Assiri, and Areej Alsadhan.
Together, they discussed how to move from the current system of authoritarian rule and absolute monarchy toward a representative and accountable state. The conversation addressed immediate next steps including civic engagement, public participation in policy making, and the role of elections in shaping Saudi Arabia’s future.
Regional experts including Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman, renowned scholar Madawi Al-Rasheed, and former Bahraini MP Jawad Fairooz offered additional perspective on the challenges and possibilities of political reform in the Gulf.
The panel was inspired by the “People’s Vision for Reform in Saudi Arabia,” a declaration signed by Saudi academics and intellectuals seeking not only to imagine change but to take practical steps toward it.
3. Quest for Democracy Conference:
🗓️ May 2024
This was the largest conference for the People’s Vision for Reform, aimed to be a pivotal moment in the history of civil and human rights work concerning Saudi Arabia. It created a rare space for open dialogue among Saudi dissidents, international allies, and human rights advocates to discuss a shared vision for reform.
By bringing together reformers, activists, and policy thinkers, the conference challenged widespread censorship and state-sponsored narratives. It also amplified the lived experiences of those directly impacted by repression, making the call for democracy and justice not only visible but urgent.
Held in Washington, DC, the gathering spotlighted political imprisonment, media control, and emerging resistance in the Arab world, with a focus on Saudi Arabia. Speakers included Congressman Jerry Connolly, actress and activist Leah Remini, former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Yahya Assiri, Omar Abdulaziz, Abdullah Alaoudh, Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman, and former U.S. diplomat Nabeel Khouri.
We secured support to deliver a program that reflected the importance of the vision and the growing global demand for accountability and democratic reform in Saudi Arabia.
4. Panel | Peace or Instability? Examining the Abraham Accords
🗓️️ May 8, 2024
Hosted virtually, this discussion explored the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements aimed at normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states. While presented as a pathway to regional peace, the panel examined these agreements through a justice-centered lens and raised important concerns.
Experts warned that sidelining Palestinian voices and legitimizing authoritarian governments under the guise of diplomacy could lead to deeper instability rather than lasting peace. The conversation emphasized that true peace must be rooted in justice, accountability, and inclusive policymaking that prioritizes the rights and realities of the people most affected.
5. Panel | Reform and Rights in the Gulf
🗓️️ December, 2024
At the 2024 Muslim American Society (MAS) Convention in Chicago, People’s Vision participated in a panel titled “Reform and Rights in the Gulf” The session brought together leading voices from the region to discuss pathways toward justice and democratic reform in Saudi Arabia and the broader Gulf. The panel featured Dr. Abdullah Alaoudh, Yahia Asiri, and Ahmed Hakami, and emphasized the urgency of political advocacy in diasporic spaces and the power of international solidarity.
📰 Press Conference | Condemning the FII Summit
📍 Hotel Riu Plaza, Miami | Feb 2025
In partnership with multiple human rights organizations, People’s Vision co-hosted a press conference during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference. The FII, a high-profile annual trade summit hosted by the Saudi government, is often portrayed as a platform for global economic collaboration. However, it is widely seen as a public relations campaign designed to distract from the Saudi regime’s human rights violations and shift international attention away from its authoritarian practices.
“Yet another event… to whitewash the crimes and atrocities of the Saudi government,” -Ahmed Hakami, Arab Reform and Research Center.
The press conference centered on the voices of activists and victims of state violence, drawing attention to how such events are used as tools to legitimize oppressive regimes while masking ongoing repression.
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), stressed that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s ties to Saudi Arabia and the Public Investment Fund represent a serious conflict of interest, especially given the regime’s longstanding record of human rights abuses.
Read the full article in the Miami Herald.
🎯 On the Ground | UFC 306 in Las Vegas
🗓️ September 2024
As part of our commitment to exposing sportwashing, the practice of using sports events to distract from or legitimize human rights abuses, People’s Vision mobilized during UFC 306, a major mixed martial arts event held in Las Vegas and backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund:
- 🚛 We rented a billboard truck circling the Sphere with images of Saudi prisoners of conscience, including Dr. Salman Al-Oudah, imprisoned since 2017.
- Awareness cards were distributed to fans and media attendees, challenging the silence around human rights abuses while Saudi Arabia’s dictator negotiates billion-dollar sports deals using his people’s money.
Our collective voice is growing. Since launching People’s Vision, we’ve seen a powerful response from across the globe:
✔️ More than 70 human rights organizations signed on to our statements
✔️ Over 120,000 people watched the conference via Twitter and YouTube
✔️ More than 1000 cards distributed at global events like UFC 306
✔️ Dozens of grassroots groups reaching out to collaborate
Our collective voice is growing. Since launching People’s Vision, we’ve seen a powerful response from across the globe:
Thank you to everyone who has amplified, endorsed, or shown up!
📣 What’s Next?
Fall 2025 Conference: Details coming soon.
New Reports: We’re finalizing our event archive, translating key testimonies, and working on a digital toolkit for activists and allies.
Coalition Building: If you’re an artist, athlete, scholar, or simply a concerned voice, let’s connect.
💬 Join the Movement
Want to collaborate or support? Have a story to share? Reach out.
📧 arabrrc8@gmail.com
🌐 https://arabrrc.org/en
Twitter/X @ArabRRC
In Solidarity,
The People’s Vision Team
A project of the Arab Rights and Research Center
