The Forum for Open Research in MENA (FORM) is organising a special regional symposium addressing the topic of open science within countries in crisis. Many countries and communities across the world could currently be classified as being ‘in crisis’ – suffering war, famine, disease, or profound economic instability inter alia. Yet, despite (or sometimes because of) the issues these countries are undergoing, the value of open science policies and practises remains extremely important, especially within scholarly and scientific communities.