The first step involved the compilation of an extensive long-list of 1,000 nominees. This was subjected to two group reviews – the first resulting in a short-list of 400, and the final an unranked list of 100, according to Geneva based publication inaugural list. Read more about the methodology here.

“Recognizing the significant role of NGOs as influential agents of change on a global scale, The Global Journal has sought to move beyond outdated clichés and narrow conceptions about what an NGO is and does. From humanitarian relief to the environment, public health to education, microfinance to intellectual property, NGOs are increasingly at the forefront of developments shaping the lives of millions of people around the world.” – The Global Journal editorial team.

The prestigious list includes the likes of Wikimedia Foundation, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, Ushahidi, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Ashoka, Reporters Sans Frontières, TED among others.

Mideast Youth is not the sole organization from the region to achieve this milestone, as the Association for Protection of Environment (A.P.E.) from Egypt, and Injaz al-Arab from Jordan, have also made it to the final Top 100. Take a look at the full list here.

The Jan/Feb 2012 edition of the Global Journal is especially dedicated to the Top 100 Best NGOs worldwide. A digital copy of the magazine could be ordered from here.

Follow us on Twitter and check out a list of our ongoing projects. Watch our video to see what we’re all about:

If you support what we do, please consider making a donation.

We’re happy to say that since last week it’s been available as an iPhone application as well, which you can download here. Screenshots below:

2011 was a big year for our projects. We moved to healthier servers, we rebuilt, redesigned and grew many of our websites, and we had the support of many volunteers who helped us take these initiatives to new levels.

Here’s a very brief overview and highlights of what we did:

We redesigned and rebuilt CrowdVoice.org, a user-powered service that tracks voices of protest from around the world by crowdsourcing data:

Screenshot of a CrowdVoice page

Screenshot of a CrowdVoice feature

CrowdVoice is a winner of the Citizen Media competition from Ashoka & Google (click here for the press release.) CrowdVoice was also selected by INC Magazine as one of the Top 5 projects to watch out for from the TED community and by Fast Company as one of the 5 projects worthy of the Google journalism prize.

We redesigned and rebuilt Mideast Tunes, a platform to showcase underground musicians from the Middle East and North Africa who use music as a tool for social change (see yet another updated version of this site a bit further down in this list – this one was temporary while the other was in development) -

Mideast Tunes

Our Migrant Rights site won a BOBs award for “Best Human Rights Blog” -

Our ‘Voices for Gaza’ video a runner-up at the 2011 New Works Contest:

We launched Ahwaa.org, a bilingual tool for LGBT youth in the Middle East that leverages game mechanics to facilitate high quality interactions.

Ahwaa.org homepage

Here is some coverage of the site:
Interview at Change Observer
LA Times
Read Write Web
The Atlantic
Gulf Daily News
CNN Arabic

We redesigned KurdishRights.org:

Homepage of the Alliance for Kurdish Rights

We launched AssyrianRights.org, which attempts to raise awareness about the persecution of Assyrians in the Middle East.

We released the following videos:

We relaunched Mideast Tunes:

There’s a lot more that we haven’t mentioned, and we have much more in storage for 2012. In the meantime please check out our list of ongoing projects here. If you support what we do, please consider taking our work further with your donation. We could use all the help we can get!

We’re proud to say that because of YOUR SUPPORT, it was announced yesterday that CrowdVoice has indeed secured its spot with three other winners at the competition. According to Ashoka, “The winners are breakthrough innovations that boost media access and participation around the world.” The competition is supported by Google and includes $5,000 which we will use to further advance CrowdVoice.org to its next phase of development.

Thank you for making this possible for us!

Tragically, the site is still censored here in Bahrain. That won’t stop us form building and innovating.

All you have to do is log in (it can be via Facebook Connect) and select “Vote” on the sidebar on this page.

With CrowdVoice, we aim to multiply voices of dissent by crowdsourcing footage and information from activists and journalists worldwide. A vote for CrowdVoice will help further a platform that amplifies these crucial voices and make information for diverse social causes accessible.

Please help us by voting and sharing this widely! We could really use your help!

We were therefore super excited when our Twitter account @MideastYouth got featured in this week’s “Cool Curators” list on the application. Check it out below!

Many thanks to Flipboard for this opportunity to be discovered by their millions of users.

Please watch and share this video widely. Special thanks to Farah Salka from the Migrant Workers Task Force for her assistance.

To understand the severity of the situation, you can follow @MigrantRights on Twitter, which contains constant updates of migrant rights abuses in the region as well as this page on CrowdVoice:

Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook:

The Mideast Youth team has been running this site since 2007. Many of you are already aware of it, and for those who are visiting this site for the first time, here’s a little summary of our goal:

The Alliance for Kurdish Rights (AKR) is an independent digital initiative whose mission is to mobilize public opinion, collect information and disseminate knowledge about human rights abuses against the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East.

The latest change has been a major effort and our biggest redesign yet.

The new KurdishRights.org homepage

The site also has a new media page, allowing us to highlight our videos, comics and illustration that are dedicated to the cause.

Media page

If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to watch our videos to learn more about the urgency and significance of the cause.

Last but not least, find out how you can help and join us in the struggle.

The video was considered for an award in the 2011 New Works Contest run by “Art With Impact”, an arts-centered, social engagement organization based in San Francisco. The contest called for submissions of new short films on socially conscious topics. This year, creators were asked to submit short films of any genre on the topic of the Israeli/Palestinian relationship. We submitted our video Voices for Gaza, which was one of two runner-ups for the award. The winner of this year’s contest is “No More Shooting and Crying.”

As for our video, as noted in their press release:

Voices For Gaza urges increased global awareness of Palestinians’ social condition in Gaza, and advocates increased accountability for the atrocities of war.

Our intention is to create an extensive crowdsourced database of information relating to the human rights violations occurring in Gaza due to the growing oppression as well as the blockade.

Our video will be included as a “bonus feature” in the Host Kit for Art With Impact’s Underground Film Series October and November film, Slingshot Hip Hop.