The diverse Mideast Youth team launches campaigns for people within the region, especially youth activists, who do not have the resources or contacts required to initiate campaigns.

Through such campaigns, we mainly promote freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the free flow of information. While we help by hosting other projects that are independently owned and moderated, these are the ones the Mideast Youth team actually run or lead:

The Middle East Interfaith Blogger Network: We establish this network to put our ideas into action. We intend to celebrate difference, to encourage discussion and learning, to recognize outstanding blog writing on interfaith issues, and to promote grassroots interfaith activism in our local communities.

The Free Kareem Campaign: Our campaign for Kareem Amer, an Egyptian blogger who has been sentenced to 4 years in prison merely for expressing his opinions on his personal blog. The Free Kareem Coalition is an interfaith alliance of young bloggers and college students committed to the principles of freedom of thought and freedom of speech.

Afghan Press (English) and (Dari): Through Afghan Press, we want to improve media outlets within Afghanistan using new technologies. Specifically, we want to use digital media to show the world what currently goes unreported; things happening in Afghanistan’s remote villages, to people never given a chance to communicate with the rest of the world. In order to share a realistic portrayal of Afghanistan, we aim to involve as many locals as possible in reporting the world around them, thus concretely enhancing the lives of Afghan people. We envision this taking the form of digital media, documentaries, podcasts, online TV, journalism, women blogging, youth empowerment via the internet and beyond.

Global Village TV: GVTV is a dynamic, educational platform, co-created by Baha’is and Muslims working hand in hand to cultivate an interfaith community. We have been working diligently on this initiative, in hopes that it would contribute to improving and advancing serious interfaith. We realized that in many forums, in the process of interfaith, the Baha’i Faith, Yezidi faith, and many other religions are left out. This community aims to change that.

The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights: This project is developed by a group of Muslim interfaith activists who believe in tolerance, coexistence and freedom. We attempt to raise awareness of the increasing human rights abuses of Baha’is within the Arab and Muslim world. We strongly believe that civil values should apply it to all people equally regardless of their faith, cultural differences, political stance or nationality. As Muslims we stand with our Baha’i brothers and sisters, and condemn the abuses they face within our societies.

Migrant Rights: This is an attempt to increase awareness and concern for migrant workers in the Middle East. Through our efforts, we aim to effectively lobby our governments to change employment laws in order to protect these migrants from slavery or grave human rights abuses.

Sexual Terrorism: This is an awareness blog aimed to bring more attention to human trafficking and sexual slavery within the Middle East and North Africa. Through this campaign, our goal is to provide as many accurate resources as possible and to encourage journalists from various networks to report on these cases. We would like the issue of forced prostitution to make it through our media’s gatekeepers. It is something the public desperately need to be aware of and as a result, take action against.

Darfur Awareness: “We blog for Darfur” is a reaction to the lack of coverage concerning the Darfur conflict by the mainstream media. It is necessary to present the conflict thoroughly and in a simple straight forward language so that people can gain a deeper understanding including the root causes. We have taken it upon ourselves to do so. We don’t want to present “politicized news” or “politicized perspectives”. We want to present a raw perspective that’s informative.

Free the New Youth 4: Arab and Chinese activists join forces in campaigning for the release of 4 cyber dissidents in China.

Inter Iman: This is the Arabic version of the Middle East Interfaith Blogger Network. Baha’is, Muslims, Christians, and Kurds share the space to discuss religious and minority issues within the Arab world.

Alliance for Kurdish Rights (AKR): A group of students and activists within the region work together to condemn the regional oppression of Kurds in all its forms while actively trying to find new and non-violent ways to protest any human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority.

No Honor: Here we oppose honor killing within the Middle East and North Africa. Our message is that there is no honor in honor killing, and thus such practices must be met with punishment in our countries. However the laws against this are very weak, and hence they very rarely prevent such abuse. We use this website to try and change that, and to highlight the severity of this issue.

Additionally, the Mideast Youth network hosts a variety of websites free of charge for regional non-profits, activists, students, and artists. Whenever possible, we offer free IT services and web design. Although we focus on the Middle East, we also host websites in India, China, Vietnam, Peru, and in several other countries for young people who need them.

Contact us to get involved, request a project, or to seek further information.