Young people leverage digital media to advance gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa

Empowering a new generation of advocates with digital tools to transform human rights awareness from their smartphones

A smartphone, an internet connection, and a good story to tell. Young people are among the most active users of digital technologies worldwide. That’s all they need today to have unprecedented opportunities to express themselves, share knowledge, and make a difference in their societies.

Research indicates that the Middle East and North Africa region has one of the world’s highest rates of social media usage, with Generation Z (people born between 1997 and 2012) making up the majority of social media users in the region.

In the digital age, online tools are no longer simply devices for personal communication or entertainment. For many young people, they have become tools for visibility, participation, and social engagement taking place on a daily basis.

Digital media transforms the advocacy landscape in the Middle East and North Africa

Currently, we are living in an era where a simple photo or video could spark a movement. This transforms what appears to be an individual (personal) story into a collective (political) action. A prime example of this is the #MeToo movement, where individual stories of sexual harassment and assault accumulated into an undeniable chorus that eventually sparked global conversations about gender-based violence. 

Today, digital media is transforming advocacy once again through the various available digital tools, which have become “an essential component of almost any movement”, according to the Community Tool Box at the University of Kansas. 

Social media platforms, mobile technologies, digital video, podcasts, and online communities have fundamentally changed how people engage with social issues. 

Advocacy in the Digital Era

Digital advocacy is further defined as “the use of digital technology to contact, inform, and mobilise a group of concerned people around an issue or cause”, with the aim of urging relevant decision-makers and stakeholders to take action towards that issue or cause.

In that sense, advocacy is no longer confined to conference rooms, policy forums, or traditional media outlets. It increasingly takes place on smartphones, news feeds, and digital platforms that connect individuals and communities across geographical boundaries. 

Young people use digital media to advocate for human rights and gender equality

This massive digital presence has fundamentally changed how young people interact with information, as they are no longer just passive consumers. Rather, they are now active creators who contribute to knowledge production in digital spaces, with Gen Z reshaping the future of advocacy in the region in their own ways.

Across the Middle East and North Africa, deeply rooted social norms continue to normalise gender-based violence and discrimination against women and girls. Yet young people are increasingly using their mobile phones to expose inequality, amplify overlooked grassroots issues, and demand action. In today’s digital landscape, a smartphone serves as a camera, newsroom, editing suite, archive, and advocacy platform all in one, democratizing media production and enabling youth to tell powerful stories without the need for large budgets, specialised equipment, or traditional media gatekeepers. 

Equality Now invests in youth movement building

Realising that young people are the cornerstone of the human rights and gender equality movement, Equality Now has turned to investing in those young minds through the capacity-building workshops it implements for youth across the MENA region. These workshops are intentionally designed to provide young people from the MENA region with knowledge and tools of legal and digital media advocacy.

According to the MENA representative at Equality Now, Dr. Dima Dabbous, realising how young people love to use social media, Equality Now MENA has developed “a training module specifically designed to raise the capacities of young people on how to use social media for advocacy and allow them to air their views on human rights issues effectively to reach out to other young people in their communities and actually get them on board of advocacy efforts”.

Dr. Dabbous emphasised that Equality Now MENA, especially as a part of the Hurra Coalition, mostly focuses on movement building and advocacy. 

“We realised that we really need to prepare the next generation of advocates for women’s rights in the region, and that’s why we’re specifically targeting both young women and young men and equipping them with the competencies and the skills they need to participate in our advocacy efforts and amplify the movement’s impact in advancing women’s rights across the region”, she said

The workshops organised by Equality Now in the MENA region, thus, focus on empowering young activists to utilise simple digital media tools to translate complex legal concepts into compelling visual narratives as precise mechanisms for public mobilisation. 

I learned how digital media can be used as a powerful advocacy tool to raise awareness, influence public opinion, and amplify the voices of marginalised communities. I also learned the importance of storytelling, audience targeting, and creating impactful visual content.

Bassmala Elsrag, a participant in Equality Now’s training in Cairo 2026

This not only lowers the financial and technical barriers to media production, but also makes media advocacy much easier and accessible, and therefore enhances its impact across the region.

Photos and videos are no longer just a way to tell stories, but rather have become strategic tools in advocacy campaigns that give a voice to groups whose voices are not heard, which enhances community empathy and pushes people towards interaction, participation and decision-making.

Shahd Mohammed, a participant in Equality Now’s training in Cairo 2026

From photography, storyboarding, lighting, and editing, youth activists learn how to produce short films using only their mobile phones, to address critical issues in their local communities, such as domestic violence, female genital mutilation, child marriage, and advocating for comprehensive family law reform.

The training enhanced my filmmaking skills by improving my ability to plan advocacy-focused videos, develop stronger narratives, and produce content with a clear social message. It also gave me more confidence in using film to support human rights and community engagement initiatives.

Bassmala Elsrag, a participant in Equality Now’s training in Cairo 2026

Investment in youth by organisations like Equality Now ensures that advocacy is not exclusive to seasoned feminists. Rather, it is a continuous movement carried forward by a generation of committed youth that naturally speaks the language of digital media.

In an era where a single story can reach millions within minutes or even seconds, raising young people’s digital advocacy skills is ultimately a contribution to building a stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient movement for gender equality across the Middle East and North Africa.