12th August 2026
Young people leverage digital media to advance gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa
9 min read
News and Insights
Achieve legal equality
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,