Majal

Majal was founded in Bahrain in 2006 by Esra'a Al Shafei, initially as a group-blogging idea intended to provide a space for voices that were underrepresented in mainstream regional media. The project subsequently moved beyond blogging and developed a broader civic-technology model. Rather than concentrating only on editorial publishing, Majal began creating online platforms, mobile applications, and media tools that could support advocacy, public discussion, and the preservation of evidence about social and political events. The organization’s approach has centered on open and accessible technology. It has used open-source platforms and development frameworks, including WordPress and Ruby on Rails, and has sought to make its content and projects freely available. Its communications work has extended across blogs, podcasts, video blogs, animation, comics, images, live broadcasts, and radio. This combination of software development and multimedia publishing allowed Majal to work with dispersed communities and to address topics that could be difficult to cover through conventional institutions. Majal’s projects have covered a wide range of rights issues. They have included initiatives concerning Kurdish rights, the rights of Bahá'ís in Muslim-majority societies, migrant workers, and Arab LGBTQ youth. The organization also supported Mideast Tunes, a platform for independent music from the region. Ahwaa provided a discussion-oriented environment for Arab LGBTQ youth, while Migrant Rights focused on information and advocacy relating to migrant communities. These projects reflected Majal’s broader aim of creating platforms through which communities could tell their own stories and access information. A major turning point came with CrowdVoice, launched in 2010. The service collected and organized user-submitted videos, photographs, eyewitness accounts, and other material about protests and social movements. During the 2010–2011 protests across the Middle East and North Africa, CrowdVoice became associated with the documentation and archiving of events that were unfolding rapidly and were not always fully covered by traditional media. The platform was temporarily censored in Yemen and was reported as continuing to be censored in Bahrain, demonstrating the pressure that rights-oriented digital services could face in the region. Majal’s public profile grew through awards, fellowships, and media attention. Its first reported funding came from the 2008 Berkman Award for Internet Innovation in the human-rights and global-advocacy category. In 2009, the March 18 Movement, a Majal project, received the Think Social Award. Founder Esra'a Al Shafei also received an Echoing Green fellowship for civil and human rights work and a TEDGlobal fellowship. In 2011, Majal-related work received recognition from Ashoka Changemakers and the BOBS, while Al Shafei received the Monaco Media Prize. Majal was later associated with the Shuttleworth Foundation fellowship program, received the Human Rights Tulip in 2014, and was listed among The Global Journal’s notable nongovernmental organizations in 2013. The organization’s funding model has been described as a mixture of private donations, grants from nongovernmental organizations, and possible freelance development revenue. Named funders include the Shuttleworth Foundation and Omidyar Network. This model reflects Majal’s position as a nonprofit technology and advocacy organization rather than a commercial media brand. Public descriptions have identified a primarily women-led team, with Ahmed Zidan serving for an extended period as editor-in-chief of Majal Arabic and also co-founding Ahwaa. Other publicly associated team members include Mona Kareem, Rima Kalush, Abir Ghattas, Namita Malhotra, and Vani Saraswathi. The available reference material does not reliably document Majal’s current leadership, headquarters beyond its Bahrain origins, or whether all of its historical projects remain operational.

• 2014

  Human Rights Tulip

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Majal is recognized with the Human Rights Tulip for its human-rights work.

• 2013

  Listed among notable nongovernmental organizations

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  The Global Journal selects Majal for its list of leading NGOs.

• 2011

  Recognition for civic media and human-rights work

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Majal-related projects and its founder receive several international awards and fellowships, including recognition from Ashoka Changemakers, the BOBS, and the Monaco Media Prize.

• 2010

  CrowdVoice launches

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Majal introduces CrowdVoice, a crowdsourced platform for collecting and organizing reports and media about protests and civic movements.

• 2009

  Think Social Award for the March 18 Movement

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  A Majal-associated project is recognized for using social media to address global social problems.

• 2008

  Berkman Award recognition

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Majal receives the Berkman Award in the human-rights and global-advocacy category, described as its first source of funding.

• 2006

  Majal is founded in Bahrain

  [1]Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Esra'a Al Shafei launches Majal as a group-blogging initiative focused on regional expression and marginalized voices.

A regional civic-technology and independent-media nonprofit using accessible digital tools to support freedom of expression, minority rights, social justice, and the documentation of underreported events.

• Civic-media and crowdsourced archiving platform · 2010

  CrowdVoice

  CrowdVoice was launched in 2010 to aggregate, organize, and preserve user-submitted videos, photographs, eyewitness accounts, and other reports concerning protests and social movements. It became particularly visible during the 2010–2011 protests in the Middle East and North Africa, when it helped users follow rapidly developing events and preserve material that might otherwise have disappeared. The platform was reported as censored in Yemen and Bahrain.

• Rights-information and advocacy platform

  Migrant Rights

  Migrant Rights is a Majal-associated media and advocacy project addressing the experiences, information needs, and rights of migrant workers. It used online publishing and digital communication to bring attention to an often underreported population in the Gulf and wider Middle East. The available material identifies it as one of Majal’s principal projects but does not establish its current operating status.

• Online discussion platform

  Ahwaa

  Ahwaa is a discussion-oriented platform for Arab LGBTQ youth associated with Majal and co-founded by Ahmed Zidan. It was designed to facilitate community conversation and peer exchange in a region where LGBTQ people can face social stigma, legal restrictions, and limited access to safe public forums. The available references do not confirm its present ownership or operational status.

• Independent-music discovery website

  Mideast Tunes

  Mideast Tunes is a website associated with Majal that highlights independent musicians and music from the Middle East and North Africa. Its cultural-discovery model broadened Majal’s work beyond direct rights advocacy by giving regional artists a platform for visibility and distribution. The project received support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture according to the available reference material.

• Human-rights advocacy project

  Alliance for Kurdish Rights

  The Alliance for Kurdish Rights is listed among Majal’s projects addressing the rights and representation of Kurdish communities. Public descriptions characterize it as a digital advocacy initiative rather than a commercial product. Details about its structure, geographic scope, and current activity are not established in the available material.

• Religious-freedom advocacy project

  The Muslim Network for Bahá'í Rights

  This Majal-associated project focused on the rights of Bahá'ís in Muslim-majority contexts. It reflects the organization’s use of digital platforms to support minority-rights advocacy and public access to information. The available reference does not provide enough detail to determine the project’s duration or current status.

• 2010CrowdVoice protest documentation

  Middle East · North Africa

  CrowdVoice organized crowdsourced media and eyewitness reports relating to protests and civic movements across the region.

  Outcome. The project became a prominent digital archive and information tool during the 2010–2011 regional protest wave, although it also encountered censorship.

  Source
• 2009March 18 Movement

  International

  The March 18 Movement used social media and online organizing to demonstrate how digital communication could be applied to social problems.

  Outcome. The project received the 2009 Think Social Award.

  Source

• 2010

  Launch of CrowdVoiceProduct launch

  Background

  The organization needed tools capable of collecting and preserving rapidly expanding volumes of citizen-generated media.

  Action taken

  Majal launched CrowdVoice as a crowdsourced platform for protest-related videos, images, and eyewitness reports.

  Aftermath

  CrowdVoice became closely associated with documentation of the 2010–2011 regional protests and was subject to censorship in parts of the region.

  Source

• 2006

  Shift from group blogging to civic-technology developmentStrategy

  Background

  Majal began as a simple group-blogging concept but sought a broader way to support freedom of expression and social justice.

  Action taken

  The organization expanded into building specialized websites, applications, mobile tools, and multimedia platforms.

  Aftermath

  This repositioned Majal as a regional nonprofit technology and media organization rather than only a blog network.

  Source

1. 1Majal (organization)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Majal official websitemajal.org