Empowering minority youth in Iraq and Kurdistan to advocate for their communities and highlight their cultural identities
Advocacy Through Media
Amplifying Minority Voices
The Youth Media Program for Minorities in Iraq is empowering young leaders, fostering advocacy, and preserving cultural heritage through storytelling.
Launched in 2024, this one-year project equips 26 youth leaders from 13 minority communities—including Yezidi, Shabak, Kaka’i, Fayli, Christian (Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians), Roma, Zoroastrian, Sabean-Mandaean, Baha’i, Jews, Turkmen, and Bidoon—with training in journalism and social media to advocate for their communities.
Participants are creating 13 documentaries and corresponding Wikipedia articles to document and preserve cultural heritage and oral histories. Social media campaigns are amplifying their work, targeting 3.25 million video views to raise awareness of minority rights and issues.
Training for Advocacy and Media Skills
Training dives into crucial topics like social media optimization, content creation, strategic communication, privacy protection, and data analytics. Participants also master key technical aspects, including filming, lighting, audio, editing, and obtaining permissions, ensuring they are fully prepared to elevate and give visibility to their communities.
Expanding Reach Through Media and Advocacy
Episodes will air on Zagros TV for Iraqi audiences, and the first English episode will premiere at New York University in February 2025.
Trained youth advocates and Ideas Beyond Borders will amplify the documentaries’ reach through reels and short videos shared across social media.
Multilingual Accessibility and Global Publication
Each documentary is translated into English, Arabic, and French, with accompanying Wikipedia articles. English articles will be published by NYU’s Peace Research Program, and French articles by the French Research Centre on Iraq (CFRI) to ensure broad accessibility.
Documentaries Aired on ZagrosTV
Untold Stories: Sabean-Mandean
Untold Stories: Ezidis
Untold Stories: Roma
Untold Stories: Christians
Untold Stories: Fayli
Untold Stories: Armenian
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