“Environmental Jalsa,” a podcast series prepared and hosted by Research Fellow, Malek Lakhal, delves into the complex environmental issues in the Middle East and North Africa region. Each episode highlights vital environmental topics, ranging from the impact of wars on the environment to the growth of the ecofeminist movement, and the relationship between environmental activism, social class, and democracy. With guests including activists, journalists, and scholars, the podcast offers deep insights into important issues that are often overlooked. It explores the devastating landscapes of war, the role of ecofeminism in the Arab context, and the possibility of ecological transition under various governance systems. “Environmental Jalsa” consists of 5 “talk-show-like” episodes and is under ARI’s Environmental Politics Program umbrella. ”This publication was supported with funds from the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. This publication or parts of it can be quoted for free as long as proper reference to the original publication is provide. The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of Authors and does not necessarily reflect a position of RLS.”

The Syrian conflict is among history’s most well-documented events,  yet the vital roles of women remain overlooked. Our upcoming Jalsa podcast series, ‘Jalsa with Syrian Women Politicians,’ aims to bridge this gap. In eight episodes, we’ll explore Syrian politics through in-depth interviews with women who are key players in the political landscape. This series is produced within the framework of the SAWT project, one of the Women Political Participation program’s outputs. The program aims to enhance women’s voice at decision-making tables, through local feminism knowledge production, local and international advocacy, and women’s networking at the global south level.

Archiving Feminist Activism in Egypt is the Arab Initiative Reform’s third podcast series. It takes a historical approach to investigate a mainstream narrative connecting feminist activism in Egypt with the global MeToo movement. Through its five episodes, the podcast creates an archive of narratives by individuals who were involved firsthand in feminist activism in Egypt in recent years. In each episode, activists recount their experiences and share their analysis of the conditions that shaped their activism. Part of our Jalsa | جلسة podcast, this series arranges and officialize these narratives to tell a certain story: the story of an Egypt that has witnessed the proliferation of feminist activists who brought different modalities of activism to correspond with the boundaries – the limitations and opportunities – offered in the local context.

Putting fieldwork at the heart of the conversation, 3ala el Maydan invites researchers, journalists, and art practitioners from the Middle East and North Africa region and beyond, to talk about their experiences, discoveries, challenges, and surprises when carrying out field research or on-the-ground investigations in MENA countries. Part of our Jalsa | جلسة podcast, this new series seeks to build collective knowledge on fieldwork practices to help young researchers and journalists begin their fieldwork journey with a critical eye.

What happens when you become an adult in a context of conflict? How does it affect your choices, your options, your ambitions? In a series of frank conversations between youth in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, we hear directly from them about how war affected their plans, how they have navigated their daily lives in the context of conflict and their aspirations for their futures. Each episode has two youth discussing how they are living through the conflict, how they see their future moving forward, and what strategies they have found to rekindle hope in their lives.