She was skinny and humbly dressed. Almost physically anonymous as she took the stage at the One Young World summit today in London. But as she started speaking her energy broke out, leaving the audience inspired by her experience.
Esra'a Al Shafei is only 23, but has already done a lot in the fight for human rights in her country, Bahrain, and in the Middle East. In 2006 Esra'a invested a ridiculous $100 to set up a social network, mideastyouth.com, and provide a dialogue platform for young people from the Middle East.
"Internet is a gateway for freedom of speech," she said. "There is no censorship there. And even when the government tries to shut websites down, there is always a away to get aroung that."
Esra'a used animation, comics, ads and podcasts to reach a young audience and change their mentality, rather than communicate with the government. Her aim was to tackle human rights violations and promote respect among diverse people.
The website launched projects to support minority groups, such as the faith of Baha'i and the Kurdish, and fellow freedom fighters, such as Kareem Amer, the blogger who was jailed for his alleged anti-religious and insulting to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak posts.
Esra'a, a graduate in social politics and international communication from the University of Lugano, Switzerland, is confident that the power of social networks will lead to a change in regions where intolerance and violence are still daily bread. "When I saw that people in my region were arrested, tortured or kileld because they were fighting for their dignity, I had to take action," she said."And Internet is my weapon."
Her hopeful activism, however, has not preserveed her from danger. Esra'a lives under death threat and has been banned from Egypt. "My mission is to stay out of prison," she joked, asking the audience not to take photographs nor to film her.
The One Young World, a three-day summit that gathered young leaders from all over the world, has given Esra'a the chance to meet other young leaders and build a network that will help her further her mission.
"This conferencewas inspiring, but in terms of actual action, it's hard to tell [whether it will be effective]," esra'a commented. "It's more about meeting other people, sharing, connecting."
For more info: http://www.mideastyouth.com/
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