Funded by the US Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), 
Social Media | Social Action is connecting youth-focused NGOs across the region with technology tools useful for advancing their work and increasing civic participation. The program will also help these organizations build a catalogue of technology resources so that other organizations in the region can benefit from their expertise.
• Train youth organizations to better achieve their missions through the application of low-cost, practical, and replicable technologies
• Through technology, foster collaboration, sharing, and networking between youth organizations within their own countries and across the region
• Integrate results from networking and pilot projects into standardized learning materials and lessons to be applied by other organizations in the region
This project is funded through the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). MEPI is a unique program designed to engage directly with and invest in the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). MEPI works to create vibrant partnerships with citizens to foster the development of pluralistic, participatory, and prosperous societies throughout the MENA region. MEPI partners with local, regional and international non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academic institutions, and governments. More information about MEPI can be found at: www.mepi.state.gov [8].
• Pilot Projects: The project’s first phase uses basic technologies such as citizen journalism, digital documentary technologies, and mobile applications, to demonstrate the advantages, challenges, and lessons of each technology in a series of varied applications facilitating youth participation
• Roadshow & Online Expo: With IREX coordination, project participants will visit organizations and coalitions with their training modules and participate in a series of online expositions to strengthen ties between the most innovative youth organizations throughout the Middle East region
• Replication Grants: In the second phase of the project, a range of resources will be made available to other youth organizations throughout the region for projects applying the tools piloted in phase one, and adapting these tools to new issue areas
smsa@irex.org [9]
@irextech [10]