Reporting on water scarcity in the Middle East

IMS partner Daraj Media, a pan-Arab independent media outlet, has taken a deep dive into the issue of water in the Middle East and how its scarcity can drive conflicts.

It launched Moor, an online platform, to report on water and related environmental issues. Its reporting, podcasts, graphics and videos are aimed at a youth audience. “Moor opened the way for Daraj to work with young digital creators who focused on repackaging heavy journalistic content into accessible, snackable and highly engaging content focused on the under-25 target audience,” Daraj chief executive Alia Ibrahim said.

The project spans a broad range of issues from environmental degradation and connected social justice problems to household water consumption and the well-being of one teenager having her first period in a refugee camp. Moor content also counters climate change related disinformation. Daraj has long embraced constructive and solutions-focused stories that are weighted in scientific and research-based
evidence.

Daraj’s main newsroom in Beirut has worked on Moor in collaboration with smaller partners in Jordan such as ShezoMedia and Yemen’s Etreek.

Etreek filmed a series on Instagram aimed at reducing household water consumption.
In a three-part series, ShezoMedia looked at rubbish polluting a waterway in the town of Salt, Jordan. Shahabil, a character from the past, arrives in the present to raise awareness about environmental issues. As a result of the Instagram videos, authorities took responsibility for the clean-up.

While Daraj has not been affected by US funding cuts, ShezoMedia has experienced a 50 percent budget reduction and Etreek lost 100 percent of its funding.

“The damage is undeniable, neither they nor we could continue the production of the formats that have been very successful in the pilot stage and if we don’t manage to raise funds those successful projects will
have to be killed,” Ibrahim said. “It is just a matter of time before we find ourselves incapable of providing even the little support we give to our smaller partners. They will have to shut down and the loss will be not only theirs, but ours too and the whole ecosystem.”

Ibrahim said it was heartbreaking to build strong collaborations and working relationships that hit a brick wall because of external factors.

“We’ve put time and resources into building those networks and now, day in day out we’re seeing what we have built fall apart, not because the product wasn’t good enough, not because it failed, not because it’s unsustainable or scalable, not because it’s not worth investing in, but because the little resources that were available until recently and that allowed it to exist are dying out,” she said.

IMS has provided core financial support to Daraj, including emergency assistance to fund staff relocations from red zones during the war as well as equipment so its operations could continue. It has also provided advisory support and mentoring in business development helping Daraj design and implement a crowdfunding campaign.