Being Young in the MENA: Youth, Identity, and Shaping the Future

In this episode of Around the Table, we explore what it really means to be young in the Middle East and North Africa today. With over half the region’s population under the age of 30, this is a generation shaping the present as much as the future—full of creativity, resilience, and potential, while also navigating significant challenges.

Together, we step beyond the headlines to hear a more nuanced story. From questions of identity and belonging to the realities of opportunity, uncertainty, and hope, this conversation offers insight into life through the eyes of young people across the region.

We also reflect on the role of media in this landscape—how it influences, informs, and connects young audiences, and why platforms like SAT-7 are vital in creating space for authentic stories, and the Good News of Jesus, to be shared.

This isn’t a conversation about easy answers. It’s about listening — to the challenges young people face, to the questions they’re asking, and to the hope they carry as they navigate a rapidly changing world and help shape its future.

Whether you’re listening on your favourite podcast platform or via the SAT-7 UK website, we’re glad you’ve joined us around the table.

SAT-7 UK: https://www.sat7uk.org/

SAT-7 UK Podcasts: https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/sat-7-uk-podcast/

Welcome to 7 Ways to Pray, a monthly podcast brought to you by SAT-7.

This month, we bring you 7 prayers from SAT-7 staff across the Middle East. Over the last month, we have all been left reeling by the sudden and largescale war in the Middle East that broke out at the beginning of March. You may have been wondering how to pray at this time of crisis. We hope these seven prayers will help guide you. Maybe you could share them with others – in your church, small group or prayer meeting?

Show Note Resources:

Read and pray about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East:
https://www.sat7uk.org/crisis

Download March Prayer Diary:
https://www.sat7uk.org/pray/

Join us for another impactful conversation Around the Table, SAT-7 UK’s podcast where voices from the UK, the Middle East, and North Africa come together for honest, faith-filled conversations that go deeper than the headlines.

In this special episode marking International Women’s Day, hosts Sophie Griffith, George Makeen and Martin Thomas are joined by best-selling author Karen Bartlett and distinguished TV producer and director Mikael Tunér. Together, they take part in a powerful and thought-provoking conversation about Afghanistan, exploring vital themes including women’s rights, justice, faith and the role of the media. While the discussion is not always easy, it is both necessary and deeply important — and one we hope you’ll find as insightful as it is compelling.

For many of us, Afghanistan filled the headlines in 2021, with images of chaos, desperation, and departure as Western forces completed their withdrawal from the country. Then, almost as suddenly, it slipped from view; but for the people of Afghanistan, the story didn’t simply end there.

So, in this episode, we take a deeper look at what life has been like since August 2021: the impact on women, on justice, on faith, and on the voices that are still finding ways to be heard, even under extreme pressure.

We would have loved to have included the voices of women from Afghanistan in this episode. Unfortunately, due to security concerns, this wasn’t possible. Instead, we draw on the insights of people who have worked closely with Afghan women and their stories. We hope that Karen’s experience interviewing many of the Afghan women judges for her book Escape from Kabul, combined with Mikael’s heart for women’s programming after growing up in Afghanistan, makes for a compelling and inspiring conversation.

This conversation is not about quick answers or simple conclusions. Rather it’s about listening — to stories of resilience, to the role of media and faith in closed spaces, and to the quiet hope that continues to exist even where freedom is severely restricted.

Whether you’re listening on your favourite podcast platform or via the SAT-7 UK website, we’re glad you’ve joined us around the table.

SAT-7 UK: https://www.sat7uk.org/

Check out:

Karen Bartlett’s Book: The Escape from Kabul: A True Story of Sisterhood and Defiance

SAT-7 UK Podcasts: https://www.sat7uk.org/pages/sat-7-uk-podcast/