Barriers to education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are multiple. From restrictive social policies that limit girls’ access to learning to devastating wars that destroy school buildings and displace families, millions of children in the region are out of school. Iraq’s parliament this week passed amendments to the country’s personal status law that could allow some girls […]
Of the ten countries where Christians are most severely persecuted, five are from the MENA, according to this year’s World Watch List. Christians in Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Iran, and Afghanistan face great dangers and are subject to some of the world’s harshest restrictions on their faith. SAT-7’s satellite programmes and social media content are available in all five of these […]
As a new year dawns, there is cause for cautious hope in the Middle East: a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas; a holding ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon; and a new Syrian leadership which promises to respect the rights of minorities. But while there is cause for optimism, many people in the region begin another year amidst war […]
As tensions continue to rise across the Middle East, a powerful episode of SAT-7’s Voice of the Church has offered comfort and hope to viewers in Lebanon and beyond. During the episode, entitled “Lord, Have Mercy on Us”, church leaders and other believers lifted up heartfelt prayers for Lebanon and the wider region, calling on God for peace and help. […]
“We urgently need to find our way back to peace in line with the UN Charter [of Human Rights] and international law.” This was the impassioned message that Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, sent to the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council last month. Prominent among the examples he gave were Gaza, Sudan, Syria […]
SUDAN BRIEFING: Church perseveres in faith and love amid conflict Nicknamed “the forgotten war”, the conflict that erupted in Sudan last April has taken a devastating toll on its people. The fighting has displaced over 8 million people and left around 25 million in need of humanitarian aid. Almost 15,000 deaths have been reported, but the true figure is likely […]
Freedom and security seem ever more elusive in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This month, we bring you various reports on religious freedom, women’s rights and press freedom, as well as more hopeful news from Syria. Freedom of religion and of belief is “being challenged more and more” around the world, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom […]
While conflict in the Holy Land and the fresh involvement of Iran dominates headlines, a war between generals continues to ravage Sudan, and Türkiye expresses an appetite for change in political leadership. The Middle East found itself on a knife-edge last weekend after Iran launched 300 missiles and drones at Israel – the Islamic Republic’s first direct assault on Israel […]
As the conflict in Sudan reaches its first anniversary, a Christian family have shared their heartrending story of having to flee two wars in the region, displaying remarkable faith and courage in the face of repeated danger and loss. George Bitar, originally from Sudan, is married to Alice, from Syria, and they have two sons, Naim (22) and Jan […]
While the Holy Land and Sudan continued to suffer ruinous wars this month, Iran had elections with record low turnouts as it prepared to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian new year. Unrelenting conflicts in Gaza and Sudan have brought both countries to a new level of suffering. Many of the 300,000 Palestinians still living in the north of Gaza have been […]