The Middle East Vegan Society is an organisation that focuses on reducing and eliminating the suffering caused on other animals as well as reducing our impact on the environment with our day to day choices.
Our mission is to both accelerate and document the disruptive growth of veganism worldwide and in the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), an area that goes largely unnoticed, by working on projects, campaigns and social media content.
We Believe that the animal rights & vegan community can largely benefit if it targeted all areas of the world when it comes to their work and we are here to help make that happen.
Factory farming is booming in the Middle East & North Africa
While the consumption of animal products is on the rise globally, one area that is currently booming with factory farming, especially of chickens, is the MENA region. It is great to see activists and organisations worldwide raising awareness about this matter, but this awareness is almost non existent when it comes to this area of the world, where more and more countries are adopting the standard western diet and ignoring the already existing Mediterranean diet, that also happens to be one of the healthiest diets thanks to its richness in plant based foods.
Veganism does not get the attention it deserves
Despite the rise in animal products consumption, veganism itself is also fortunately on the growth in the Middle East. However, this growth is often ignored by both mainstream and the ‘vegan media’ channels, who often tend to concentrate on what’s going on in the areas they’re located in. We work on putting the Middle Eastern and North African vegan movement and growth on the map and give it the exposure and attention it deserves.
More relatable and accessible guides & information are needed
The total population of the MENA region is 578 million people and has one of the world’s most rapidly expanding populations. Needless to say, this means that ignoring the habits of this area of the world will very probably result in more negative impact on other animals and the environment and actively working on and targeting these areas may result in positive impact on the lives of other animals as well as the environmental impact of each individual. Of these 578 million people, 422 million speak and understand the Arabic language, which happens to be one to the five most spoken languages in the world. This means that content created in Arabic can be used in more than 25 countries across the MENA region.
Additionally, millions of migrants have left the MENA region and have settled in other areas of the world such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the European Union. In 2015, the number reached 11.2 million migrants, who due to local integration issues that a lot of cities focus on solving at the moment, have become rather marginalised and seen as as ‘’ethnic minorities’’. Today, vegan organisations fail to reach these minorities, mainly as a result of language barriers and cultural/traditional/religious obstacles. We are here to help bridge that gap and make sure the information about veganism and animal rights, as well as the guides that are created, are accessible and relatable to those coming from the MENA region.
The Middle East Vegan Society also works on creating guides and content in Swahili, a language spoken in over 14 countries.
Support and collaboration is a must for our movement’s success
We are happy to be part of the global vegan and animal rights movement, trying our best to raise awareness of the horrors of animal agriculture on other animals, the environment and our health. We strongly believe that our strength as a movement relies on our support and solidarity. The Middle East Vegan Society collaborates and works with several organisations worldwide to help each other reach campaign goals and more. We cannot succeed as a movement, if we don’t function like one.
Lebanon
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