Tala Odeh is a human rights defender from Jordan in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region where civic space is repressed. She has participated at various global platforms, including serving as a Youth Advisor to the UN Human Rights (OHCHR) which forms parts of the Office’s ongoing focus and work with youth and their human rights. In her own words Odeh details her journey to advocacy and explains how working with the OHCHR has allowed her to have greater impact.
I don’t usually like to be called a “young activist.”
Or“nashet shababi” as it is called in Arabic. I don’t like it because, in my region, the title is often overused and claimed without necessarily living the values behind it. Instead, I see myself as a human rights defender, and more simply, as a young person with a vision for humanity.
I co-founded the NAMA Network for Human Rights Defenders, a youth-led regional platform operating in eight Middle East and North African countries (MENA). Through NAMA, we empower young people to engage in conflict resolution, peace mediation, and rights-based advocacy, creating cross-border solidarity even in fragmented contexts.
The focus is on young human rights defenders, not only human rights issues, this is crucial to make sure that those who defend rights are empowered enough.
Young campaigners and defenders need three things to keep going…
…recognition, resources, and protection.
Recognition because too often our voices are dismissed as “inexperienced” or “naïve,” when in fact young people are closest to the realities of our communities. Resources because passion alone cannot sustain human rights defense work; we need access to training, funding, and safe spaces to organize. Protection because defending rights comes with real risks, from harassment to repression, and defenders need to know they are not alone.
UN Human Rights (OHCHR) plays a vital role in meeting these needs. It gives legitimacy to our voices and ensures they are heard in front of governments and international bodies. I remember one moment during my time in the Youth Advisory Group when I felt that global conversations were moving forward without truly reflecting the realities of my region, a region burning with conflict, displacement, and repression but nobody talked about its youth’s struggles.
My focus is on ensuring that human rights are not just words in documents, but lived realities for people.
Instead of overlooking that concern, OHCHR gave me the opportunity to lead that conversation myself. I spoke in front of member states about what human rights mean to young people in the MENA, and what we urgently need as a generation living through conflict.
For me, what matters most is that OHCHR doesn’t just consult young people — it actively involves us in shaping human rights agendas. That kind of partnership gives us strength and sustainability, ensuring that even in repressed environments, young people can continue to fight for dignity, justice, and equality — and they are never left to fight alone.
Growing up in the Middle East meant living with constant conflict and uncertainty.
I cannot remember a time when our region truly had peace. Rights violations were rising, and it seemed as though the world often treated us with double standards, denying our dignity. I used to ask my father, “Why do we always have to see this? Why can’t we live like anyone else in the world?” And he would answer, “Tala, that’s simply because of where you were born — your nationality, your race, even being an Arab. One day you will see that the world is much more complicated than you think.”
His words stayed with me. That deep sense of injustice and marginalization made me promise myself that I would not leave this life without doing something meaningful for my people — to show the world who we really are, to defend our rights, and to bring our voices to every platform I can reach.
Outside of working on furthering human rights at the UN, Tala Odeh is a co-founder of the NAMA Network, which helps young people across the Middle East and North Africa defend rights and build peace.
My turning point came during my clinical pharmacy training in a diabetes clinic.
One day, a mother came in with her eight-year-old daughter, who had just been diagnosed with diabetes. Instead of feeling a sense of relief that there was treatment, the mother broke down in tears and begged us not to tell the father. She refused to give her daughter the necessary treatment and whispered through her tears, “If people knew, who would marry her?”
A year later, the same girl returned to the clinic with partial loss of vision — something that could have been prevented. That moment shattered me. It showed me that injustice is not only about wars or politics, but also about the silent struggles created by fear, stigma, and inequality.
I remembered the questions I used to ask my father as a child, and I realized I couldn’t just witness this and move on. That girl’s story became my call to action. At first, I only wanted to fight for her right to health, but it grew into something much larger — a promise to defend human rights in all their forms, and to bring the voices of the silenced to every platform I could reach.
Beyond NAMA, I work as an Associate Human Rights Officer with the United Nations in Jordan.
My focus is on ensuring that human rights are not just words in documents, but lived realities for people — especially young people and marginalized communities. My work bridges different areas: I lead initiatives on disability inclusion in climate action, youth participation, SDGs localization, and interaction with human rights mechanisms. For example, I organize trainings that bring together persons with disabilities and climate activists to ensure no one is left behind in shaping climate solutions.
I carried with me the stories, struggles, and hopes of young people from across the MENA.
I am also representing Jordan as one of the youth participants in the Youth Peace Mediators Programme (YPMP), a global initiative co-led by Finland and South Africa. Being part of YPMP has given me the chance to bring the perspectives of MENA youth into peacebuilding spaces that rarely include us. My focus is on ensuring that human rights are not seen as “extras” in peace negotiations but are embedded from the start — because peace without rights is never sustainable.
Through YPMP, I have been able to exchange with young mediators from Africa, Asia, Europe, and beyond, learning how local struggles connect to global patterns of injustice, and contributing to shaping peace processes that recognize dignity and justice as non-negotiable.
One of the most empowering experiences of my journey so far was serving as the Youth Advisor to UN Human Rights.
I was part of the Youth Advisory Group, created under the Human Rights 75 initiative, and I had the privilege to contribute to the Youth Declaration on Human Rights; a document that reimagines the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the eyes of a new generation.
For me, the most meaningful part was ensuring that voices from the Middle East and North Africa were not left out. Too often, our region is spoken about but not spoken with. I carried with me the stories, struggles, and hopes of young people from across the MENA, making sure that our realities — from conflict and repression to resilience and creativity — were reflected in the declaration.
The advisory group also gave me the opportunity to speak on global platforms, including the High-Level Event on Human Rights in 2023 and many others. Standing on those stages, I was not only representing myself but carrying the voices of young people from my region who are rarely given a seat at the table.
At the UN, Jordan's Tala Odeh places youth voices at the forefront, speaking for a generation determined to be seen as partners for sustainable change.
The experience empowered me by showing that young people are not just beneficiaries of human rights, but co-authors of what the future of rights should look like. It gave me confidence that my voice, coming from Jordan, mattered at the global level.
My biggest learnings were twofold: first, that youth around the world share a common struggle — whether in Africa, Latin America, or the Middle East, we are all demanding dignity and justice. And second, that narratives must change: youth should not be seen as victims or passive recipients, but as leaders and partners in shaping solutions. That lesson stays with me in every space I enter today.
Being a human rights defender in Jordan (and in the MENA region) means constantly navigating restricted civic space.
Laws, regulations, and social norms can limit how much young people are able to speak, organize, or mobilize. Expression is often monitored, associations are tightly controlled, and topics considered “sensitive” can easily attract pressure or backlash.
Across the region, many young rights defenders grow up with fear of repression, fear of being misunderstood, and fear of being silenced. Some face direct harassment, while others experience more subtle forms of exclusion, such as being denied opportunities, funding, or platforms because of their views. Women and marginalized groups often face an added layer of stigma and social pressure. In my own journey, there are moments when I have had to measure every word carefully, knowing that a sentence could be misinterpreted or used against me.
Do I feel free? Not entirely. There is always a risk. But campaigning and human rights work in the MENA region is not only about resisting restrictions, it’s about finding creative ways to keep the space alive. We use art, dialogue, community initiatives, and digital tools to claim our right to participate — even when the civic space feels narrow. While there is always worry, I’ve learned that courage is not the absence of fear it is choosing to act despite it.
What unites human rights defenders across the MENA is resilience. Even under repression, young people continue to build movements, connect across borders, and push for justice. Our civic space may be shrinking, but our determination to defend it only grows stronger.
At its core, my work…
…whether through the UN, NAMA, or YPMP, is about transforming human rights into tools for peace, and ensuring that young people from my region are not only heard but included in shaping the solutions.
This article, as narrated to Gugulethu Mhlungu, has been slightly edited for clarity.
The 2025-2026 In My Own Words series is part of Global Citizen’s grant-funded content.