Middle East Democracy Center

The Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC) is a U.S.-based nonprofit and nonpartisan advocacy organization that works with the people of the Middle East and North Africa to challenge authoritarian systems, free the unjustly detained, and advocate for U.S. policies that protect human rights and advance a bold vision for democracy. MEDC was founded in 2024, a merger of the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and the Freedom Initiative, two organizations with over 25 years of combined efforts to support democracy and freedom in the Middle East and North Africa. The merger arose at an inflection point of rising authoritarianism and human rights violations across the MENA region, issuing a clarion call that the region must not be exempt from the global reckoning between democracy and autocracy. Widespread calls for dignity, justice, and freedom have been met with brutality, empty rhetoric, war, and resurgent authoritarianism that has left many displaced, disillusioned, and with little hope for their future. The founding of MEDC aims to turn the tide, making the case that freeing the unjustly detained and rebuilding constituencies for democratic norms are essential for the region’s peace and security, as well as vital strategic interests for the U.S. government.