Batala: YouTube Launches New Hub for Female Arab Creators

Hey Arab women: if you’re a content creator, you now have your very own channel on YouTube. All of you, all together. Yep, that’s right. You can thank YouTube.

Monday, YouTube launched Batala (“Heroine”), a new hub just for female content creators from MENA, with over 100 women featured. The channel already has more than 1,000 videos, which range from comedy to fitness to education, and so much in between.

It’s safe to say they’re garnering a lot of attention: in two days, the hub’s introductory video has accumulated well over a million views.

Every month, Batala will highlight a new list of creators. From Egyptian amateur film critic Enji Aboul Seoud to Palestinian travel vlogger Haifa Bseiso, the female creators featured on Batala come from a wide range of fields and from all across the Middle East and North Africa. The hub has dozens of playlists and featured content creators.

“With the continuing growth of female content creators in MENA, we want to keep the momentum going,” said Diana Baddar, head of YouTube Partnerships in MENA, in a Tuesday press release. “The hub highlights the work of some of our best creators in the region, and showcases high-quality Arabic content to YouTube’s one billion users.”

WE SAID THIS: According to the press release, demand for female-related content is growing; in MENA, the number of hours spent watching female-related videos grew 50% in 2015.