One Hour Is Not Enough

"One Hour Is Not Enough" drew on information and communication technologies (ICTs) to highlight the rights of disabled persons to education, work, and political participation. The weekly talk show programme aired live from Beirut, Lebanon, every Sunday evening by the TV channel SAT-7 for a 6-month period in late 2007/early 2008. The talk show tackled issues such as discrimination, independence, marriage, feelings, and violence. The programme was interactive; discussion included guests in the studio and with viewers, who called the show or send their comments via text messages from their mobile phones. (In Arabic, "One Hour is not Enough" is translated as "Sa'a Mish Say'a"; many viewers reportedly sent their short message service (SMS) comments to the "SMS-show").

All 27 shows were hosted by a two-person team: well-known Lebanese presenter Said Melki, and a young woman of Palestinian descent named Tania who was injured in a bomb attack when she was 9 years old. (Consequently, she uses a wheelchair. She is a law school graduate, but is not allowed to practice law because of Lebanese restrictions against Palestinians).

Rights.

SAT-7 was created by Middle Eastern Christians in partnership with Christians around the world. The channel has its own studios in Lebanon and Egypt, and administration and broadcast facilities in Cyprus.

Organisers say that "The rights of disabled persons are often ignored in many Arab countries, and one of the main reasons for this is simply lack of awareness. The issue of disability is not generally discussed in Arab media, and SAT-7's show has created a lot of attention, also from other media."

An earlier disability campaign on SAT-7 included documentaries, spots, and children's programmes. After watching these programmes, the number of focus group discussion (FGD) respondents who strongly agreed with the statement "People with disabilities have a valuable contribution to make in the community," had increased changed from 48% to 65% in Jordan, from 77% to 86% in Morocco, and from 37% to 71% in Egypt.