LocationsBeyond Diversity Theatre: Women Experts Transforming Lebanese Media
February 27, 2026
Many barriers that hold women back are rooted in long-standing social norms. At the same time, media practices and content production play a powerful role in shaping public perceptions. For example, political talk shows and panels often feature all-male lineups, which can unintentionally reinforce narrow ideas of leadership and expertise.
The question is: does women’s participation always need to be explicitly framed as “empowerment,” or can media practices evolve to highlight expertise more naturally? What if, instead of emphasizing empowerment, we simply center women as the experts they already are? The UNDP Accelerator Lab set out to explore this question through a bold experiment.
The Experiment: Masslaha Amma (Public Interest)
In the month leading up to Lebanon’s 2022 parliamentary elections, UNDP launched a three-episode pilot TV show, Masslaha Amma. The series partnered with leading women in Lebanon’s healthcare, economic, and civic rights sectors to share insights and analysis on pressing policy issues. Behind the cameras, an all-women production team ensured the program reflected professional excellence and innovation at every stage.
An all-women lineup aired on nationwide TV and online, reaching audiences across Lebanon. This initiative created a first-of-its-kind platform that centered women as experts, producing serious, long-form policy content with clear analysis and solution-oriented perspectives.
A screen grab from the pilot 3 episode as they appear on TV partner’s youtube channel (Al Jadeed)
Measuring Engagement and Impact
Viewership was tracked carefully, including regional distribution and gender. “Intentional views” were used as a proxy for the audience’s interest in mainstream adoption of women’s voices in political discourse.
- Pilot Series Reach: The pilot reached hundreds of thousands of viewers across TV and social media platforms.
- Male & Female Engagement: Across all episodes, 150,000 male viewers and 120,000 female viewers were recorded online.
- Interactive Growth: A QR code allowed viewers to nominate future guests, resulting in nominations for both women and men actively contributing to the public good.
These findings suggest audience openness to expert-led discussions featuring women in political discourse, demonstrating that audiences respond positively when women are given central platforms.
Scaling Up: From Pilot to National Policy Hub
Building on the initial pilot, Season Two of Masslaha Amma evolved into a comprehensive seven-episode national series. Airing from October 17 to November 28, 2025, the season featured 14 leading experts from across Lebanon, purposefully moving beyond “women’s issues” to lead the most critical national debates on economic recovery, health reform, and digital sovereignty.
A screen grab fromSeason 2, 7 episodes as they appear on TV partner’s youtube channel (Al Jadeed)
Expertise in Action: Leading the National Debate
Unlike traditional talk shows that often relegate women to social topics, Season Two positioned these experts as the primary architects of Lebanon's future policy. The season addressed several critical policy areas:
- Economic Recovery & Private Sector Innovation: Insights from leaders in economic research and tech entrepreneurship highlighted how small businesses and structural reforms can anchor national recovery.
- Healthcare Systems & Institutional Reform: Technical deep dives into public health moved conversations from crisis management to systemic transformation and institutional leadership.
- Civic Rights & Social Protection: In the lead-up to the 2026 political cycle, panels focused on labor policy and social protection, grounding high-level legislation in the lived realities of Lebanese workers.
Most viewed episode of Masslaha Aa’mma season 2 on Al Jadeed Youtube channel at 53 K views.
Exponential Viewership: Redefining Mainstream
The data confirms that the audience responded strongly to this approach:
- 292% Growth in Top Episode Views: Viewership for the season's most popular episode grew from 13,000 views in 2022 to 51,000 in 2025, notably with significantly reduced ad spend per episode, so cannot be a direct control comparison, but still significant.
- Digital Authority: On the Al Jadeed YouTube channel, the top-performing episode reached 53,000 views, suggesting that long-form policy analysis can compete with mainstream clips if it offers clear, solution-oriented perspectives.
The Takeaway: Strategic Media for Lasting Change
This experiment shows that long-form policy content can compete with mainstream programming when thoughtfully produced and promoted. By highlighting women experts as authorities, UNDP did more than support gender equality; it created national conversations about policy, expertise, and informed citizenship.
Sustained investment through careful content design, strategic promotion, and measurement can reshape media norms, making expert-led discussions a natural part of Lebanon’s public discourse. The numbers point in a clear direction: women-centered policy content doesn't just compete, it can outperform.