Resilience, Peace and Security

Sesame Street is going to use Muppets to reach war-hit children in the Middle East

An Elmo muppet is seen on the Sesame Street float during the 86th Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in New York November 22, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY) - GM1E8BN0AV801

This project aims to reach 1.5 million refugee and displaced children in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Image: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Ellen Wulfhorst
Chief Correspondent of the Americas, Thompson Reuters Foundation

New York, Dec 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Muppets to the rescue! The "Sesame Street" television show and a leading charity received a $100 million grant on Wednesday to use the Muppets to reach millions of war-affected children in the Middle East.

The Sesame Workshop and International Rescue Committee (IRC) will focus on children in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq with a local version of "Sesame Street," according to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that gave the five-year grant.

The project aims to reach 1.5 million refugee and displaced children up to the age of 8 in those countries with storybooks, toys, games and resources designed for use in homes and in health, outreach and community centers, the IRC said.

More broadly the "Sesame Street" programming, which will teach language, reading and other skills, should reach 9.4 million children throughout the Middle East via television, mobile phones, digital platforms and other means, it said.

Featuring colorful characters such as the Cookie Monster, Big Bird and other Muppets, the long-running "Sesame Street" is highly regarded for teaching children to read, count and learn colors, along with tackling issues of race, tolerance and death.

"The most famous street in the world is going to spread its message of joy and love and laughter to some of the most vulnerable children in the world," IRC Chief Executive David Miliband told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

"They've lost parents or brothers or sisters. They've lost homes. They've lost their country."

Have you read?

Millions of children across the Middle East, ravaged by civil wars and persecution, have been forced to flee their homes, fall behind or not attend school, live in poverty and suffer trauma and danger, according to world aid groups.

Miliband called the project a "long-term investment in the stability of the Middle East."

"It's a great commitment to the children we are going to help, and I think it's a great stake in the ground against the faithless who would say that the refugee crisis is insoluble," he said.

Asked which Muppet might be most popular in the Middle East, he said: "Everyone loves Big Bird."

As with other "Sesame Street" expansions, this will feature new indigenous Muppets, a Sesame Workshop spokeswoman said.

Launched in 1969, "Sesame Street" has won multiple awards for its approach, educational content and message of inclusion. "This may be our most important initiative ever, and we are humbled by the trust and confidence that has been placed in us, said Jeffrey Dunn, chief executive of Sesame Workshop, in a statement.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Media, Entertainment and Information

Related topics:
Resilience, Peace and SecurityIndustries in Depth
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Humanitarian Action is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

5 ways AI can help crisis response around the world

Devanand Ramiah

December 6, 2024

Our civilization’s survival depends on collective action

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum