Twelve Years On, Working to Uplift Syrian Children

March 15th marks a grim anniversary in Syria: twelve years since the Syrian conflict began. In that time, at least half a million people have died and 13 million people have been displaced, nearly 7 million of them children.

For a child born in Syria twelve years ago this month, they have never known a time of peace. Many have spent their entire childhood displaced and without access to the critical early learning, childhood development and educational experiences they need to grow. This is a humanitarian crisis on a staggering scale: an entire generation raised in conflict, without opportunities to learn and play when they need them the most — during the most formative early years of emotional and intellectual development.

In 2018, Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) came together to give young children affected by conflict and crisis in Syria and throughout the Middle East the support they need to learn, grow, and thrive. Ahlan Simsim — or “Welcome Sesame” in Arabic — has become the single largest early childhood intervention in the history of humanitarian response, a transformational program that integrates support for families in crisis with engaging educational media.

Together, IRC and Sesame Workshop set out to transform early childhood development (ECD) for children in conflict settings, and to make a lasting, measurable difference in the lives of Syrian children displaced by the war. The initiative has reached over a million children and caregivers through direct ECD services in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and over 23 million children across the Middle East and North Africa have watched the educational TV show Ahlan Simsim, a locally produced Arabic-language version of Sesame Street. Over half of displaced Syrian children in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq have watched Ahlan Simsim.

Ahlan Simsim helps children in conflict settings by focusing on the needs of the whole child — from health and developmental milestones to foundational skills and the “emotional ABCs.” These skills form a crucial foundation for all young children, but especially those who are living in crisis.

Educational infrastructure has eroded over a dozen years of war in Syria, and Ahlan Simsim is working with NGOs and local authorities to fill systemic gaps, offering learning and childhood development opportunities that would otherwise not exist. We have reached over half a million children and caregivers in northern Syria alone despite the extremely challenging context, and in the face of instability, have made significant progress with local partners on launching sustainable solutions to support early childhood development in the long-term.

Children also experience something that has been so rare in the twelve years since war broke out in Syria: joy, and an opportunity for playful learning. On the Ahlan Simsim television program, beloved Sesame characters like Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover join new friends like Basma and Jad, who have been designed in cooperation with education experts and creative talent from across the region, including Syria, to develop storylines that are relatable to the challenging lives of children.

Parents say that this initiative has helped their children to cope with displacement, maintain optimism, and persevere against challenges. Describing the impact of the Ahlan Simsim television program, one mother told us that “From Ahlan Simsim, my child learned to get rid of feeling nervous by counting and breathing.” One parent shared that the initiative “helped my daughter overcome her fear… she learned how to share and cooperate with her siblings or cousins. She also learned how to seek help and cooperate with others.”

The challenges facing this generation of Syrian children are great. February’s devastating earthquakes were just the latest setback for a country that has already experienced so much tragedy. But as this devastating war continues into a thirteenth year, we are committed to our work lifting up this generation of Syrian children and providing them the things that every child deserves: education, emotional support, and joy.

By René Celaya, Managing Director, Ahlan Simsim, Sesame Workshop, and Tanya Evans, Syria Country Director, International Rescue Committee