A groundbreaking project, Ahlan Simsim by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Sesame Workshop, has been recognized by the 2023 WISE Awards. Ahlan Simsim has reached over 1.7 million children and their families directly with playful and educational learning opportunities in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and over 25 million children through the award-winning locally produced Arabic-language version of Sesame Street airing across the Middle East and North Africa.

The report draws on the successes of the Ahlan Simsim initiative—the largest Early Childhood Development (ECD) intervention in the history of humanitarian response—reaching millions of children and caregivers across the Middle East with the support they need to learn, grow and thrive.

The report draws on the successes of the Ahlan Simsim initiative—the largest Early Childhood Development (ECD) intervention in the history of humanitarian response—reaching millions of children and caregivers across the Middle East with the support they need to learn, grow and thrive.

New research on effective early childhood development programming in humanitarian settings.

The report highlights six interconnected themes: understanding the system, ownership, collaborative partnership, adaptive management, co-design for scale, and investment for scale.

What the Ahlan Simsim initiative tells us about the cost of delivering early childhood development programs to crisis-affected children

An Arabic-language translation of the scaling report

Sesame Street characters helped Saeed, 5, who was born with Down’s Syndrome, learn and engage with children his age through the IRC's Ahlan Simsim program in Syria.