WASH UP! Syrian Response: Promoting Life-Saving Health Lessons through the Muppets

• In Event: Sesame Street in the Syrian response region

Proposal

The ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Syria has driven 5.1 million people across the border to seek refuge, overwhelming the already inadequate WASH services in Jordan, Lebanon, and the Kurdish region of Iraq.1 In many settings, refugee children and families grapple with unfamiliar WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) challenges ranging from water shortages to shared sanitation facilities to inadequate hygiene resources.

Launched in July 2017, Sesame Street and World Vision’s WASH UP! Syrian Response program aims to reduce the number of children suffering or dying from preventable and treatable diseases by providing access to meaningful sanitation and hygiene education. The multi-platform initiative, which draws on a global WASH education partnership with World Vision, promotes behavioral changes in sanitation and hygiene by empowering children with the knowledge and skills they need to teach their friends and family about staying healthy. WASH UP! Syrian Response is reaching refugees and host communities at psycho-social support centers, camps, schools, and child-friendly spaces. In addition to WASH objectives, the curriculum includes socio-emotional objectives such as coping with challenges and practicing kindness, respect, and understanding.

WASH UP! has been successful in part because it reflects local needs and realities in the Syrian Response region. Sesame included in-country stakeholders (e.g. local education experts, local water and health experts, government officials, etc.) as well as adults and children from the target communities, in the creation of the educational messaging and content. In addition, Sesame tested the materials during the content creation process to ensure that messages were relevant, clear, and effective.

The WASH UP! program also leverages the power of great partnerships. Sesame Workshop’s educational programming has the capacity to provide the “software” complement (e.g. more effective hygiene behavior) to the WASH “hardware” (e.g., water pumps and safe latrines) that World Vision is already providing in communities affected by the Syrian refugee crisis.
And finally, the program leverages the magic of our engaging Muppets, who have the power to connect with children and speak to them about difficult topics. Featuring a vibrant 6-year-old Muppet named Raya and her friend Elmo, the initiative uses the Muppets to teach children, model behaviors for them, and give them the language to talk about taboo topics like toilet use. We know that emotional drivers are powerful motivators and can have a lasting impact on a person’s behavior and the development of good habits. When children learn something from their new friends Raya and Elmo, they’re more likely to take their messages about healthy habits to heart.
This presentation will explore how the unique factors outlined above contributed to the success of the WASH UP! program, speaking specifically from the perspective of production, education, and research—the three elements key to Sesame Workshop’s content creation model.

1 UNICEF (2017). Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/wash

Authors

• Shanna Kohn, Sesame Workshop

• Kara Koch, Sesame Workshop