The U.S. government announced today a new partnership with Sesame Workshop to support children and families affected by Russias full-scale war against Ukraine. Through funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of State, Ukrainian children and families will now have access to new Sesame Street content in Ukrainian language, as well as tools and resources to help children, caregivers, and teachers process the trauma of conflict and displacement. These resources include animated videos and teacher training workshops.
With USAID support, PLUSPLUS Ukraines leading animation channel for children and families is broadcasting 140 animated 5-minute video segments designed to bring playful early learning to children while paying particular attention to the unique needs and experiences of those affected by conflict and crisis. These engaging and entertaining videos promote math, science, and social-emotional skills, as well as health and safety lessons all tailored for children ages 3-8. In addition to being broadcast on PLUSPLUS since March 27, this new content is also available for streaming on demand on the Kyivstar TV platform.
In addition to the videos, Sesame Workshop developed and hosted, in partnership with USAID, a Virtual Facilitator Training in Ukrainian and worked with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to align their program with the Ministrys Preschool Education Skills. This new partnership between the U.S. government and Sesame Workshop will soon expand, with the support of the U.S. State Department, to include programming for internally displaced people (IDP) in the network of U.S. cultural centers in Ukraine, known as American Spaces. This programming will also add in-person elements to help caregivers support their own emotional well-being, provide psychosocial support to children, and foster creative play and early learning at home. This announcement builds on USAIDs work to help prevent and mitigate the impacts of Russias aggression particularly among children. Since the start of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, USAID has worked with partners to provide a range of services, including gender-based violence prevention and response activities and mental health and psychosocial support services, to help millions of children and other vulnerable groups.
"The U.S. government announced today a new partnership with Sesame Workshop to support children and families affected by Russias full-scale war against Ukraine" is a sentence I would have never thought I would read, but I like this idea.