Ahlan Simsim

Ahlan Simsim (in English, “Welcome Sesame”) is an early childhood development program launched in 2018 by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in collaboration with Sesame Workshop. The aim was to serve refugee children in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and northern Iraq.  The program combined in-person services with mass media, including an Arabic-language version of the Sesame Street television program, to create hope and provide learning opportunities for young children.  In-person services included home visiting programs, an early childhood education center, and group parenting sessions.

When COVID-19 made in-person sessions impossible, the Ahlan Simsim team began delivering tips to families via WhatsApp, a tool that was generally available to the refugee families they served.  They then built a range of new programming on the WhatsApp platform and worked with families to develop solutions for adults who had challenges reading text. They found they could scale their virtual programming effectively. For example, after they successfully partnered with the Ministry of Education in Jordan to adopt a special school-readiness program for remote delivery, the government of Lebanon approached them to develop a virtual school readiness program tied to the Lebanon educational system.  When the terrible August 2020 explosion hit Beirut, the team created an early childhood emergency kit, providing information for families about dealing with the crisis and supporting children through healing.