Ambassador Moriarty’s Remarks at the Launching of Sisimpur Season 5

September 15, 2009

Honorable Minister for the Ministry of Information, Mr. Abul Kalam Azad, Honorable State Minister for the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdury,Mr. Badrul Alam Tarafdar, Secretary, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Dr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Information, Ms. Sara Zaker, Head, Nayantara Communications Limited, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: Assalam-u-Alaikum, Namashkar and Good Afternoon.

I am honored to be here today to celebrate the launch of the fifth season of Sisimpur. To date Sisimpur has produced 240 episodes reaching more than nine million children, mostly from three to six years of age, across Bangladesh each week. With each season, the show's viewership and popularity continue to grow. In fact, Sisimpur is now the most popular children's program in Bangladesh.

As many of you know, Sesame Street, the inspiration for Sisimpur, originated in the United States 40 years ago. It has grown by leaps and bounds and become popular with children and adults all over the world. Sesame Street's unique brand of programming combines entertainment and humor with education. It reaches millions of children worldwide, utilizing a highly effective approach to improving basic educational and social skills. Here in Bangladesh, Sisimpur has successfully embraced and adapted this very special approach.

One of the main reasons for its extraordinary popularity is that Sisimpur makes learning fun for children. With characters like Halum, Ikri-Mikri, Tuktuki and Shiku, it is easy to see how learning can be so much fun for children and adults alike. Sisimpur uses a combination of Muppets, animation and live actors to teach young children the fundamentals of literacy, numeracy, colors, and the concept of time. Programming includes a focus on learning basic skills . such as health and hygiene. Sisimpur helps children develop critical thinking abilities, which pay dividends for a lifetime.

Like Sesame Street, Sisimpur is known for being multicultural and inclusive. The program incorporates roles for disabled people, young people, senior citizens and people of different ethnic backgrounds. Sisimpur's local producer, Nayantara Communications, continually introduces significant innovations in the production of Sisimpur. I commend them on their professionalism, scripts, and adaptation of Bangladeshi culture.

Recently, the Honorable Minister of Information and I had the opportunity to visit Sisimpur's production studio. It was truly a privilege to meet the talented pool of actors, puppeteers, producers, and crew that make this program such a success.

From the very beginning of Sisimpur in 2003, USAID has collaborated with the Sesame Street Workshop in New York to develop Sisimpur. We intend to continue this support for the next several years. We estimate that U.S. Government support for Sisimpur will total $14 million by 2011. This is a great investment in Bangladesh's future. We appreciate the interest shown by the Information Ministry and other agencies in providing additional resources to ensure Sisimpur's future.

I would like to thank the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and of course, BTV, for their commitment to promoting early childhood development through Sisimpur.

Thank you all for coming and sharing this very special event with us and I wish you the very best of luck this season.

Thank you.