Muppets Win $100 Million MacArthur Grant to Help Syrian Refugees
- Sesame Workshop will work with International Rescue Committee
- Big bet addresses lack of humanitarian aid for education
Child refugees will be getting their own version of “Sesame Street” with support of a $100 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee won the grant in MacArthur’s first 100&Change competition, designed to fund a big bet leading to “meaningful and enduring change.” The award is about a thousand times larger than most foundation grants, said Cecilia A. Conrad, the MacArthur officer in charge of the contest, which attracted about 1,900 proposals.
The Sesame and IRC project focuses on educating young children displaced by conflict and persecution in the Middle East. It also seeks to help them cope with the stresses of their situation. In-person interventions and a range of media will be offered to children affected by the civil war in Syria.