ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —
The U.S. government has terminated its funding for Pakistan’s version of “Sesame Street” amid a report in a Pakistani newspaper that the show’s local production outfit had been accused of corruption.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Raines confirmed the cessation of funding for the program’s production organization, Rafi Peer Theater Workshop.
However, he declined to explain why the $20 million project was being stopped or to provide further details.
An article Tuesday in Pakistan Today, an English-language daily, cited unidentified sources who alleged that the Pakistani family in charge of the workshop had used some of the funds to pay off personal debt.
Faizan Peerzada, a member of the family and chief operating officer of Rafi Peer, denied the allegations, calling them “slandering and misleading. ... We have a tough accounting system.”
The series began filming in the fall, touted as an innovative attempt to boost education in a country where many children do not go to school and school buildings are frequent bombing targets.
Sesame Workshop, the American creator of “Sesame Street,” helped the Rafi Peer group develop the Pakistani series.
Using just one character from the original series, Elmo, the local show created a cast of Pakistani characters. They included Rani, a 6-year-old girl enamored of cricket, and her friend Munna, a 5-year-old boy who played the tabla, a small drum synonymous with South Asian music.
The producers of the program sought to promote ethnic tolerance as well as a sense of gender equality in a male-dominated society.
Based in the eastern city of Lahore, Rafi Peer had been provided $10 million in U.S. funding. It has produced one season — 26 episodes — Peerzada said. The entire project was supposed to produce 78 episodes.
Peerzada denied that funding for the series had been stopped because of corruption allegations.
“They just said no funding is available for this program,” Peerzada said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Nation & World
US halts funding for Pakistan’s version of ‘Sesame Street’
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