The International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimates that over half of the 65 million people displaced by conflict and crisis around the world today are children. The conflicts in the Middle East have had a devastating impact on all of the lives that they’ve touched, but especially on the population’s youngest and most vulnerable.

Child refugees have lost their homes, friends and families, and have seen more horror and violence in their first few years than most of us will see in a lifetime. Their childhoods have not been filled with carefree playtime and food security, but persecution and trauma. This leads to a condition known as "toxic stress" which disrupts children’s brain development and leads to problems such as self-harm and aggressive behaviour, which has a negative impact on society as whole.

Enter the Muppets.

Sesame Workshop is an American non-profit which produces the popular children’s show Sesame Street, and has set up a new project to help support these refugee children in need. Sesame Street educates children through television with its cast of colourful puppets (Muppets), who teach children reading, languages, maths, and social and emotional skills. Children who watch the show have been found to exhibit pro-social behaviours that are 40 percent higher than those who do not watch the episodes.

Sesame Street is already broadcast and tailored to over 150 different countries and cultures, and now they will be producing a Middle Eastern version of the show to help these children of war recover from their trauma and go on to lead healthier and happier lives.

Sesame Workshop's senior vice president for international social impact, Shari Rosenfeld, said that "We will deliver this in two ways: direct, in-person services for 1.5 million of the most vulnerable children, as well as a new educational broadcast that will reach 9.4 million children across Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria."

Working alongside the IRC, who Kinder have identified as excellent in terms of strategy and research, the two organisations will combine their expertise on children’s education and conflict-response to restore hope and opportunity to a generation of children affected by war and trauma. The big project will be funded by a $100 million donation from MacArthur Foundation's 100&Change program, which is a very prestigious award only given out to causes that promise "real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time."

The IRC estimates that only about two percent of all humanitarian aid is spent on education or child development. This refugee project addresses this terrible shortcoming and reaches out to vulnerable children early, to reverse the effects of toxic stress and allow them to achieve their full potential in society.

The Muppets provide an antidote to extremism, teaching children the values of tolerance and empathy instead of violence and persecution.