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Making Noor and Aziz: The Research Behind Sesame Workshop's Rohingya Characters
February 24, 2021

Editor’s note: For the first time, Sesame Workshop unveiled two new Muppet characters designed to resonate with Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh as part of its Play to Learn program with the LEGO Foundation, BRAC, and the International Rescue Committee. It made news on NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, BBC, and elsewhere.

You can see the NBC News video below. We spoke with Sneha Subramanian of IPA Bangladesh about IPA’s role in research behind the twin characters, Noor and Aziz.

Can you describe the research behind the new Muppets?

In late 2019 and early...
Bangladesh masks study
10 Reasons We’re Hopeful for 2021
January 28, 2021

A research project we couldn't have anticipated a year ago is looking at how to encourage community mask use in Bangladesh. Credit: Abu Raihan, Innovations for Poverty Action


There is no need to expand on why 2020 was a challenging year, and how scary the beginning of 2021 was. And there are certainly many difficult months (even years) ahead of us in managing this pandemic. Yet despite everything that 2020 (and now 2021) has thrown at us at IPA, we have seen how resilient our community of staff, partners, funders, and researchers has been, coming together to leverage...
IPA-Supported Study on Return Intentions of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Featured in The Economist
Media Coverage
January 22, 2021

The Economist writes that despite challenging conditions in Lebanon—an economic crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, and the scapegoating of refugees—many Syrian refugees living in Lebanon intend to stay. The article cites a study that found a majority of Syrian refugees in Lebanon plan to stay for the foreseeable future, a decision that is more significantly influenced by conditions in Syria than Lebanon.
BBC News Covers Sesame Workshop's New Rohingya Muppets
Media Coverage
January 22, 2021

BBC News reports on Sesame Workshop using Rohingya muppets to help deliver educational and developmental messaging to refugee children in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. IPA worked with Sesame Workshop on research to inform the design of the two muppets, Aziz and Noor, and develop educational content that would resonate with kids and families in the world's largest refugee camp.
NBC News on Sesame Workshop's Muppets For Rohingya Refugee Children
Media Coverage
January 05, 2021

NBC News reported from Sesame Street and from the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh on IPA's work with Sesame Workshop. Researchers helped develop two new muppets to speak to Rohingya refugee children and facilitate early childhood development efforts in the camp. Watch the story, which aired on the Today Show below, or read the text version from the button at the bottom.
Variety on the Development of Sesame Workshop's New Rohingya Muppets
Media Coverage
January 05, 2021

Variety covers IPA's work with Sesame Workshop designing Rohingya muppets to help refugee children with their cognitive and emotional development, with a focus on skills to respond to trauma.
La República on Cash Assistance to Cope with COVID-19
Media Coverage
January 05, 2021

La República covers the impact of an IPA-valued VAT cash assistance program on building household financial resilience during the pandemic.
New York Times on Developing Rohingya Muppets With Sesame Workshop in Bangladesh
Media Coverage
December 28, 2020

The New York Times reports on IPA's work with Sesame Workshop in Bangaldesh, creating Noor and Aziz, two new Rohingya muppets designed around the needs of children in the world's largest refugee camp.
The Washington Post Covers IPA-Supported Research on Return Intentions of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Media Coverage
December 10, 2020

Researchers Ala’ Alrababa’h, Marine Casalis, and Daniel Masterson share findings from their study on the return intentions of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon; many of which plan to remain in Lebanon despite the challenges to their health and livelihood.

Read the IPA policy brief on the study's results here.
Uganda's New Vision on Launch of PlayMatters Initiative
Media Coverage
November 30, 2020

Uganda's New Vision covers a recent community launch of the PlayMatters initiative which aims to strengthen the mental, physical, and emotional skills and well-being of refugee and host community children, to bolster their development and ability to cope with trauma. The local launch on November 20, held in the Adjumani refugee settlement, followed a national launch at Uganda's State House in October. 

PlayMatters is funded by the LEGO Foundation and implemented by a consortium led by the International Rescue Committee, in partnership with Plan International, War Child Holland, the...
Social Science Space Podcast Interviews Researcher Salma Mousa on Iraq Social Cohesion Study
Media Coverage
November 13, 2020

The Social Science Space podcast interviews Salma Mousa, who combinined her interests in sports and contact theory in a study of interfaith soccer teams in northern Iraq. Mousa explains what the results may teach us about improving relationships between social groups, even in post-war settings.
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Pushing the Boundaries of Governance, Crime, and Conflict Research: Innovations in Research, Measurement, and Design
November 05, 2020

By David Alzate, Aprille Knox, Nessa Kenny, and Alison Fahey

Over the past four decades, the share of the global population living in extreme poverty has fallen substantially. But progress remains uneven. Countries facing political instability, conflict, and violence have experienced increasing rates of poverty during this same period. By the year 2030, roughly two-thirds of the world’s poor are expected to be living in fragile settings. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to push an additional 150 million people into extreme poverty by 2021. 

With these challenges in mind, in...
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COVID-19 and Forced Displacement in the Global South
Mushfiq Mobarak
November 03, 2020

 

By Sarah Stillman

Editor's note: This post originally appeared on the University of California, Berkeley news site as well as CEGA's blog site.

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists around the globe, refugees and others uprooted from their homes—due to conflict, economic hardship, climate change, and other pressures—must combat the dual hardships of disease and displacement. Already among the world’s most vulnerable, displaced people often have experienced violence and trauma, have limited access to services, and are homeless, with nowhere to safely isolate from the virus...
Science Podcast Interviews Researcher Salma Mousa on Iraq Social Cohesion Study
Media Coverage
August 31, 2020

Following coverage in a recent press release Science’s podcast interviews Salma Mousa on her work evaluating interfaith soccer teams to build tolerance in post-conflict Iraq. (Note: interview starts at 15:10). The study was also featured in Nature, Science News, Psychology Today, National Geographic (Spanish), NRC (Dutch), Trouw (Dutch), and Deutschland Funk (German).
New Study: In Iraq, Mixed-Religion Soccer Teams Helped Build Social Cohesion, Healed Wounds after War
Press Release
August 14, 2020

A new study, released today in Science, points to a way to help repair social ties and promote coexistence after war. The study found that in post-ISIS Iraq, mixing Christians and Muslims on soccer teams made Christian players more tolerant toward Muslims in their league, though the sentiments did not extend to Muslims in the broader community. The findings suggest that meaningful social contact can build community-level social cohesion with peers and acquaintances after war. 

The researcher, Salma Mousa, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Immigration Policy Lab and Center for...

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