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UNICEF launches Meena animation series

Tuesday, 22 September 1998: Millions of South Asian children are tuning in to a new vision of what the world could be like -- all because of one little girl. Her name is Meena and she is the already-popular heroine of a cartoon series created by UNICEF to raise awareness of the potential of girls when they are given equal education and opportunities.

"Meena is a true global television heroine of the 21st century," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "Meena has already influenced thousands of girls and their families to believe that the world should offer a level playing field to girls and boys."

Today, UNICEF launched a region-wide series of 13 Meena television programmes highlighting issues of special relevance for girls. The episodes are being aired throughout Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan.

In connection with the launch, the region will celebrate Meena Day on 24 September, featuring Meena as a special ambassador for girls and for children's rights. In addition, the UNICEF Web now features a special interactive Meena presentation.

Though the televised Meena stories are filled with adventure and comedy, each one tackles a real-life problem of pre-teen girls. In one episode, Count your Chickens, Meena longs to attend school like her brother, but her parents see no reason to let her go. With the help of her parrot and an inventive mind, Meena overcomes the objections and convinces her parents to send her to school.

Parents have responded positively to Meena. Abu Taher, a rice grower and the father of four girls, insists that the television show really opened his eyes. "I will make sure that my daughters get more opportunities than my mother and wife ever received," he said following a screening of the school episode.

The Meena project began in 1990 when UNICEF joined the Czech animation industry and major studios from around the world in Prague to explore ways that animation can "make a difference" in the lives of children in the developing world. Meena is proof that such collaboration can be an important force in changing long-standing traditional attitudes. The initiative has lead to the development in Africa of a similar animation series called Sara, which is also sponsored by UNICEF.

Production of Count your Chickens was completed with technical assistance from the Manila affiliate of Hanna-Barbera, the world-famous cartoon company that created the Flintstones, the Jetsons, and Tom and Jerry. Meena was then shown in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal to various groups of children and parents, who were asked for their feedback.

The field testing was successful. When asked where Meena's village was, viewers responded that they believed it was somewhere in their own country. Audiences of all ages identified with the characters and situations and later seriously discussed the issues raised in the different episodes.

The Meena series features full animation, music, sound effects and dialogue in English and more than 13 other languages. The multi-media initiative includes comic books, posters, stickers and flipcharts for discussion. The BBC continues to broadcast episodes of the popular series on its Urdu, Bengali, Nepali and Hindi radio language services which reach an estimated 57 million people.

A typical Meena promotion says: "Join Meena as she battles against injustice; applaud her as she bravely tackles problems; laugh with her at the antics of Mithu the parrot; and share in her triumphs."

The Meena series deals with problems that confront girls, in particular, and children, in general: going to school and finding good teachers, poverty, "son preference", health care, childhood diseases, bullies, dowries, early marriage, and learning about HIV/AIDS.

"In a world where parents are deeply disturbed by violent and insensitive television fare, Meena is a ray of hope," Ms. Bellamy said. "I hope Meena creates a global ripple effect and that millions of girls everywhere will catch her vision and act with her humour and courage."

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