ESMA300NA channels Egypt's children's voices

The Child Media Project is a joint project of Nokia, the world leader in mobility, who has a global partnership with Plan International, which is one of the world's largest international child-centered development organizations and alkarma edutainment, a fully integrated regional media service provider.

Launched in 2006, the project is based on a public private partnership to train youth leaders on child rights and media skills to raise awareness and promote debate on a national level to improve the lives of millions of Egyptian youth.

In a press conference held today in Cairo, Plan Egypt and alkarma edutainment announced the introduction of Esma3oona TV series. A weekly TV series aired every Friday on channel one, the primary goal of Esma3oona is to improve the lives of millions of children allowing them to voice their problems and concerns on national television.

Esma3oona also aims to provide accurate information on the needs of young people that will assist in enlightened decision-making and action around these critical issues. Some of the upcoming themes for the show include gender equality, inclusion of marginalized children, female circumcision, and the right to education for all.

The Child Media project began in 2006 and is supported by Nokia, a world leader in mobility, and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). Other key project partners are the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, through its national TV channel one, the American University in Cairo (AUC) and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM).

More than 2,000 children are involved in the development and production of the TV show Esma3oona. The first episode was aired on January 11, 2008 at 11:00 am. After only two weeks of airing the program, partners have received requests for Esma3oona to b submitted in national television award festivals.

"After over a year of planning, in training the participants and of on-set production, we are very happy to see this project off the ground and in full swing on national television. We are very proud to see the transformation of the youth and the wealth of talent that exists in Egypt", said Mr. Amr Koura, Chairman and CEO of alkarma edutainment.

Mr. Edward Mac Abbey, Plan Egypt Country Director, expressed his joy: "This is truly an opportunity for children and youth to express themselves and for their contemporaries, parents and decision makers to listen and learn. We believe that this is a great platform to increase the awareness of children rights on a national level."

Mr. Eddy Rizk, North East Africa Manager, Nokia, said: "We are proud to be a part of such an innovative and socially responsible project aimed at youth empowerment. With this collaboration, we can enable young people to realize their full potential and express themselves publicly about issues that are of importance to them. Plan has a good existing network, positive track record and extensive experience in using technology for youth development in Africa and was therefore, a very good value for Nokia."

Esma3oona is part of a greater initiative, the Child Media Project which has three main components: media training for children and youth, the establishment of Youth Media Centers (YMCs) and the production of a national TV program called Esma3oona (Hear Us Out). 75 children, including youth leaders aged 12 - 18 years, have been selected from 12 local communities in six different governorates (Cairo, Giza, Kalyubiya, Alexandria, Behera and Aswan) to be the heart of the project and tie together issues and concerns of children and youth across Egypt.

The youth leaders are trained on the following topics: leadership, child rights and media skills. They assist in the development and operation of Youth Media Centers, and they play a direct role in the production of Esma3oona. The program will directly benefit over 2,400 children through its grassroots activities. In addition, it is expected to reach a much higher number of beneficiaries (children, parents, and adults) through the National TV coverage.