KABUL — The U.S. has ended funding for a Pakistani version of “Sesame Street” amid alleged corruption by the local puppet theater working on the initiative.
The Rafi Peer Theater Workshop, based in Lahore, jointly developed the show with Sesame Workshop, creator of the U.S. series. The show, which includes Elmo and a host of new Pakistani characters, first aired at the end of last year and was supposed to run for at least three seasons.
The U.S. hoped it would improve education in a country where a third of primary-school-age children are not in class. It also was meant to increase tolerance at a time when the influence of radical views is growing.
The U.S. cut off funding for the project and launched an investigation after credible allegations of fraud and abuse were left on a hotline set up by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Pakistan, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. About $6.7 million had been spent on the show so far out of a total of $20 million planned, he said.
Faizaan Peerzada, chief operating officer of Rafi Peer, claimed the U.S. ended its participation because of a lack of available funds.
