CAIRO: In an positive attempt to tackle the issue of children's rights in Egypt, terrestrial Channel 1 has launched a new program under the name "Esma'oona or "Hear us out, which aims at raising awareness on the issue. The launch of the program, which airs every Friday at 11 am under the slogan "Hear us to gain us, was announced at a press conference Monday. The program - which is sponsored by Nokia, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Plan Egypt, and Alkarma Edutainment - is the first public-private partnership to tackle the issue of children's rights. It is also part of the Child Media Project, which was launched in 2006 under the same sponsors along with the American University in Cairo (AUC) and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. Suzan Hassan, president of Channel 1, said that local television would never pass up an opportunity to participate in a project that aims to improve the conditions of Egyptian children. "The program's idea was promising, Hassan said adding that the idea captured her attention since day one. Topics discussed on the program vary from children's basic rights, such as having a home and getting an education, to the more controversial issues such as female circumcision and street children. However, Amr Koura, president of Alkarma Edutainment, said that the program will not discuss any negative aspects to the Egyptian educational system. According to Koura, one of the main reasons behind the deterioration of the educational system is the negative attitudes presented in the media, which have been adopted by students nowadays. He referred particularly to the 1970s' play "Madraset Al Moshagheboon or "The School of Rascals. Koura suggested a new play that teaches students good manners and respect towards both education and teachers in order to counter the effect of the previous play. However, Koura does not believe that Esma'oona will bring about such changes, having been designed with different goals in mind. Esma'oona has more than 700 children participating in it, some of whom suffer poor social and economic conditions. Seventy-two of them - referred to as leaders - have been selected and trained by the program's managers to write scripts and act them out. They are afterwards asked to train the remaining participants.
