From DEBRA@oln.comlink.apc.orgTue Sep 12 08:17:18 1995 Date: Sat, 09 Sep 1995 08:26:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: WCW: Girls in Asia [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## Original in: /HRNET/WOMEN ## author : hercilia@wcw.apc.org ## date : 03.09.95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Girl child in S. Asia, victims of abuse By: Veronika Sarkany On the screen you see a charming little girl and boy and their mother serving them dinner. The food the boy gets is visibly much more than what the girl is receiving. When she says that she too, wants as much food as his, the mother explains that he nee ds more because he is a boy. The scene is from one of a series of cartoon films the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) has produced to show some of the widespread customs in South Asia that are discriminatory to girls. The lovely, six year old main hero is Meena, a delightful, funny, playful South Asian girl with a long pony tail, her brother, Raju and her parrot, Mithu who live in a typical South Asian environment. In the five years since 1990 when UNICEF in South Asia developed the concept of this series of animated film, Meena has become a symbol for the girl child in South Asia and beyond. Meena is the spokesperson for girls in everyday, though vital issues such as nutrition, sharing house work, the need to and benefits of going to school etc. The cartoon character has become a role model for behavioral change. Meena takes on path breaking experiences of South Asian girls, who are deprived in many ways. The series presents positive images of a girl succeeding against the odds to gain equal treatment and respect. The stories are fun and full of fantasy, they teach vital skills, like decision making, problem solving, communication, critical thinking and the like. The series is not targeted for young girls only. The film is expected to reach policy makers and educators as well. If we had made it only for the girl child, says Ruth Finney Hayward, deputy regional director of UNICEF for South Asia, then Meena would have another burden to be empowered to change her life by herself. And it`s not fair to ask the most vulnerable to be the strongest especially when it is a young girl. Meena has become a symbol of change. It is growing into a multimedia initiative. Apart from animated film, episodes exist in booklet form in various languages. A radio adaptation has been made and a stage performance has also been put together. Meena is much more than simply an educational tool. One feels that the message does get through when South Asian girls say: I want to be like Meena .