In Eastern and Southern Africa a young girl figure is about to be born who has the potential to become as well known as Nelson Mandela. Her name is Sara and she was conceived in ten countries.

Artwork for UNICEF's new character, Sara ©UNICEF

Sara is a cartoon character. She is the product of 20 months of research and development work involving over 150 writers, artists, and researchers from Eritrea and Ethiopia in the North, to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Sara, her friends and family, and the characters and happenings in her community are also the result of discussions with over 5000 people in villages and slums throughout this vast region. It is their insights and reflection which have shaped the adventures of Sara, an adolescent girl between 13 and 15 years of age.

Sara has a similar beginning to Meena, a younger girl cartoon character from South Asia. Both projects have been launched by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) with financial contributions from the Government of Norway and UNICEF committees in United States, Europe and Japan. Meena has been a joint project of UNICEF and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Sara is still looking for a corporate partner.

UNICEF recognizes the power mass media can have in providing a catalyst for social change. Meena and Sara are examples of an "enter-education" strategy, which seeks to harness the drawing power of popular entertainment to convey educational messages. These initiatives illustrate how creative and exciting stories can be used to promote social issues in an appealing and provocative way. Meena is quickly becoming a household name and a popular film star in South Asia. In December 1995, she was identified by Newsweek Magazine as "one of the actors to emerge on the world's stage in 1996."

Role Models
Both Meena and Sara are uplifting role models for girls. They are empowered girl figures who are able to act, to ask questions and seek solutions to the problems which face them and their friends and family. And their problems are many. In South Asia and Africa, there are many customs and traditions which affect the development of female Children. In India, a million fetuses are detected and aborted each year simply because they are female. In both regions there is much more value and attention given to the boy from in the first hour of life and this continues through childhood.

From a young age the girl must serve male family members, care for younger children, fetch water and firewood, wash the clothes and cook. Her life becomes a "nightmare that never ends." The girl is often seen as someone who is "just passing through" the household. She will get married and move out whereas it is believed that the boy will support his parents in their old age.

Meena and her friend Mithu ©UNICEF

As the girl grows, the disparities in treatment and status are compounded. Death rates are higher among female children. When sickness strikes, male children will be taken to hospital sooner, while girls have to wait to the very last moment, which is sometimes too late.

In many countries, fewer girls enter school and more girls are "pushed out" at an early age. This disadvantage in educational opportunities also robs the girl of her chance to be a child as school is one of the only places where she can socialize and play with other children and learn essential life skills such as communication, negotiation, problem solving and conflict resolution.

Another aspect is the socialization process of the young girl in the home, school and wider community. She acquires a sense of inferiority, resulting in a negative self-concept. It is reinforced by the way girls and women are defined in textbooks and various media. The overall result is a limited perception of her own capabilities and possibilities.