As part ongoing efforts, in 2010, USAID awarded a cooperative agreement to Rafi Peer Theater Workshop (RPTW) to provide support for the program, Pakistan Children’s Television (PCTV), also known as ‘Sim Sim Hamara’. The goal of the program was to provide basic education to young children, through puppet-based television and radio programs and variety of outreach activities in Urdu and four major provincial languages, to be carried out throughout Pakistan.
This effort was part of American commitment to help provide educational opportunities for children in Pakistan, through development cooperation with many Pakistani organizations. In October 2011, USAID received a series of allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse involving RPTW through its anti-fraud hotline. It took this notice very seriously and in December 2011, the USAID Office of the Inspector General (OIG) opened a formal investigation. USAID and RPTW reached a mutual agreement that U.S. monetary support for PCTV would end. The OIG investigation remains open and ongoing.
