2016 – 2022

The “Participatory Action Research” (PAR) is a regional project for the UNICEF MENA Regional Office. It was launched in 2016 with the aim to identify adolescents and youth’s real needs to serve as the basis for designing developmental interventions. Practically PAR trains adolescents and youth on conducting participatory research with their peers to generate evidence on their needs, problems, and aspirations.

In Lebanon, PAR has been implemented in partnership with Masar Association since 2016, and it is a key component in the “Youth Citizens of Today” project. Through PAR, youth identify their needs, problems, and aspirations following a scientific research method, which sets the base for future project planning & implementation and advocacy work with relevant decision makers and duty bearers.

The “Participatory Action Research” consists of the following steps:

  • Organizing a training workshop for youth on the “Participatory Action Research: Tools and Methodology”.
  • Implementing interactive research tools by the “young researchers” with their peers in their respective communities and collecting data on their needs and demands. These tools include the rich picture, focus group discussions, individual interviews, and the tree analysis.
  • Documenting and analyzing the collected data, which helps identifying the main needs and problems facing youth, and prioritizing them.
  • Planning and implementing advocacy projects based on the research findings, in collaboration with local authorities and other stakeholders.