Save the Children, in partnership with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), implemented a project using participatory action research with adolescents affected by the Syria crisis in Egypt and Lebanon. The project built on the work initiated through youth consultations in Lebanon in late 2014, and with the piloting of the ‘I’m Here’ approach with Syrian adolescent girls in Egypt in early 2015. The project started in September 2015, and was implemented in four locations in Lebanon and Egypt over a period of 16 months.

The project had the following objectives:
• to generate credible evidence and critical learning on the situation of Syrian and host community adolescent girls and boys, through their own eyes and their self-identified responses, to inform programming
• to facilitate opportunities for adolescents to voice their priority concerns and shape responses
• to assess whether participatory action research (PAR) is an appropriate tool to work with adolescents in humanitarian contexts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Learning from this project has benefits at many levels: Lebanon and Egypt Country Offices are utilising the lessons from this pilot project to strengthen existing programming and to pilot new programming with adolescents within existing initiatives. At regional level, the pilot project has contributed to learning on effective approaches to working with adolescents and youth in humanitarian crises, which is a priority for Save the Children in the MENA region. It is also contributing to regional learning on engaging adolescent girls in emergencies, contributing to Save the Children’s regional agenda on gender equality.

This report is divided into three sections:
• The first section provides an overview of participatory action research – what it is and how it can be applied in work with adolescents and youth in humanitarian contexts.
• The second section summarises Youth Voices, identifies the lessons that have been learned from it, and highlights key recommendations for each phase of the project.
• The third section is a ‘how to’ guide that draws on experiences from the Egyptian and Lebanese contexts in the pilot project to provide practical, user-friendly guidance for anyone considering introducing the PAR approach to their work with adolescents and youth in a humanitarian context.

In the annexes, a range of tools and resources developed during Youth Voices has been made available for use and adaptation.