Youth As Researchers in Sri Lanka and Maldives - Knowledge sharing session to discuss research findings

In 2022, UNESCO’s New Delhi Cluster office in partnership with Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) launched two national ‘Youth As Researchers’ (YAR) programmes in Sri Lanka and the Maldives to strengthen the access and ability of youth to participate and contribute to participatory action research and evidence-building, particularly related to issues of peace and social cohesion. 

The YAR programme, targeted at young people between 18 and 35, brought around 100+ young people from Sri Lanka and the Maldives to design and carry out research on areas related to the global Youth, Peace, and Security agenda. 

Selected YAR researchers went through a six-day training programme spread over almost three months to understand different aspects of conducting community-based participatory research. Subsequently, eight youth-led research teams were conducting research on topics related to political participation, mental well-being, economic crisis, impact, and social cohesion, among others. 

The findings from the research were presented in two phases: 

1) a knowledge-sharing event (preliminary sharing of findings) on 21st September 2022

2) a policy dialogue (dialogue between young researchers and policymakers representing diverse backgrounds) on 26th September 2022.  

The policy dialogue featured government officials in conversation with young researchers and change-makers.

Click here for the programme agenda