Project Title

“What Every Adolescent has a Right To Know”

Funding Agency

Duration of the project

UNICEF

17 months (From June 2003 to October 2004)

Geographical Coverage

States of Rajasthan and West Bengal, India

Partners

Objectives

• Active appreciation of local and grassroots sensibilities and perspectives through intimate partnership with local development actors/ groups, peer groups, youth clubs, and civil society outfits.

• A Participatory Action Research (PAR) in a representative habitation (rural and urban) carried out with active participation of the young people themselves.

• Addressing the communication needs of the young people with a focus on the out-of-school youth.

• Incorporation of the experiences and perspectives from past and on-  going interventions in the sub-sector, especially in the two states.

• Developing guidelines/strategies for socio-culturally gender sensitive and youth friendly communication package for prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Project Brief

Primary data was collected from two districts in each of the two states. In West Bengal the selected Districts were 24 parganas (S) and Bankura and the districts in Rajasthan were Karauli and Ajmer. One rural and one urban field area have been selected for empirical data collection in each district. The young researchers whose age were between 15 yrs. and 25 yrs. were selected and trained to conduct Participatory Action Research (PAR) at their respective field areas. The qualitative research tools like FGD, in-depth interviews, couple interviews and interviews with key informants have been used. The innovative component of the project is the involvement of young researchers from their native place, which augmented the quality of the data collected on young people’s perception and behaviour. 

Presently we are at the stage of analysing the qualitative data that have emerged out of the field research. This will yield the necessary strategies and recommendations needed for formulating viable and youth-friendly communication packages.