Adolescents in crisis: the effectiveness of parenting and adolescents' life skills programming for adolescents in humanitarian crisis

Abstract

Adolescents living in humanitarian crisis have specific needs, however, humanitarian programming often fails to recognize these. Programmes that focus on important life skills of adolescents in humanitarian crisis and on their social environment have the potential to address the specific needs adolescents have in humanitarian settings. Though, high quality research on the effectiveness of life skills intervention is still lacking. Therefore, Plan International’s ‘Parenting and Adolescents Life Skill’ (PALS) programme was evaluated in this study, which focuses on both the life skills of adolescents and the parenting skills of their parents or caregivers. First, quantitative Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) data was analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of the PALS programme and to identify areas of improvement. This data was gathered during the implementation of the programme from the adolescents and parents or caregivers that completed the programme. Second, qualitative data from conducted interviews with programme implementers were analysed that provided a broader view of the improvements for the PALS programme that the M&E data could not provide alone. Furthermore, recommendations were asked for the implementation of these improvements. The findings of this evaluation study showed that life skills interventions for adolescents that include actors from their social environment can be effective to address their specific needs in humanitarian crisis. Additionally, implementation strategies, the capacity of programme implementers, and the additional value of M&E tools should be kept in mind when developing and implementing humanitarian programming.