Adolescent development and participation

Young people make up around one-third of the population in Syria, including adolescents(10 to 19 years) and youth (20 to 24 years.)

Adolescents and youth, an age group significantly impacted by the protracted conflict, have had to prematurely assume adulthood responsibilities, missing out on many opportunities especially in learning and development.

We believe that empowering young people as rights holders and preparing them for active citizenship and adulthood initiates a cycle of opportunities that brings positive outcomes for both the individual and the community.

The ADAP programme works closely with the Child Protection, Education, Health and Nutrition, Social Policy and WASH programmes within the ‘No Lost Generation’ framework and our Strategic Plan (2018-2022), promoting the engagement of adolescents and youth, to ensure young people reach their full potential.

We are faced by a number of challenges while trying to reach young people who need our support, including:

• The lack of positive engagement opportunities resulting from conflict, such as family and social structure fragmentation caused by displacement and safety concerns. According to a study by Mercy Corps, three in four adolescents in Syria are not able to participate in activities outside their homes due to safety concerns their parents or caregivers have. Also, adolescent girls and young women are particularly affected by isolation due to conservative social norms in some locations.
• The absence of positive choices, which has led to negative social consequences such as child labour and early marriage, forcing adolescents and youth to assume adulthood responsibilities and exposing them to risks of exploitation and abuse.
• The economic, institutional and infrastructural effects of the conflict which have contributed to increased unemployment rates in youth, who have also been struggling in school-to-work transitions. The increase in unemployment is also caused by skill-mismatch as young people miss out on learning some cognitive skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving that are essential for work.
• Limited data on young people in Syria that leads to the unavailability of sufficient evidence for programme design and hinders the ability to measure the impact of adolescents and youth programmes.
• The absence of a ministerial unit dedicated for adolescents and youth, limiting the scope for advocacy on relevant policy matters and affecting the availability of youth strategies.
• A Lack in the required level of technical capacity of national partners in terms of ADAP programming.