Since 2015, the British Council has been working on the Strengthening Resilience – MENA II (SR2) programme which is funded by the European Union. The programme in Lebanon aims to support the development of Lebanon’s Preventing Violent Extremism National Action Plan and help build the capacity and capability of the PVE Unit – PVE Working Group which is a part of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM). In order to understand the potential changes brought by the SR2 programme, the British Council was interested in conducting a research study among youth (16 to 23 years of age) on PVE strategy and ministries by laws. The aim of the study was to capture youth priorities, opinions and insights with regard to PVE in order to strengthen the connection and engagement between youth and main government actors. To meet the study objectives, InfoPro relied on both secondary and primary research. The secondary research entailed the review of all project documentation and reports pertaining to PVE – locally, regionally and internationally. The aim of the primary research was to gather the following information from the youth under study: awareness of the various pertinent legislative decrees, opinions and insights of PVE, opinions and insights of violent extremist groups, their sense of citizenship, engagement in the community, and political participation, in addition to obstacles and challenges that they have faced. In total, 1,350 Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) and eight focus groups were conducted nationwide with Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian youth.
