Participatory tools for evaluating psychosocial work with children in areas of armed conflict: a pilot in eastern Sri Lanka

Jason Hart¹, Ananda Galappatti², Jo Boyden³, Miranda Armstrong^4
1 social anthropologist based at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford where his work focuses on war-affected and refugee children and adolescents
² independent psychosocial worker based in Sri Lanka. He is also an editor of Intervention
³ social anthropologist based at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. She is currently the director of the Young Lives Project, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty in Vietnam, India, Ethiopia and Peru
⁴ former Delegate for Terre des hommes (Tdh) Lausanne to Sri Lanka. She is currently Delegate for Tdh in Benin where she manages the Maternal Child Health and Child Protection Programmes

Correspondence Address:

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

This article is based on the experiences of a recent pilot project to develop a participatory approach to the monitoring and evaluating of psychosocial interventions with children affected by armed conflict. It presents the conceptual framework and the principles that underpinned the testing of tools within programmes in eastern Sri Lanka. Some of the main challenges encountered while utilizing these tools are discussed, along with the value of the data generated and the implications of using participatory methodologies for planning, monitoring and evaluation.