From education to employment? Trajectories for young people in Lebanon in the context of protracted displacement.

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The overall question we seek to address in this research project is: In displacement settings, what shapes the trajectories of young people from education into employment? The project will analyse the trajectories from education to employment of young Palestinian refugees, young Syrian refugees and young Lebanese in two regions of Lebanon. Young people are here defined as people between the age of 15 and 29 years old in line with the official Lebanese definition. The project is a collaboration between the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice, Oxford Brookes University and the Centre for Lebanese Studies at the Lebanese American University in Beirut.Lebanon has received the most refugees in the world relative to its population. The arrival of refugees and its location in the Middle East has contributed to increased unemployment levels, a more vulnerable economy, and an overall reduction in welfare among its diverse population of Lebanese and non-Lebanese nationals. Lebanon is one of many countries where refugees cannot automatically work and where work can only be accessed through a work permit. The project will analyse trajectories from education and into employment in interaction with political, economic and social development at local, national and global scales. Currently, there is limited research examining the relationship between education and employment prospects for children and young people in the context of protracted displacement and conflict. The proposed project seeks to rectify this gap in knowledge by focusing on how young people move from education to employment. With an interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners, the key idea is to understand the role of displacement and the particular status and restrictions that come with this status. Lebanon is a highly relevant example because the trajectories of refugees in varying displacement contexts may be juxtaposed with trajectories of Lebanese young people who may have experienced internal displacement and conflict, but nevertheless have a legal status that allows formal employment. With calls for more understanding of displacement and urban contexts, the project will consider two different urban contexts in Lebanon: the suburb of Bourj Al Barajneh in Beirut and the Southern town of Saida. The principal research questions we seek to answer in this research are: 1. How does legal status (refugee, national, migrant, displaced) and the accompanying rights and restrictions of that status impact trajectories from education to employment?2. What is the interaction between different types of education (including no education) and employment for different groups of young people in the context of protracted displacement? In order analyse trajectories from education to employment, we will collect and formulate narratives along the following dimensions that may impact trajectories from education to (un)employment: a. Background, family-history, place of origin and capabilities of young individualsb. Narratives of individual young people's trajectories navigating from education to employment c. Local context and place-based characteristics d. National and local level institutional arrangements and policies on education and employment We will conduct 180 interviews from young people and 180 with their families, in addition to interviews to construct place-based and institutional narratives. From a collective analysis with the principal stakeholders of this research we will formulate profiles of typical and unusual trajectories from education to employment. The trajectories will be analysed by seeking to explain turning points in individual narratives by intersecting dimensions in family narratives, place based narratives and institutional narratives. From the narratives, we will also set up a play and an exhibition in close collaboration with our partners in Lebanon Al Jana and Blue Mission.