'Do not look down on us': child researchers investigate informal settlements in Zimbabwe (PLA 42)

This paper documents a participatory research project in two informal settlements around Harare, Zimbabwe, to assess people's real needs to help guide assistance programmes. The project decided to use child researchers to gather information on the lives of children in the settlements, and this paper describes the obstacles and challenges the project faced.

This article was published in PLA 42: Children's Participation – Evaluating Effectiveness (October 2001). Participatory Learning and Action (PLA, formerly PLA Notes) is the world's leading series on participatory learning and action approaches and methods. PLA publishes articles on participation aimed at practitioners, researchers, academics, students and activists. All articles are peer-reviewed by an international editorial board.