Syrian refugees in Jordan: Social workers use a Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) methodology for needs assessment,human rights and community development

Introduction

As the international community struggles with yet more major political crises, the Syrian conflict has overflowed into neighbouring countries, creating a massive human tragedy. Northern Jordan has been dramatically altered by the Syrian civil war. Since the uprising began in March 2011 across the border in the city of Deraa, Jordanians have experienced the conflict via the thousands that have crossed into their country through the towns of Jabir and Ramtha. Many residents of Northern Jordan feel as much Syrian as they do Jordanian since they have lived and married together, crossing the border easily. When the conflict first began, many Syrians went to Jordan to stay with their relatives – many didn’t consider themselves ‘refugees’. Yet as the war escalated, the situation became critical: Syrians without relatives in Jordan also began to cross the border.

Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Islamic Relief began to assist as Syrians opted to stay and work in Northern Jordan, housing refugees and assisting those whose savings were dwindling. Yet the Jordanian government didn’t officially recognize the growing refugee crisis until 2012, when increased fighting saw an average of 1000 people a day crossing the border. In order to cope, Za’atari refugee camp was set up in July 2012 in a windswept desert. Riots have broken out since the camp’s creation, and extreme weather in January 2013 caused severe flooding. Nevertheless, NGOs and aid agencies are trying to improve the camp’s condition as the conflict rages on.

Approximately 80 percent of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in urban areas in the north of Jordan, while the remaining 20 percent live in the Za’atari, Marjeeb al-Fahood, Cyber City and Al-Azraq camps. As of February 2015, over 622,000 Syrians had registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Jordan. The protracted nature of the Syrian crisis has been dramatic: both the Syrian refugees and the host communities in Jordan are paying a high price. Further political and economic deterioration may follow as the number of refugees is simply too great for Jordan to deal with.

The conflict in Syria has created a ‘domino effect’, through which Syrian people, in particular, and marginalized people such as the poor, women, youth and children, in general, have become increasingly vulnerable in terms of their ability to fulfil their basic needs and human rights. For Jordan, the surrounding turmoil and the influx of Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees, in addition to the current economic difficulties of the country, have accentuated social problems, particularly because of the increase in poverty rates, one of the most serious social issues a society and nation must face as it severely limits people’s ability to know and access their rights.

The refugee situation in Jordan will inevitably be long term. As refugee situations become more and more protracted (see Purkey, 2013), as is presently the case in Uganda and Kenya, among other countries, long-term solutions are required. Innovative approaches to social development as defined by social work (see Cox and Pawar, 2013; Midgley, 1995, 1996; Midgley and Livermore, 2004) need to be developed.

Jordan faces many challenges that inevitably affect the country’s social development. Factors related to the region’s political instability – Jordan’s lack of natural resources, high rates of population growth, high levels of unemployment and poverty – pose a considerable hindrance to Jordan’s economic and social growth. Consequently, there is now an urgent need to focus on the development of Jordan’s human capital, as Jordanians are the nation’s most valuable resource.

Jordan, as is the case with many third world countries, initiated social development programmes after decades of conflict, incoming refugees and wars. Within this context, a lack of professional social workers to deal with the new social problems and societal changes poses a major challenge. Until now, the situation has been that the country relies – not only monetarily, but also experientially, technologically and humanitarianly – on foreign countries and organizations. Many local NGOs and governmental organizations are involved in social development, relying on outdated methods without any knowledge or experience in dealing with marginalized people, gender-related issues, handicapped people, the poor and refugees. Findings from a previous study (Al-Qdah and Lacroix, 2010; Lacroix and Al-Qdah, 2012) revealed that refugees, as a minority group in any given society, face a range of social challenges and difficulties. The most pressing challenges faced by social workers relate to the evaluation of their needs and how to respond to those needs that include not only those of the refugees but also those of the local society. For social workers in Jordan, the impact of global economic and social policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which have had devastating effects on the economic and social life of Jordanians, raises the urgent question of developing new approaches to practice.

The influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan has therefore highlighted two major issues facing the country: attending to the needs of refugees and of those who have been marginalized by global and economic policies. The two issues are inextricably linked: intervention with refugees, and social work’s role in social development with Jordan’s marginalized populations.

Within this context, in Jordan there has been growing attention on developing the professional skills of civil society organizations in order to respond to the many challenges facing the country in the midst of the Syrian conflict. Social workers are now being encouraged to promote active support to Syrian areas, to actively work with communities to develop mechanisms to deal with social problems and to assess programmes that may have an impact on this crisis based on international human rights laws. As Harding (2004) writes, ‘Given the immediate and long-term impacts on human and social development attributed to sanctions, the social work profession is well within its mission to address this situation via scholarship or practice interventions’ (p. 187) (see also Harding and Libal, 2012).

To address these issues, the WAQE3 community development centre in Amman, a rights-based organization led by the director and main author of this article, implemented a methodology new to social work not only as a tool to assess the needs of refugee populations, but also as an intervention tool with all marginalized populations. Developed in the 1980s, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) has been mainly used by grassroots organizations and NGOs, and its main thrust is decentralization and empowerment – decentralization meaning that resources flow back to the people and empowerment meaning to allow people, especially poor and marginalized populations, to take more control over their lives. Part of a growing family of approaches and methods, it enables ‘local people to share, enhance and analyse their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act’ (Chambers, 1994: 1437).

The current situation in the Arab world – wars, refugees, displacement – calls for innovative methodologies that can address international human rights and urban refugees policies. To address these issues, social workers at the WAQE3 community development centre in Amman implemented a methodology new to social work not only as a tool to assess the needs of refugee populations, but also as an intervention tool with all marginalized populations. Developed in the 1980s, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) has been mainly used by grassroots organizations and NGOs. The main thrust of this paradigm, according to Robert Chambers, is decentralization and empowerment. Decentralization meaning that resources flow back to the people. Empowerment, to allow people, especially the poor, to take more control over their lives.

PRA overlaps with community-based participatory research (CBPR), which is ‘an increasingly popular research methodology that aims to mobilise the local and indigenous knowledge of people based in communities of place, identity and interest’ and a growing approach in health research. For Banks et al. (2013),

… its participatory nature contributes to enhancing the impact of research, as the process of CBPR promotes knowledge exchange within and between ‘communities’, universities and other research, policy-making or service delivery institutions. This can result in developing the skills, understandings and commitments of all parties in relation to the topic of the research and their abilities to work together in creating better designed policies and services, more effective campaigns and ‘empowered’ communities. (p. 264)

The community-based participatory approach, used in the health research field, creates partnerships where all actors come together to participate in the definition of the problem to find common solutions. ‘Creating community partnerships such that community representatives participate in the definition of the research problem, interpretation of the data, and application of the findings may help address these concerns’ (Leung et al., 2004: 499).

The overlap with PRA methodology is involving a community, including a wide range of stakeholders in the issue at hand, in the definition of a problem to be resolved, working ‘through creating “participative research communities”’ (Banks et al., 2013: 265).

We understand PRA as a research methodology, an empowerment strategy with vulnerable populations, but also as a tool in the development of programmes and strategies to alleviate poverty within a social development framework (see Cox and Pawar, 2013).

The purpose of this article is to present a process through which social workers at WAQE3 used the PRA as a methodology to respond to the psychosocial and legal needs facing both local citizens and refugees in Eastern Amman, Jordan. Based on our experience, we intend to show that the PRA can be used not only as a tool for the evaluation of community and individual needs, but also as an intervention tool to involve communities in defining their own needs and being actively involved in planning intervention with the objective of moving towards social development. PRA uses a variety of tools that local community members can easily learn and which need little expenditure (Badia Research and Development Center [BRDC], 2009). It can therefore be used to train social workers and help develop new skills in both service provision and capacity building for rights fulfilment in:

We started the process by asking the following question: By using PRA methodology, can community development centres create conditions that foster the development of peaceful communities and help in organizing the services provided by the local and international NGOs to Syrian refugees in Jordan?

In the following, we introduce the WAQE3 community development centre, how it came about and how it began using the PRA methodology with a focus on a human rights-based community development intervention. We then briefly introduce the PRA methodology before outlining the process that was used and that can serve as a template for social workers in other countries working with refugees and other marginalized populations, focusing on social development.

Rights-based practice and community development centres

The WAQE3 community development centre promotes rights-based community empowerment practice across Eastern Amman in a collective effort to encourage social work programmes and social justice (see Torczyner, 1998). The structure of the organization is not top-heavy and relies strongly on community volunteers in whom the centre invests heavily. Social workers are able to maintain such a structure because of the expertise and strong support offered by the director and board of directors: two individuals from the board, one of whom is the director, hold a Master’s degree in social work from McGill University. They all have more than 15 years of experience in the field. In addition, the centre currently employs two project managers, one technical coordinator, a programme development and reporting officer, two storefront staff members and 10 volunteers functioning as community liaison and outreach officers. The part-time staff consists of our accountant and a clinical psychologist.

WAQE3, as an independent institution, was created in April 2011 as part of a larger social advocacy programme initiated by McGill University (Montréal, Canada) within the School of Social Work’s McGill Middle East Program. The centre has implemented innovative and effective programmes to promote empowerment, equality and civil society engagement among disadvantaged communities in Amman, a city already coping with violence, conflict and economic hardship. The community centre is at the intersection between scholarship and practice, allowing a sustained and direct impact on the lives of disadvantaged people. According to Torczyner (2000),

the central objective of the practice centres is to strengthen the institutional capacity of academic, public and community partners to advance social welfare, to enhance social and physical conditions and to empower disadvantaged citizens to become full participants in the development process. (p. 147)

Emphasis is placed on taking into account Jordanian cultural characteristics during the work in the practice centre. Although a ‘western’ concept, our work has taught us that empowerment can also benefit Jordanian society. As a starting point, however, it was necessary to establish relations with the community through material help in order to gain their trust, necessary for further processes.

As social development is increasingly being framed within a human rights framework across the world (Ife, 2001; Ife and Fiske, 2006; International Federation of Social Workers, 2012) in situations of deep crisis related to wars, ethnic conflicts and poverty, such as the one facing Jordan, it becomes imperative to attend to those in need from a social justice and human rights perspective. As such, human rights-based practice was integrated within the community development model adopted, and it constitutes the basic framework for action.

Why PRA as a methodology of intervention?

PRA is a family of approaches and methods that enable communities to share, develop and analyse their own knowledge of life and conditions (Chambers, 1992). As Teis and Grady (1991) explain, PRA is a specific form of Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), a research technique developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by researchers in international development, as an alternative and complement to conventional sample surveys. PRA is a way of learning from, and with, community members to investigate, analyse and evaluate constraints and opportunities, and make informed and timely decisions regarding development projects.

Characterized by its participatory method, PRA facilitates analysis by local people through focus groups and semi-structured interviews. The second component is behaviour, and attitudes that entail a shift need to occur where outsiders are trained to listen to local people in order to establish a real rapport with them. For Chambers (1994), outsiders must therefore ‘step down their pedestals, sit down and “hand over the stick” and listen and learn’ (p. 1438). The third basic component is sharing. Chambers (1994) outlines three forms: (1) local people share with each other through focus groups and analysis, (2) local people share knowledge with outsiders and (3) outsiders share with each other and with local people. These three components are essential for social workers in their engagement with local and refugee populations.

As most NGOs, international or local, are dominated by vertical and top-down decision-making processes, PRA offers the advantage of being more horizontal and bottom-up, an approach that has been central to social work practice. The bottom-up approach is fundamental to community social development, and, as Ife (2010) has pointed out, ‘community is necessary if … rights are to be realised’ (p. 158).

The PRA method thus allows a research team to quickly and systematically collect information. The approach aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of local communities in the planning and management of development projects and programmes. In times of crisis, local and international NGOs need to respond quickly and recognize the wealth and value of local knowledge and information. A wealth of knowledge and skills within a local community is very often essentially unused during planning. PRA ensures the use of this knowledge and information, and local people can access community residents to elicit their ideas and solutions in a relatively short time frame.

For many groups, social workers will only have time to help them stabilize, and can help them contact other specialists and organizations where community culture is honoured. We have found that social workers who are effective listeners become so responsive to target groups’ needs that resistance from the community to participate in the assessment methodology falls. Through this horizontal approach, group needs, rather than the organization’s, are met.

In times of crisis within a community, social workers must be prepared to explore all the different possibilities for intervention/solutions with the community, rather than proposing ‘quick’ solutions, such as food and money aid, or ‘community cohesion’. Behavioural patterns are more likely to be positively impacted upon by a highly focused, eclectic team approach that uses a multitude of coordinated, community resources. This is the main aspect of PRA: learning from, with and by members of the community – PARTICIPATION-! The team should empathize with community members and strive to see the community members’ problems through their eyes (Teis and Grady, 1991).

It was felt that a PRA approach could be used to assess needs, reduce anger levels within the various groups within the community and build self-esteem among the local community. It is characterized by the following:

The first step in the process was for social workers to contextualize the situation facing Jordanians within the massive influx of Syrian refugees.

The first step: Understanding the situation in Jordan

Since March 2011, Syrian nationals have been crossing from Syria to Jordan and other countries in the region. Jordan is presently hosting over 500,000 refugees from Syria. The large majority of these refugees are hosted in outside camps within Jordanian communities. The situation is taking its toll on the refugee population, and there is great physical, mental and psychological suffering. Refugees are granted access to public services, including health and education. International NGOs and local social workers have begun to develop intervention plans for Syrian refugees in camps. However, the constant influx of refugees has put a strain on Jordan’s resources. The surge in the refugee population has also strained the ability of local authorities to maintain service delivery and has added a considerable burden on public expenditure. Households face a rise in rent for housing and price increases for essential commodities and services. At the same time, the refugees are contributing to economic activity through increased consumption (IMF, 2013).

Eastern Amman and Syrian refugee population profile

According to the UNHCR (2014), the refugee population is divided between those living in Jordanian communities and those living in camps, with an 80 percent and 20 percent respective split. Progress registration data show that Amman has the largest population of urban refugees (32%) followed by Irbid (29%), Mafraq (14%) and Zarqa (10%). Data from home visits undertaken by the UNHCR and the International Relief & Development (IRD) NGO from 2011 to 2013 also show trends of high mobility among refugees, making it difficult to ensure traceability. The area is generally overpopulated and constricted, and because the houses are typically joined together, it offers little freedom for movement. The area lacks adequate services and is generally neglected. Most families are considered low or middle class. Most mothers do not work, and fathers’ professions are mainly in the governmental, commercial or vocational fields. Since employment opportunities in the country in general are limited, the influx of refugees has meant that lower-class citizens in particular are suffering, and unemployment has increased.

WAQE3 has already had considerable experience with different kinds of studies in the field and was actively involved in much of the first phase of establishing the first community development centre in the Sweileh area. Several structured, questionnaire-type surveys had been carried out generating considerable quantities of data and much valuable information. However, some of the drawbacks of these types of formal surveys had also become apparent. They were time-consuming, expensive and prone to biases; they always seemed to generate much more data than was really needed and often not all the data produced would be used. There was also a general feeling of anger among local Jordanian host communities towards Syrian refugees because they had been excluded from the services, and a way of responding to the needs of refugees had to be found.

The second step: Convening a meeting – focus groups

The centre held five focus groups. Points discussed were violence, needs in Jordan, challenges refugees face in the host country and the importance of school for the children. Psychological support was also offered. Each group was mediated by the purpose of using the PRA methodology, starting by involving a small group of people from local communities, refugees and volunteers to come together to discuss issues defined by a PRA trainer, who had previous experience working with Iraqi refugees. Participants were chosen on the basis of their experience related to social work and community development work. A group of between 6 and 10 people sat facing each other around a table; the trainer introduced the topic for discussion, then invited and moderated discussion from group members. A session would usually last between one and two hours for two weeks.

To address issues facing Syrian refugees the WAQE3 community development centre decided to convene a meeting between its community and groups of Syrian refugees (November, 2012) in order to develop a local response to the issue of fulfilling their humanitarian needs. The meeting was meant to serve as a focal point for further discussion and to help define the needs of the community. Through this initiative it was hoped that the people involved would develop leadership skills and that the focus would be on socio-therapeutic goals.

The third step: The PRA training programme

The centre recruited social workers and community leaders in three regions (Ashrafieh, Joufeh and the Armenian neighbourhood). Initially targeting local people who were active in local NGOs, key government and international agencies, these contacts were then asked to suggest other people who would make interesting contributions to the study (snowball recruitment technique). That built relationships between the supportive, caring and enabling elements of social work; moreover, this could also lead to a more fundamental shift away from a focus on charity intervention and towards a culture where people positively seek social work support as part of their own problem-solving strategies based on rights.

The focus during the training centred on the needs, interests and well-being of the refugees. The starting point was that the social worker should aim to work with people to define together the outcomes they were seeking to achieve and to maintain a view of the person in the community, recognizing the intellectual, psychological dimensions of their well-being, and the importance of their members, neighbourhood and community relationships. Social workers therefore worked with the target group to identify the barriers and obstacles to achieving their desired outcomes, and to find ways of removing, avoiding and overcoming the obstacles to accessing their rights.

The training programme was implemented by the community development centre, PRA experts and a social work professor from the University of Jordan, the main author of this article. It came about as an attempt to provide the participants with the basic knowledge and skills needed to assess their local community needs, so as to design and plan for projects that cater to their expressed needs. For Teis and Grady (1991), members of the PRA team should have different skills and backgrounds. The different viewpoints of team members from the community leaders, volunteers and social workers complement each other and provide a more comprehensive and inclusive picture of the situation. A core principle for agency staff is that it is imperative to give communities the opportunity to influence decisions that have an impact on their lives, and that engagement of the full range of stakeholders from the community is necessary in order to achieve truthful, comprehensive and clear information. Most of the team members had skills in data collection and analysis, map work, observational and investigative skills, and communication.

A six-day workshop programme on ‘local community needs assessment’ was held for workers and volunteers in the community development centre WAQE3 from 24 to 29 November 2012. Training with the team was conducted based on the PRA methodology and its tools in theory and practice. During the workshop the participants designed the research plan to be implemented within a six-day period. The training workshop was held in the WAQE3 community centre.

The overall objective of the training was to garner a clearer picture of the situation in Eastern Amman in order to gain a better understanding of the local community needs. Specifically, the objectives were

Participants

In total, 25 participants attended this workshop programme representing workers and volunteers in the community development centre.

Characteristics of the interview

Field visits

The field visits start with a series of focus groups and local community NGOs, where residents champion their ideas for their community. The community centre helps to keep the community informed and involved as the study progresses. It is important for the community to decide, as a group, what their priorities are through discussion and dialogue, which WAQE3 facilitated. The visiting resource team then brings their best knowledge and most appropriate resources and information to advise and help construct work plans with local participants.

Once priority areas are established, social workers form a Task Force to advance the identified policies, such as youth needs, social development, housing development or social and physiological issues. Each Task Force manages meetings and keeps the work moving forward. Local leaders have direct access throughout the process to government resources, donor opportunities, local NGOs and philanthropic partners, via the community centre.

The visits create community goodwill and self-esteem within the community; outdoor events take place each week, with food and in-kind donation opportunities to help out. For some, such as philanthropists from the Gulf countries they are used to leverage direct funds and planning resources. For others, the visits provide a mechanism to talk about important issues and begin long-term work for the future with the community centre, such as psychological and children’s programmes.

Building bridges and trust among host communities

There had been discussions in the host community about building empathy towards refugees, among donors and international NGOs. In addition, openness, inclusivity and complexity were part of the discussions. There was also some mistrust at the beginning as to the best way to serve refugees. PRA was seen as expanding the workload of host communities by adding a new population to existing services. What was not understood, at first, was that PRA, as a method of community participation, would affect all organizations and help in the decision-making processes on services and lead to more effective results.

The centre reached the findings through an ‘Evaluation Matrix’, considered the most appropriate and feasible data collection method to assess community needs. All stakeholders who participated in the focus groups – community workers, social workers, community leaders and donors – had an input and a voice in the assessment of needs and what should be done. Moreover, each NGO saw clear benefits from the findings. The results were acknowledged, validated and actually used for serving Syrian refugees and host communities. Furthermore, every team facilitated a one-day event where they presented their findings using the Evaluation Matrix they had filled in. Finally, once all the teams had presented their work, the whole PRA team discussed the results from identified ‘Open questions of the study’. They took enough time so that everybody had the opportunity to express what he or she believed to be the best way of finding solutions to the challenge of intervening with a great number of people in need.

Some of our findings

One of the most important finding was that women and children who are refugees and living in East Amman suffer from psychological traumas that are a result of the war or the subsequent displacement and uprooting. Women refugees suffer from various forms of gender-based violence (GBV), with at least 10% suffering from physical violence.

Within the refugee community there is some confusion regarding distribution points for tangible humanitarian services, and many are completely unaware that mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS), and legal services are available to them. Syrian women experience additional burdens on their finances and time as they go to receive services which are located far from East Amman. They also experience problems with the distribution system. It was reported, for example, that many women waited nine hours only to have to return the following day.

Syrian refugees in East Amman do not have easy access to most of the organizations providing MHPSS and legal services because few are located near the community. Consequently, findings from the assessment led to proposing the following objectives:

Conclusion

As mentioned in the introduction, Jordan faces a crisis situation with the influx of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Until the Syrian conflict erupted, Jordan was already dealing with tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees. This latest influx of refugees has not only compromised the country’s ability to deal with the crisis, it has also compounded an already precarious situation for Jordanian citizens as a whole and most particularly for those who have been marginalized by poverty, leading to myriad social needs. This is creating a context in which social cohesion is seriously undermined.

Traditionally, international and some local NGOs have been involved in providing services and putting in place the projects to meet the needs of a variety of populations. A top-down approach has characterized much of the work of many of these organizations. Social workers at the WAQE3 community development centre, in liaison with international and local NGOs and other stakeholders, have implemented the PRA methodology as one that allows for a more horizontal approach to needs assessment, the first step in a social development process focused on human rights, the core principles of the profession. Through the assessment process, a dialogical relationship (see Ife, 2010) is made possible, one in which learning on human rights becomes a two-way process and where individuals and communities can be involved in reclaiming their dignity.

Through their active participation in the PRA methodology, individuals and groups develop a sense of ownership of the possible solutions that touch them all. It offers a methodology to assess needs while, at the same time, building community and promoting social well-being and social welfare (see Midgley, 1996). The process becomes the intervention that can be used to address both individual and community needs. Through focus groups, more vulnerable populations, such as women, children and the elderly, can be identified, and special programmes can then be set up to meet their particular needs. This dovetails with social development which, according to Midgley (1995), is a ‘process of planned social change designed to promote the well-being of the population as a whole in conjunction with a dynamic process of economic development’ (p. 25). Once needs are identified, different strategies can be put in place to further economic development (see Cox and Pawar, 2013). Community organizing within a social development and human rights framework allows personal, group and community needs to be addressed, strengthening them and allowing for further strategies to be developed.

The lack of integration programmes in the host communities has negative impacts and lasting consequences on both refugees and local communities. To remedy this, capacity building becomes a strategy to promote community development and social cohesion. People who have traditionally been marginalized develop self-esteem and a new belief in their capacity to make their institutions, programmes and services more relevant to them. It means being able to do something about issues that concern people for the foreseeable future.

The PRA methodology also takes into account organizational factors such as bureaucratic systems and how their ideology and assumptions, rules and procedures affect programme delivery and service provision. Other factors include an organization’s mandate, its climate, roles and procedures, including decision-making procedures, its structure and funding, board composition and its relationships with a network of local and international agencies. Social workers use PRA and knowledge of organizational dynamics to develop interventions to make life more important and effective.

Community development centres are complex with many different interests needing to be understood and recognized when implementing development strategies. Considered by many international NGOs as grassroots NGOs, the community development centre at Sweileh (known as Community Development Centre (CDC)-Sweileh) has established a number of partnerships with international groups in order to conduct research on the needs of Iraqi refugees and to develop programmes for meeting these needs (Al-Qdah and Lacroix, 2010). It is important to remember that many approaches can be used when working in community development, and this is often the best way to face problems. PRA can make an extremely important contribution to ensuring greater participation and responding to planning social work intervention in the field.

Our needs assessment process and the use of this model in social work, valued because it addresses human rights and humanitarian needs in a timely and effective manner, raises the need for more research in the area to address an extended range of capacity building, leadership building and networking between international aid and local community organizations. Despite the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the political movements in the Arab world were fuelled by principles of individual liberty ad democratic rights. In this region, structural changes are often achieved by revolution and violence. The challenge then is for social workers to take their place in the struggle and, through social development initiatives, promote a different kind of structural change.