The Oyo State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Value Female Network Africa, has launched a new programme aimed at helping parents and caregivers create safer, more supportive homes for children.

The Gender Transformative Positive Parenting Programme 1.0 began with a two-day training for community facilitators held in Ibadan on September 2 and 3, 2026.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, UNICEF Lagos Field Office Child Protection Specialist, Denis Onoise, said empowering parents and caregivers was essential to preventing violence against children and strengthening child protection systems.

Onoise described parents and caregivers as the first protective environment around children, noting that better-informed caregivers would be able to identify signs of abuse, neglect and other vulnerabilities earlier and connect affected children with appropriate support services.

He urged the trained facilitators to take the lessons beyond the training venue by strengthening existing community-based child protection structures and improving awareness of referral channels for children who may be at risk.

The Executive Director of Value Female Network Africa, Costly Aderibigbe-Saba, said the programme would also confront harmful social norms and practices affecting children in families and communities.

She explained that positive parenting was not simply about making children obedient, but about creating homes where children feel safe, respected, heard and supported.

According to her, the programme deliberately combines parenting education with issues such as sexual violence, female genital mutilation, child marriage and other harmful practices, as well as birth registration and access to child protection services.

Aderibigbe-Saba said the community-based approach was designed to ensure that knowledge gained by facilitators would translate into sustained discussions and behavioural changes among parents and caregivers.

The Director of Programmes at Value Female Network Africa, Samuel Abimbade, said the initiative was developed in response to concerns surrounding child neglect, abuse, violence and poor communication between some parents and their children.

He noted that parenting had become increasingly challenging as children were exposed to influences from technology, social media and other factors outside the home.

Abimbade stressed that positive parenting should not be mistaken for allowing children to behave without boundaries, explaining that discipline remained an important part of raising children when applied appropriately.

Representing the Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Adediran Oluwawemimo encouraged parents to develop closer relationships with their children and create an environment where they could discuss their experiences without fear.

She said stronger communication between parents and children would help caregivers understand their children’s challenges and provide appropriate guidance and support.

The Head of Operations, State Operations Coordinating Unit, Adelugba Omotola, described the initiative as timely, particularly as children increasingly encounter influences beyond the immediate family environment.

The programme will use community facilitators to deliver structured parenting sessions over a 10-week period in selected communities across Ibarapa North East, Ibarapa South West, Egbeda and Akinyele Local Government Areas.

About 800 parents and caregivers are expected to participate directly.

The training curriculum covers positive parenting, child development, parent-child communication, positive discipline, gender-equitable caregiving, positive fatherhood, adolescent supervision and digital safety.

It will also address the prevention of sexual violence, female genital mutilation, child marriage and other harmful practices, alongside birth registration, community-based child protection and referral pathways.

The initiative forms part of broader efforts by UNICEF to strengthen family and community environments that protect children from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.