The Oyo State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund and Value Female Network Africa, has launched the Gender Transformative Positive Parenting Programme 1.0 to strengthen child protection and promote safer family environments.

The initiative began with a two-day training for community facilitators held on September 2 and 3, 2026, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

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

“Parents and caregivers are the first protective environment around a child. Strengthening their knowledge and capacity means that risks can be recognised earlier, violence can be prevented and children who require support can be connected to appropriate services,” Onoise said.

He said positive parenting extended beyond methods of discipline, describing it as an important component of a stronger child protection system.

According to him, parents and caregivers are often closest to children and therefore occupy a crucial position in identifying early signs of abuse, neglect and other forms of vulnerability.

Onoise urged the trained facilitators to take the knowledge acquired into their communities, strengthen existing child protection structures and improve awareness of referral pathways for children requiring additional support.

The Executive Director of Value Female Network Africa, Costly Aderibigbe-Saba, said the programme was designed to strengthen the protective role of parents and caregivers while confronting harmful social norms and practices within families and communities.

“Positive parenting is not simply about raising obedient children. It is about creating homes where children feel safe, heard, respected and supported to develop confidence and realise their potential,” she said.

Aderibigbe-Saba said the programme deliberately combines parenting education with a range of child protection issues because children could experience multiple forms of vulnerability simultaneously.

She said parents would be equipped to understand positive discipline while also learning how to protect children from sexual violence, female genital mutilation, child marriage and other harmful practices.

The programme will also educate parents on the importance of birth registration, recognising when a child requires additional protection and knowing where to seek appropriate assistance.

Aderibigbe-Saba said the partnership between Value Female Network Africa, UNICEF and the Oyo State Government was intended to ensure that the training translated into sustained conversations and behavioural changes in homes and communities.

“The community-based approach would enable the programme to reach parents directly and create opportunities for them to discuss practical challenges they face while raising children,” she said.

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

Abimbade said parenting required attention, care, guidance and effective communication, particularly as children increasingly grow up amid the influence of technology, social media and other external pressures.

He, however, stressed that positive parenting should not be confused with allowing children to act without boundaries, noting that discipline remained an essential part of raising children.

Representing the Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs Adediran Oluwawemimo urged parents to build closer relationships with their children and create homes where children could communicate without fear.

“When children know they can come to you and freely discuss what they are going through, you are better able to nurture, guide, correct and support them,” she said.

The Head of Operations, State Operations Coordinating Unit, Adelugba Omotola, described the initiative as timely, particularly because children are increasingly exposed to influences beyond the home.

Following the facilitator training, participants are expected to take the lessons into selected communities and lead structured parenting school sessions over a 10-week period.

The community sessions will be implemented across Ibarapa North East, Ibarapa South West, Egbeda and Akinyele Local Government Areas, with about 800 parents and caregivers expected to participate directly.

The curriculum will cover 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 structures and referral pathways.

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The initiative reflects a broader effort to place parents and caregivers at the centre of child protection, recognising that early intervention, open communication and informed caregiving can help identify risks before they escalate into serious harm.