Parenting
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Our resource library is a searchable collection of documents, tools, and resources on parenting across the life cycle. You can filter the resources by topic, type, country, and more.

We welcome and encourage the submission of additional resources.

Resource Spotlight

Family and Parenting Support Policy and Provision in a Global Context

Programming Guidance for Parenting of Adolescents

UNICEF’s Vision for Elevating Parenting: A Strategic Note

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Nurturing Care and Men’s Engagement

Men caregivers play an important role in providing children nurturing care. Yet, often even when they want to be more involved, they are left out of the equation in policies, services and in communities. This thematic brief summarizes the evidence regarding the benefits of men’s engagement on outcomes for women, children, and even men themselves. It consolidates the learnings thus far regarding designing and adapting services to engage men in providing nurturing care. Finally, it recommends practical actions for policymakers and programme designers across four enabling environments: policies, services, communities and caregivers – all illustrated with case studies. It focuses particularly on what health services can do, while also covering education, social protection and other sectors.
Grey LiteratureEarly Childhood DevelopmentGenderGlobalEnglishEarly Childhood

Parenting interventions to promote early child development in the first three years of life: A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Parents are the primary caregivers of young children. Responsive parent–child relationships and parental support for learning during the earliest years of life are crucial for promoting early child development (ECD). We conducted a global systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of parenting interventions on ECD and parenting outcomes.
Academic ArticleEarly Childhood DevelopmentGlobalEnglishEarly ChildhoodCommunity centerDigitalHomeHybrid (digital/in person)Medical facilitySchool

WHO guidelines on parenting interventions to prevent maltreatment and enhance parent–child relationships with
children aged 0–17 years: Report of the reviews for the WHO-INTEGRATE framework

This set of reviews addresses questions about the societal implications of parenting interventions, based on the WHO-INTEGRATE evidence to decision framework (Rehfuess et al., 2019). This evidence, will inform the WHO Guideline on Parenting Programmes to Prevent Child Maltreatment and Promote Positive Development in Children aged 0-17 Years. It will allow the Guideline Group to contextualise the main evidence of effectiveness from the systematic reviews, in the light of broader questions about acceptability, balance of benefit and harms, feasibility, and societal, economic, equity and human rights implications of parenting interventions. We use a combination of approaches to review the evidence including systematic, mixed-methods, qualitative, and narrative reviews of quantitative and qualitative primary studies, human rights based-analysis, and overviews of existing reviews.
Academic ArticleChild ProtectionGlobalEnglishAcross childhoodCommunity centerDigitalHomeHybrid (digital/in person)Medical facilitySchool

World Health Organization Guidelines on Parenting Interventions to Prevent Maltreatment and Enhance Parent–Child Relationships with Children aged 0-17 Years: Report of the Systematic Reviews of Evidence

This report provides evidence on the effectiveness of parenting interventions across different contexts and populations. The findings of this report will inform the decisions of the WHO Guideline Development Group for guidelines on parenting to prevent child maltreatment and promote positive development in children aged 0–17 years. We systematically summarized the evidence on the effectiveness of parenting interventions using systematic reviewing as the predominant method. In total, we conducted two main systematic reviews, two systematic sub- reviews and one narrative review.
Academic ArticleChild ProtectionGlobalEnglishAcross childhoodCommunity centerDigitalHomeHybrid (digital/in person)Medical facilitySchool

Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities – Home visit guide for facilitators

This guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities. This guide for facilitators provides information for leading the three home visits. It is a reference manual to be used in conjunction with specific training in caregiver skills training and under supervision. The guide includes detailed descriptions of the objectives and activities for each home visit. Goal setting information and forms are also included, along with information for trouble shooting and problem solving.
Toolkit/ManualCaregiver and child mental healthDisability / Atypical Development / Special NeedsGlobalEnglishEarly ChildhoodMiddle childhoodCommunity centerHome

Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities – Participants’ guide: group sessions 1–9

This participants’ guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities. This participants’ guide is meant to be used by caregivers who are participating in WHO’s caregiver skills training. The guide provides content that will be used during each of the caregiver skills training core group sessions (sessions 1–9). It includes illustrated descriptions of the key messages and tips (skills and strategies) taught in each session as well as goal-setting activities.
Toolkit/ManualCaregiver and child mental healthDisability / Atypical Development / Special NeedsGlobalEnglishEarly ChildhoodMiddle childhoodCommunity centerHome

Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities – Facilitators’ guide: group sessions 1–9

This facilitators’ guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities. This facilitators’ guide provides information for leading group sessions 1–9. It is a reference manual to be used in conjunction with specific training and under supervision.
Toolkit/ManualCaregiver and child mental healthDisability / Atypical Development / Special NeedsGlobalEnglishEarly ChildhoodMiddle childhoodCommunity centerHome

Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities – Adaptation and implementation guide

This adaptation and implementation guide is part of a five-part Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) package providing guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities. This adaptation and implementation guide provides information on how to adapt caregiver skills training materials and delivery strategies to the local context. It includes guidance on development and implementation of contextual and cultural adaptation plans.
Toolkit/ManualCaregiver and child mental healthDisability / Atypical Development / Special NeedsGlobalEnglishEarly ChildhoodMiddle childhoodCommunity centerHome

Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities: Introduction

This is the first part of a five-part package that provides guidance on caregiver skills training for families of children aged 2–9 years with developmental delays or disabilities. The Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST) aims to provide caregivers with skills that they can use at home to improve their child’s engagement in activities and communication, and to promote positive behaviour and skills for daily living. This introduction describes how each of the elements of the package can be used. It provides an overview of the course structure and content as well as the requirements for delivering the training to caregivers.
Toolkit/ManualCaregiver and child mental healthDisability / Atypical Development / Special NeedsGlobalEnglishEarly ChildhoodMiddle childhoodCommunity centerHome

Supporting Families for Gender-Transformative Parenting: Challenging the Gender Norms and Gender Inequalities – Creating a More Equitable Environment for All Children to Thrive

UNICEF’s new Gender Policy (2021-2030) and Gender Action Plan (GAP 2022-2025) emphasize UNICEF’s commitment to promoting gender equality around the world and recognize the integral role that positive gender socialization plays in transforming harmful gender norms and practices. With the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), UNICEF developed a resource package and training modules for frontline workers to support parents in implementing gender-transformative parenting practices at home and support positive gender socialization of children and adolescents. The resource package was piloted in eight UNICEF Country Offices in 2022.
Toolkit/ManualGenderGlobalEnglishAcross childhood