Understanding Parenting

Poor parenting, particularly in the child’s early years, is a risk factor for poor health and development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and local national policy contexts provide entry points for optimizing parenting influences in Uganda to improve children’s wellbeing, education and health.

CTPR under the Family Strengthening project funded by CRVP-F undertakes the Parenting for Respectability Intervention. The Parenting for Respectability’ (PfR) programme in Uganda is a 16session community-based project that has undergone 3 stages of programme development. The programme deliberately targets men and women and builds on their pre-existing motivation to improve their children's behaviour. It starts with single sex sessions that allow women and men to first share experiences before participating in mixed sex sessions that allow couples to clarify conflicting perspectives regarding spousal relationships and gendered norms.The results from the proof of concept indicate that the programme is effective in addressing key risk factors to poor parenting including:

• Poor attachment and parental bonding
• Inequitable gendered socialisation
• Harsh parenting especially corporal punishment
• Spousal conflict and disrespect

PfR is intended to operate primarily at the interpersonal level, between parental care-givers and their children. It is also intended to work at the community level, by engaging formal and informal opinion leaders, involving participants’ neighbours and families in homework exercises, and through community events, thus changing community norms. The programme targets parents of children between 0 – 17 years (see summary below):