Global Parenting Initiative

The GPI at a glance

The Global Parenting Initiative (GPI) is a five-year international research collaboration working to expand access to free, evidence-based parenting support across the Global South. Through partnerships with researchers, governments and implementing organisations, GPI develops, evaluates and supports the scale-up of parenting interventions that strengthen child wellbeing, promote learning through play and child development, and prevent child sexual abuse and other forms of violence against children.

Coordinated jointly by the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford and the Centre for Social Science Research at the University of Cape Town, the GPI partners with research and implementation partners across South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Together, partners generate evidence, strengthen implementation, support the integration of evidence-based parenting interventions into government and community service systems, and inform policy and practice. The initiative builds on the evidence, tools and approaches developed through Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH), including ParentText, ParentChat and ParentApp, while supporting a broader portfolio of parenting research and innovation.

The problem

Evidence-based parenting support remains out of reach for many parents and caregivers, particularly in low-resource settings. An estimated 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential, and an estimated one billion children experience violence each year.

Despite growing evidence that parenting programmes can improve child wellbeing, strengthen caregiver-child relationships and reduce violence, access to evidence-based support remains limited in many settings. Families often face barriers to participation, while governments and service providers need approaches that are affordable, adaptable and scalable. The GPI addresses these challenges by testing and scaling parenting programmes that can be adapted for different communities, delivery systems and country contexts.

Our work

GPI co-develops, evaluates and supports the implementation of parenting interventions with research, government and delivery partners across the Global South. Alongside generating evidence, the initiative supports digital innovation, implementation, policy engagement and capacity sharing to help embed effective parenting interventions within government and NGO service delivery systems and support their long-term sustainability.

Our approach

The GPI works across six linked workstreams:

Evaluate - Generating evidence on the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and scalability of technology-assisted playful parenting programmes.

Innovate - Developing adaptable digital tools and delivery systems, including ParentText, ParentChat and ParentApp, that can be contextualised for local partners and families.

Facilitate - Supporting shared learning, capacity sharing and leadership development, with a particular focus on strengthening research leadership in the Global South.

Advocate - Working with global, regional and country-level partners to support policy environments that enable evidence-based parenting programmes to be adopted and sustained.

Generate - Building the partnerships, resources and funding needed to support the long-term scale-up of evidence-based parenting programmes, including supporting the establishment of the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) charity.

Accelerate - Supporting the integration of evidence-based parenting programmes into national government and NGO service delivery systems.

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