UNODC and WHO have joined forces with other interagency strategies to prioritize parenting as a cross-cutting common strategic response to prevent child maltreatment, including physical, sexual, emotional abuse, and neglect. Sadly, these types of violence most frequently occur within the family unit at the hands of parents and caregivers. The long-lasting consequences include increased risks for injuries, disabilities, infectious and chronic diseases, mental health problems, high-risk behaviors, and a higher likelihood of involvement in violence against others and oneself.
However, the good news is that such child maltreatment is preventable. The science of prevention currently carries a significant number of interventions that can positively assist parents and caregivers in developing safe, sustainable, and nurturing relationships with children, reducing such forms of maltreatment. These interventions provide caregivers with new skills and responses to improve their relationships with their children while expanding their parental knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings in an adapted way to the developmental age of the child.
To further support the value of such interventions, WHO has released new guidelines that make five specific recommendations to use such intervention modalities to reduce child maltreatment and harsh parenting, enhance the parent-child relationship, and prevent poor mental health among parents and emotional and behavioral problems among children. These guidelines call for evidence-based parenting interventions to be made readily accessible to all parents and caregivers of children aged 0-17 years, with specific recommendations covering parents of children at different stages of development in the age ranges 0-3 years, 2-10 years, and 10-17 years, and those living in humanitarian settings. These interventions can be delivered in group-based or individualized formats through government health, education, and social services or through partner organizations.
UNODC’s experience within the Guidance Development Group contributed to the development of these guidelines. UNODC is actively engaged with WHO and other agencies to advocate for the value of such parenting initiatives at the policy and service provision level, particularly in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals on the road to 2030. These recommendations are a call for action to relevant governmental personnel, donors, project developers, programme managers, and outcome evaluators to prioritize parenting as a cross-cutting common strategic response to prevent child maltreatment and ensure the well-being of children and families.
WHO guidelines on parenting interventions to prevent maltreatment and enhance parent–child relationships with children aged 0–17 years: https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/violence-prevention/parenting-guidelines INSPIRE: Seven strategies for ending violence against children technical package: https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/violence-prevention/inspire-technical-package UNODC Family Skills programming support: Family Skills (unodc.org) |