The Global Parenting Initiative engages with Nigerian Federal Government to promote Evidence-Based Parenting Policy
GPI Head of Advocacy, Dr Isang Awah, has recently returned from two months spent in Nigeria engaging with government, policymakers, and local stakeholders to promote the uptake of evidence-based parenting policies in the country. Dr Awah was in Nigeria on the strength of her Oxford Policy Engagement Network Fellowship. While in the country, Dr Awah engaged in various advocacy activities.
One such activity was her attendance at a workshop entitled, 'Evidence-based Parenting Support to Help Nigerian Parents Raise their Children to Reach their Full Potential in Life’. The workshop, organised by the Gender Adolescent School Health and Elderly Care (GASHE) division Family Health Department of the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) and the Global Parenting Initiative, was attended by key policymakers from relevant Federal Ministries in Nigeria, NAPTIP as well as staff of the WHO, UNODC, UNESCO, Society for Family Health and other relevant organisations, and members of the press. Dr Awah said that the workshop was designed to explore how various stakeholders could work together to ensure that Nigerian parents have access to free evidence-based, playful parenting support so that they are equipped with the knowledge and tools to help their children realise their learning potential, and to prevent child sexual abuse, exploitation, and family violence.
In her keynote address, the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi PhD, advocated for support for parents and caregivers and stated that parents need to be informed so that they can protect their children from the hands of traffickers and violent people. Prof Waziri-Azi also announced GPI’s collaboration with the Nigerian Federal Government: “We realised that there was a gap and that gap now informed our collaboration with … Oxford [Global Parenting Initiative], in as much as we have legislations that protect children. We also need policies that also guide and support parents”.
Through a collaboration of the GPI and NAPTIP, Dr Awah has been sharing parenting tips on the national TV in a segment of the NAPTIP ON THE MOVE programme.
On her return to Oxford, Dr Awah, the Oxford Policy Engagement Network, and the Global Parenting Initiative were pleased to host Prof Waziri-Azi and Dr John Ovuoraye, Director and Head of the Gender, Adolescent, School Health & Elderly (GASHE) Division within the Department of Family Health at the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), as presenters at a hybrid seminar held on 1 June at the University of Oxford, entitled “Engaging Policymakers: Translating your research into policy and practice”. At the seminar, Prof Waziri Azi and Dr Ovuoraye discussed strategies for researchers to effectively engage with policymakers, disseminate research findings, and foster collaborations that bridge the gap between research evidence and policy development.
The GPI is thrilled to be collaborating with the Nigerian Federal Government to further our joint aim of protecting children from violence and abuse, and ensuring that they are given the best chance to reach their full developmental potential.
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