Rethinking tools for early childhood interventions: Lessons from the Gender Transformative Skillful Parenting Program (GTSP) implementation

• In Event: Gender-Transformative Parenting and Community Workforce

Proposal

The Gender Transformative Skillful Parenting Intervention (Kuimarisha Program) was designed to address the multifaceted vulnerabilities faced by adolescent mothers and their children, including limited parenting knowledge and emotional support; weak father involvement; entrenched gender norms; poor child stimulation and nutrition practices; stigma and social exclusion; fragmented service linkages; and inadequate mental health support. The Program sought to improve early childhood outcomes by equipping adolescent parents, especially mothers, with responsive caregiving skills, while engaging male partners and caregivers to foster shared responsibility and social cohesion.

The intervention employs a participatory, community-embedded approach guided by gender-transformative frameworks, aiming to challenge harmful norms and promote equitable caregiving roles. It engages adolescent mothers and male partners through a 12-module curriculum, delivered via group sessions and home visits, emphasizing responsive caregiving, nurturing care models, gender equity, and mental health promotion. The modules incorporate participatory techniques such as locally made play materials, storytelling, and spiritual rituals to create safe spaces for adolescent parents. Community leaders are sensitized on the importance of using a gender-transformative lens in nurturing care.

We used focus group discussions (FGDs) to surface shared challenges and shifts in attitudes, particularly around father involvement and adolescent mothers’ self-worth; in-depth interviews (IDIs) to understand implementation fidelity and delivery challenges; and key informant interviews (KIIs) to gather policy-level insights on the potential for scale-up. Observations were used to confirm reported shifts in parenting practices, such as improved hygiene, responsive breastfeeding, and use of locally made play materials.

Data showed improved parenting practices, emotional bonding and child stimulation; increased male partner engagement and redefinition of fatherhood roles; and enhanced empowerment among adolescent girls to reclaim agency and pursue education. Male partners, who are often sidelined in ECD programming, responded positively to modules that emphasized shared caregiving and developmental monitoring, signaling a shift in community norms around fatherhood and nurturing care. Community leaders noted strengthened trust and cohesion, particularly in settings where adolescent mothers had previously been stigmatized. As noted during observations, notebooks were used actively as reference guides, empowering adolescent mothers to revisit key lessons outside formal sessions. Flip charts, flip books, and manuals were central to the curriculum, and these materials simplified complex parenting concepts and made sessions more engaging and accessible. Locally made toys provided stimulation and helped reduce behavioral disruptions during sessions, creating calmer environments.

Yet, the intervention also surfaced tensions, such as (a) facilitator fatigue; (b) material inadequacy; (c) weak engagement in mental health and violence prevention modules; and (d) gaps in feedback loops with community leaders and caregivers. Refresher training and more contextualized materials were suggested as areas for improvement.

The Program’s success hinged not only on what was taught, but on how and where it was taught. The challenges reported by participants underscore the need for adaptive supervision, iterative tool refinement, and community-level reinforcement mechanisms, such as ‘barazas’ and church forums. The delivery mechanisms used in the Kuimarisha Program are replicable in other low-resource settings by adapting tools to local cultural contexts, embedding emotional safety, and ensuring follow-up mechanisms.

Authors

• Patricia K Kitsao-Wekulo, African Population and Health Research Center

• Silas Odhiambo Onyango, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

• LINDA AWUOR OLOO, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

• Atanus Kiptum, ICS

• Beatrice Nyakwaka Ogutu, Investing in Children and their Societies ( ICS SP)

• Josephine Odhiambo, Investing in Children and Their Societies (ICS SP)