Parental Education Program in São Tomé and Príncipe

As a consultant for UNICEF in São Tomé and Príncipe (2016–2022), I played a key role in the design, development, implementation, and scaling of an intersectoral Parenting Education Programme (PEP), coordinated by the Directorate of Social Protection, Solidarity and Family (DPSSF).

The Parenting Education Programme (PEP) was born in São Tomé and Príncipe as an intersectoral initiative coordinated by the Directorate of Social Protection, Solidarity and Family (DPSSF), with the support of UNICEF, the World Bank, and the SDG Fund. The programme was initially piloted with vulnerable families and progressively expanded at national level. Grounded in participatory action-research methodologies and a child-centred approach, the programme aims to strengthen parenting practices, promote children’s rights, and enhance family well-being in vulnerable contexts.

The programme was initially developed and piloted between 2016 and 2017, focusing on culturally responsive strategies tailored to local realities. It combined direct work with families and the co-construction of intervention tools with local professionals. Building on this pilot phase, the programme was expanded between 2018 and 2019 through the development of structured training frameworks and capacity-building processes targeting technicians, decision-makers, and frontline professionals across multiple sectors, including social protection, health, education, justice, youth services, and media.

From 2020 to 2022, the programme entered a phase of national scaling and consolidation, characterised by strengthened coordination mechanisms, the refinement of implementation guidelines, and the development of monitoring and evaluation tools. Digital data collection systems, such as KoboToolbox, were introduced to support real-time monitoring and evidence-based decision-making. During this phase, the programme directly reached over 2,650 vulnerable families and contributed to the professional development of multidisciplinary teams working with children and families.

Currently, the PEP has expanded to cover more than 5,000 families and is integrated into the World Bank-funded cash transfer programme “Famílias Carenciadas.” (Please consult: https://dpssf.gov.st/index.php/explorar/related-pages/departamento-da-protecao-da-crianca).This integration reinforces the programme’s sustainability and its role as a key national strategy to promote positive parenting, social inclusion, and child well-being.

Overall, the PEP represents a scalable and context-sensitive model that bridges research, policy, and practice, contributing to more effective and inclusive social protection systems.