Universal parenting support is one of the highest-impact strategies to prevent violence, abuse and neglect against children — yet most countries lack a structured way to assess whether their policy environment is ready to deliver it at scale. This Mastermind session introduces UNICEF's Policy Analysis and Benchmarking Tool for Universal Parenting Support, co-developed with Parenting for Lifelong Health and piloted in Mexico, Serbia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia. Participants will explore the tool's ten domains, watch short videos from UNICEF country offices and government partners on how they used it and what its overall impact was. The session culminates in a working group exercise where delegates apply selected benchmarks to their own context, surface regional patterns, and contribute to a co-created Rise Up policy brief on advancing universal parenting support across sectors.
A 60-minute Mastermind session structured as a presentation–reflection–workshop arc, designed so that delegates spend the majority of the time in active exchange rather than passive listening. Short pre-recorded videos from UNICEF HQ technical leads, country office colleagues and government representatives are embedded inside the anchor presentation to bring multiple voices into the room. Slido is used continuously for warm-up polling, live ratings during the working session and capturing themes for the policy brief. Audience interaction time totals ≈30 of 60 minutes (~50%). (Saara included a session plan in the Word doc)
