About the conversation
Although research evidence has demonstrated the value of parenting programmes to promote child development in low- and middle-income countries, less is known about scaling them. How to scale effectively both horizontally (by expanding programmes’ geographic reach, to include new communities and populations) and vertically (through integration with government systems) has remained largely undocumented.
Supported by the LEGO Foundation, FHI 360, an independent research and learning organisation, studied four different parenting programmes implemented from 2020 to 2024 in Bhutan, Rwanda, Serbia and Zambia, to identify enablers and barriers to scaling. The programmes all intended to promote ‘playful parenting’ – where parents provide stimulation to children under three years of age, in particular sensory and motor stimulation that engages children actively and socially, and is enjoyable and developmentally beneficial.
While all four programmes grappled with challenges in their journeys to scale, they experienced notable achievements. From the findings, FHI 360 derived eight indicators of successful scale (four horizontal, four vertical) that may help governments and organisations to monitor progress when scaling similar programmes.
This session of Thrive in Conversation will focus on two of the programmes: Prescription to Play (C4CD+) in Bhutan, and Caring for the Child’s Healthy Growth and Development (CCD) in Zambia. The research team found modest results and promising practices from these programmes, respectively.
Please join two of the researchers – Carina Omoeva, Director of Research and Evaluation, Global Education, Employment and Engagement at FHI 360, and Frances Aboud, Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, McGill University in Canada – and Laigden Dzed, Chief Program Officer, Non-Communicable Disease Division, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Bhutan, as they discuss the enablers and barriers to horizontal and vertical scaling and recommendations for the scale up of other playful parenting programmes with host Marlies Morsink, Thrive Deputy Programme Director.
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Speakers
Senior Director for Research
and Evaluation, FHI 360
Carina Omoeva is Senior Director for Research and Evaluation at FHI 360, where she leads the organisation’s research studies and data analytic efforts in education, early childhood development, youth workforce transition, and economic resilience. Between 2020 and 2025, Carina served as the Project Director and PI of the LEGO Foundation-funded Scaling Up Playful Parenting implementation research study, leading a research team that generated evidence around the scaling up of four parenting programmes in Bhutan, Rwanda, Serbia and Zambia.
Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, McGill University, Canada
Frances Aboud has been a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill University, Canada, since 1991. Over the years, she has lived in Ethiopia as a member of the McGill-Ethiopia Community Health team and in Bangladesh working at the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research. Frances has conducted research and supervised young investigators to implement and evaluate programmes aimed at improving the health, growth and development of young children in many low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia. These programmes, implemented by non-governmental organisations and governments, have been developing effective and scalable models to offer group care to children from three to six years of age and parenting programmes to promote responsive stimulation and feeding practices for children under three years.
Frances’ publications address implementation processes and outcome evaluations of parenting programmes and preschools. Currently, together with other researchers and practitioners, she is consulting with various international organisations to help develop an early childhood agenda for programmes, research, and measurement of quality and outcomes.
Chief Program Officer, Non-Communicable Disease Division, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Bhutan
Laigden Dzed has over 15 years of progressive experience driving national health transformations within the Ministry of Health, Bhutan. Over the course of his career, he has led major public health initiatives and responses, including resolving national nutritional outbreaks such as the Thiamine Deficiency Crisis and managing critical public health efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Laigden’s work is grounded in a strong commitment to evidence-based policy formulation, upholding high standards of excellence, and translating long-term strategic visions into actionable, multi-sectoral programmes that deliver measurable national impact.
Laigden has also led Bhutan’s national Playful Parenting Programme, including the design and nationwide rollout of C4CD Plus, a flagship early childhood development and behaviour change initiative that has been successfully institutionalised and is being sustained across the country.
Host
Deputy Programme Director, Thrive Programme
Marlies Morsink is Thrive Deputy Programme Director at Oxford Policy Management. She has a background in impact evaluation in low- and middle-income countries, and is co-author of Attributing Development Impact: The Qualitative Impact Protocol (2019). She holds a Masters in Social Policy Research from the University of Bath and is a Fellow at the university’s Centre for Development Studies. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and was previously employed in investment finance.
About the series
We know that investing in early childhood is transformative for both children and societies in low- and middle-income countries, but there are gaps in our knowledge about how to move from pilot to scale and how to ensure long-term quality.
The exchange of insights and ideas between researchers and policymakers is a vital part of bridging these gaps – ensuring that new research addresses the questions most relevant to national decision makers, and that early childhood development policies are grounded in evidence about what works at scale.
This discussion series from Thrive brings together policymakers, practitioners and researchers to explore the latest evidence related to scaling early childhood development programmes in low- and middle-income countries. Conversations will explore the key takeaways from research highlighted in the Thrive What to Read newsletter and delve into how new evidence can help to inform diverse policy and research agendas associated with scaling.
Attendees can take part in live Q&As with leading experts and be part of a growing community of knowledge shaping the future of early childhood development programming.
For the latest research related to designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating scalable early childhood development programmes in low- and middle-income countries subscribe to the monthly Thrive What to Read newsletter.
The Thrive 2025 scientific conference on scaling early childhood development programmes and policies in low- and middle-income countries, brought together early childhood development researchers, practitioners, funders and policymakers to exchange ideas. Revisit keynote presentations and other sessions from across the conference here.