From solar-powered hubs for displaced mothers to WhatsApp-based mental health support, six innovations are taking a different approach to parental wellbeing — starting with the communities they are designed to serve.
What does innovation look like when you start with something as fundamental as helping a parent feel less alone?
Six teams working across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia have been awarded €200,000 each through the Good Start Challenge, following more than 1,000 entries from innovators looking for new ways to support parents and caregivers.
The ideas are striking not because they rely on futuristic technology, but because they are designed around the realities of the people they are trying to help.
In Ethiopia, EKISIL CBO is developing community-owned, solar-powered spaces for displaced mothers and young children. The SafeHubs bring several forms of support together in one trusted place, including parenting advice, child health screening, trauma counselling and digital learning.
In Senegal, Heights and Minds and Atou Nutrition are taking a similarly community-led approach, creating a space where children can learn and play while parents access health checks, nutrition advice, support and affordable childcare.
And elsewhere, technology is being used to reach people who might otherwise struggle to access support.
GENFAMI in Colombia has developed a WhatsApp-based tool for teenage Afro-descendant mothers, combining mental health support with positive parenting guidance. In Brazil, PIPA Institute and Tempojunto are creating a virtual support network where vulnerable mothers can connect with trained professionals through WhatsApp and video calls.
In Uganda, StrongMinds is using trained community volunteers — many of them refugees themselves — to provide free group therapy in Dinka and Arabic.
In rural Indonesia, the Foundation for Mother and Child Health is training midwives and community health volunteers to provide emotional and practical support to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers through home visits and health check-ups.
Different countries. Different communities. Different approaches.
But there is a common thread: the innovation starts with the person, not the technology.
That matters because becoming a parent can be a period of vulnerability, uncertainty and isolation. The challenge is not simply creating another service, but finding ways to make meaningful support accessible, trusted and relevant to everyday life.
The Good Start Challenge was created by the Van Leer Foundation, with support from FEMSA, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal and the LEGO Foundation, and designed and delivered by Challenge Works.
The six winning teams will now be connected with partners, experts and networks as they work to scale their ideas.
The bigger opportunity may be what happens next.
Because sometimes the most meaningful innovation isn’t about inventing something completely new.
It’s about seeing a human need clearly — and building something that meets it.
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