Baba rebuilds trust with fathers in vulnerable neighbourhoods

Adeel Ismail Naseem vividly recalls the day his eldest son was born. On a personal level, becoming a parent was life-changing. But it was also a moment that made the idea of a Nordic welfare society tangible in everyday life for him.

– The way the midwives interacted with me, and their support and respect, made something click inside me. I realised that this is what it means to live in a welfare society. Even if I paid a million dollars to a private hospital somewhere else in the world, I don’t think I would get the same care and service.

As a new father, Naseem also began to appreciate the relative safety and stability of Danish society more deeply. At the same time, he noticed that many fathers in his own peer group, those with an immigrant background, did not share the same experience when they became parents.

When fathers are not seen as caregivers

Today, Adeel Ismail Naseem is the manager of Baba, a community initiative in Denmark that engages fathers in vulnerable neighbourhoods.

– As a father, you naturally need to know the basics of childcare, but it’s not rocket science. Raising children has a lot to do with trusting your gut instinct. But society, family, and people around you may not see you as a caregiver in the same way as they see the mothers. When that happens, it becomes easy to ignore those instincts.

Through his work, he meets men who want the best for their children but struggle to find recognition as caregivers. For many fathers, distrust toward public institutions such as schools, nurseries, and municipal services reinforces the feeling of lacking recognition in the role as a caregiver.

Strengthening identity, building cooperation and providing inspiration

Baba is part of the Fund for Social Responsibility in Denmark and has been active since 2014. The programme is currently established in 15 areas across the country and involves around 250 volunteer fathers, who act as mentors for other men in vulnerable neighbourhoods. All volunteers complete an extensive training programme lasting three to four months.

At the conference “How is the second generation doing? Promoting integration of migrants and their families in the Nordic countries”, organised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland, and the Nordic Council of Ministers, as a part of the 2025 Finnish presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Helsinki November 2025, Adeel Ismail Naseem outlined the three key roles Baba focuses on: strengthening fathers’ sense of identity and confidence in their role, fostering cooperation between fathers and professionals working with children, and inspiring men to embrace the role of emotional providers.

– The first step for us is to map and understand the problem around fatherhood in the target communities. Before we started Baba, we spoke with more than a thousand fathers to understand the issues.

A relationship marked by mutual distrust

According to Naseem, one of the main challenges Baba addresses is the lack of interaction between immigrant fathers and public authorities.

Many fathers distrust institutions such as schools, day-care centers, and local councils. At the same time, many lack confidence in their own ability to meet their children’s needs. There is also often no culture or safe space where fathers can talk about fatherhood. That is why we focus on inclusion and on creating connections between professionals and fathers.

Distrust, however, is rarely one-sided. Naseem describes the relationship between institutions and fathers as sometimes resembling a bad marriage.

– In those cases, our role in Baba is to act as marriage counsellors.

Professional confidence over cultural caution

Adeel Ismail Naseem emphasises that strong relationships and involvement matter more than additional intercultural training. He refers to a quote by a Danish healthcare professional: “It’s not because things are difficult that we don’t dare – it’s because we don’t dare that things become difficult.”

– If you want to involve a vulnerable or perceived ‘difficult’ target group, remember that barriers to participation are often universal rather than cultural. You can achieve much more with your professional expertise than you think.

Excessive caution, he argues, can sometimes undermine trust.

– Doctors, nurses, social workers, and teachers across Scandinavia have strong education and expertise. But when they meet someone from a different background, they may become overly careful, Naseem says.

He illustrates this with an example from the healthcare sector. An immigrant family in Denmark had their son circumcised, professionally and without complications. A healthcare professional who regularly visited the family never mentioned the procedure.

– When asked why, she said everything looked fine and that she did not want to cross any boundaries. But the father was very nervous and would have needed reassurance that everything was okay.

“What kind of person was your father?” 

Trust is central to Baba’s work. It makes it possible to talk about personal or sensitive issues.

When recruiting volunteers and engaging fathers, Naseem stresses that there are no shortcuts. Relational work requires courage and presence. He summarises Baba’s approach in five steps:

– Map the problem, trust your expertise, trust people, get out of your comfort zone, and make it relevant.

When a Baba representative meets a father for the first time, the conversation often begins with a visualisation exercise focused on legacy.

Imagine standing in a graveyard. An adult is holding the hand of a child. They stop in front of a gravestone with your name. The adult is your child, and the child is your grandchild, who asks: “What kind of person was your father?”

The exercise, Naseem explains, is about finding the best possible answer to that question and using it as a starting point for change.

Text: Sebastian Dahlström

Foto: Frida Lönnroos