World Breastfeeding Week 2023: Advocating for maternity rights and breastfeeding at the workplace!

Tags: Important Days

World Breastfeeding Week is observed annually from 1st August to 7th August to promote regular breastfeeding for infants, as it plays an important role in their healthy development.

An Overview of the News

• Breast milk is considered the best food for newborns because of its many benefits, including the presence of antibodies that help protect babies from various common childhood diseases.

• Despite its importance, current data from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that less than half of infants under 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed.

• The WBW campaign is strongly supported by WHO, UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and civil society partners, which aims to improve child health and survival through breastfeeding.

• In 2018, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution endorsing World Breastfeeding Week as an important health promotion strategy, recognizing its importance in maternal and child health.

Theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2023:

• The theme for this year's World Breastfeeding Week is "Let's make breastfeeding and work, work!" The focus is on advocating for essential maternity rights that support breastfeeding, including a minimum of 18 weeks of maternity leave, ideally extended over 6 months, and workplace accommodations to facilitate breastfeeding beyond this period.

History of World Breastfeeding Week

• It was established in 1992 under the initiative of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA).

• This annual week-long event is held in honour of the 1990 Innocence Proclamation.

• The Innocenti Declaration resulted from a policymakers' meeting on the topic "Breastfeeding in the 1990s: A Global Initiative".

• The meeting was co-sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (AID) and the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).

• The event took place from 30 July to 1 August 1990 at the Spedale degli Innocenti in Florence, Italy.

• The primary objective of World Breastfeeding Week is to raise awareness of the importance of breastfeeding for the health and well-being of babies and mothers around the world.