Occupied Palestinian Territory: Focus on Arabic IYCFE tools,  

Why food and health should not be used as weapons of war” 

IBFAN Arab world, supported by many IBFAN members, has been holding webinars to show solidarity for Gaza and draw attention to the intolerable situation facing families, mothers and babies, and highlighting the urgent need for breastfeeding and re-lactation support. IBFAN regularly makes statements at WHO and other meetings calling for the protection of mothers and children, alongside  immediate ceasefire, immediate implementation of UN resolutions, embargo on weapons and the denouncement of genocide and crimes against humanity.  The WPHN Congress symposium “Why food and health should not be used as weapons of war” included presentations from Ukraine, Tigray and Afghanistan and Dr Gihan Fouad, who explained the situation in Gaza.  IBFAN is a member of the multi-agency  Infant feeding in Emergencies Core Group, that address policy gaps in infant and young child feeding support in emergencies.

Emergency Appeals: getting the message right

What to avoid:

• Messages that suggest that women can’t breastfeed because of stress or malnourishment are not helpful and feed commonly held misconceptions.  Mothers need support, protection, encouragement and reassurance – this is far more likely to help them maintain breastfeeding or relactate.
• Calls for donations of breastmilk substitutes and bottles and teats can do more harm than good. Bottle feeding is a huge risk in emergency situations and is unsustainable. If supplies are needed they should be “purchased, distributed and used according to strict criteria.’*
• Baby foods industry claims that they have humanitarian motives. This is all part of a CSR marketing strategy that we call “the Business of Malnutrition.’’ 

Links to blogs and publications on infant feeding in  emergencies

Preventing and managing inappropriate donations

2017 revision of the original 1999 Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies outlines evidence-based actions to safeguard the health of infants and young children in emergencies (also in Arabic).  

Babies have specific nutritional needs and are born with an undeveloped immune system. For infants who are breastfed, breastmilk provides both food and immune support, which protects them from the worst of emergency conditions. However, the situation is very different for babies who are not breastfed. In an emergency, food supplies are disrupted, there may be no clean water with which to make up breastmilk substitutes or to clean feeding implements. Health care systems are invariably stretched past breaking point. This means that babies who are not breastfed are vulnerable to infection and to developing diarrhoea. Babies with diarrhoea easily become malnourished and dehydrated and so are at real risk of death. So whenever there is an emergency, it is extremely important that babies who are already being breastfed continue to be and that babies who are not breastfed re-start breastfeeding or, if this is not possible, are given infant formula in the safest possible way.

Turkish earthquake story. https://people.com/human-interest/turkey-syria-earthquake-woman-breastfed-newborn-trapped-under-rubble/

Turkey-Syria Earthquake: Mom Breastfed Baby While Buried in Rubble and Says Son’s Strength Helped Her Survive

“If my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle this, I wouldn’t have been either,” Necla Camuz, 33, said of being trapped for nearly four days with her son under debris

Despite the odds, a mother and her newborn child survived on little more than hope and breast milk for nearly four days while trapped under debris following the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria last week.  The woman, Necla Camuz, and her 10-day-old baby, Yagiz Ulas, were rescued from the rubble of their former home more than 90 hours after the earthquake struck Feb. 6, according to Turkish state media. Yagiz and his mom, 33, were inside their home in Turkey’s Hatay province at the time, as were Camuz’s husband of six years, Irfan, and her 3-year-old son, Yigit Kerim, according to the BBC  Camuz was buried holding Yagiz, who was lying on her chest at the time of the quake. The two remained stuck for days underneath the five-story building, located in the town of Samandah.

The mom told the BBC she “was terrified” that no one would come to their rescue. Camuz said she did not believe she would survive, but relied on Yagiz for hope. She now credits her newborn for saving her life.

“I think if my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle this, I wouldn’t have been either,” she explains.

IFE_policy_strategy_and_practice  Report of the Ad Hoc Group on Infant feeding in Emergencies.  May 1999

In 1994 we exposed a dreadful TV appeal for Bosnia sponsored by Cow&Gate that totally ignored the risks of bottle-feeding.    This campaign resulted in OXFAM, Save the Children and many charities coming together to strengthen and improve their infant feeding in emergencies policies. This led to the formation of Infant Feeding in Emergencies interagency group – hosted by the Emergencies Nutrition Network (ENN).