Introduction
UNITAR
We believe that breastfeeding gives infants the best nutritional and emotional start of their lives.
Did you know? WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, but only 48% of babies are exclusively breastfed at this age.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to establish or continue this journey due to lack of awareness, knowledge, and support.
As a practical step toward protecting the survival and health of babies and women, breastfeeding is a central part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is linked to many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Breastfeeding is, for example, a critical aspect in achieving SDG2 and SDG3, which include ending hunger, improving nutrition, and promoting health and well-being.
The Global Breastfeeding Education Initiative (Global BFEI) was launched in March 2023, to contribute to improving breastfeeding education through training and public awareness to advance towards the achievement of 70% of babies breastfed exclusively by 6 months of age by 2030. To support this goal, the Global BFEI offers a variety of educational tools that provide impartial information on the benefits of breastfeeding and practical training aimed at increasing women’s practical knowledge, skills, and confidence to breastfeed.
Overview
UNITAR
The Breastfeeding Education Initiative (BFEI) provides:
1. E-learning courses:
(Learn more about E-learning courses here)
- Increase knowledge about breastfeeding through learning and training products.
2. Learning Platform:
(Learn more about the learning platform here)
- Raise awareness about good practices that advance breastfeeding initiation and duration rates.
3. Regional Conferences:
(Learn more about conferences & training of trainers here)
- Enhance the capacity of government agencies and municipal authorities through practical knowledge and skills to implement pilot projects in targeted locations.
4. Training of Trainers:
(Learn more about conferences & training of trainers here)
- Enhance the capacity of government agencies and municipal authorities through practical knowledge and skills to implement pilot projects in targeted locations.
5. Stakeholder Engagement:
(Learn more about stakeholder engagement)
- Make learning products accessible to policymakers, practitioners, and to the general public, while linking them to other assets.
Link to SDGs
UNITAR
1. No poverty
Breastfeeding is low-cost, yet easily meets the nutritional needs of young babies. In other words, breastfeeding promises food security for babies and eases some of the household’s financial burdens.
2. Zero hunger
Every year, 3 million children die due to undernutrition. Breastfeeding could help avert many of these unnecessary deaths, since breastmilk provides all nutrients that infants need. Without exclusive breastfeeding, we cannot achieve food security for infants 0-5 months.
3. Good health and well-being
Breastfeeding is one of the keys to reducing under-five mortality. Increasing rates of breastfeeding to target levels could save the lives of 820, 000 children under 5 every year. Likewise, it can contribute to improved health outcomes for children and mothers.
4. Quality education
Breastfeeding is an essential part of a healthy early childhood – supporting both physical and cognitive development. It could be beneficial to strengthen cognitive ability, high I.Q. scores as well as learning and literacy outcomes. Higher IQ levels are the building blocks for greater academic achievement, long-term earnings and productivity later in life.
5. Gender equality
In settings where gender discrimination exists at economic, social, and cultural levels, birth spacing can contribute to the physical and mental wellbeing of women, such as through labor opportunities and revenue generation, which can be positive for self-confidence and state of mind. Breastfeeding has an important role to play in natural birth spacing.
6. Clean water and sanitation
Exclusive breastfeeding provides babies with all the water they need. Formula feeding, on the other hand, requires having access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation.
7. Affordable and clean energy
Breastfeeding is considered energy efficient since it reduces the need for water, firewood and fossil fuels.
8. Decent work and economic growth
Breastfeeding is associated with adding US$302 billion annually in additional income to the world economy- nearly 0.5 per cent of world gross national industry.
10. Reduced inequalities
Breastfeeding levels the playing field so that every girl and boy can get the best start in life. Breastmilk is free, and interventions can reach communities with limited access to health systems and infrastructure, thus narrowing the gap in accessing health services.
12. Responsible consumption and production
Breastmilk is a natural and renewable food source that requires no packaging, storage, transportation, or fuel, thereby contributing to environmental sustainability.
13. Climate action
Breastmilk is created and consumer with a minimal ecological footprint.
BFEI EXPERT COMMITTEE
BFEI EXPERT COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The primary purpose of the UNITAR Division for People Specialized Expert Committee on Breastfeeding is to provide expert knowledge and technical guidance as well as adequate support to UNITAR’s Breastfeeding Education Initiative. The Expert Committee, composed of 18 leading experts from around the world, responds to the real capacity-building needs of both individual and institutional beneficiaries by validating the learning tools and platform resources of the Breastfeeding Education Initiative.
LATEST NEWS
PROMOTING BREASTFEEDING EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
12 December 2023, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, UNITAR in collaboration with its International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL) Dakar hosted the Training of Trainers Workshop “Promoting Breastfeeding Education in Sub-Saharan Africa”. The workshop brought together 25 nurses and midwives together with representatives from the Association of Midwives from Ivory Coast (Association des Sages-Femmes de Côte d'Ivoire), the Nursing and Maternal Care Department (Direction des Soins Infirmiers et Maternels), Society of Pediatricians of Ivory Coast (Société Ivoirienne de Pédiatrie), and Danone Nutricia Africa. The main aim was to provide a variety of educational tools that will target diverse audiences at policy, organizational, and community levels on protecting, promoting and maintaining breastfeeding.
UNITAR LAUNCHES THE GLOBAL BREASTFEEDING EDUCATION INITIATIVE
30 March 2023, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR is pleased to announce the launch of its Global Breastfeeding Education Initiative (Global BFEI). The Global BFEI seeks to contribute to improving breastfeeding education through training and education to advance toward the achievement of 70% of babies breastfed exclusively by 6 months of age by 2030. To reach this goal, the Global BFEI offers a variety of educational tools that provide impartial information on the benefits of breastfeeding and practical training aimed at increasing women’s practical knowledge, skills, and confidence to breastfeed.
PROMOTING BREASTFEEDING EDUCATION IN THE SUB-SAHARAN REGION
15-16 March 2023, Dakar, Senegal – UNITAR, the Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders (CIFAL) Dakar, and the Municipality of Dakar hosted forty-two nurses and midwives from Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Mali for a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop titled “Improving Breastfeeding Education in Sub-Saharan Africa” on 15 and 16 March 2023 in Dakar, Senegal. The workshop contributed to the goal of promoting breastfeeding education and optimal breastfeeding practices. Primarily aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 3, promoting breastfeeding education includes ending hunger, improving nutrition, and promoting health and well-being. This workshop aimed to develop confident, competent trainers with the skills to plan, conduct, and evaluate training in breastfeeding.
Academic Partners
The Global BFEI follows a multi-stakeholder approach, bringing together a network of supporters including governments, academic institutions, international organizations, private corporations, civil society organizations, volunteers and practitioners to help disseminate training and build skills of health workers and parents pertaining to breastfeeding.
Academic Leads
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle, Australia
The University of Newcastle (UON) is a leader in university education with a reputation for high-quality teaching and learning, guided by a commitment to equity and excellence and to creating a better future for its regions, through a focus on innovation and impact. UON has a particular interest in promoting research, as well as training and education activities, related to health, innovation, urban governance and planning, disaster resilience, and other key dimensions of sustainable development. Alongside the already existing and successful collaboration between UNITAR and UON in the creation of the CIFAL Centre in Newcastle, Australia, the university’s School of Nursing and Midwifery holds an advisory role in the Expert Committee of the Breastfeeding Education Initiative and co-certifies UNITAR’s learning module “Essentials of Breastfeeding.”
- York University, Canada
York University is a global leader in interdisciplinary teaching and research, committed to the public good. It hosts 25 innovative research centers with strengths in various fields, including vision and space sciences, history, refugee studies, health, the environment, climate change, sustainability, and digital media. With 280 international partnerships and nearly 9,000 international students from 178 countries, York University fosters extensive global collaborations.
In 2020, York University established CIFAL York to provide learning opportunities and facilitate knowledge sharing among public servants and leaders across the Western Hemisphere. This initiative focuses on enhancing decision-making processes and promoting sustainable development through capacity-building activities in diversity and inclusion, health, entrepreneurship, economic development, and integrating the Sustainable Development Goals into academic institutions. The CIFAL Center has partnered with the BFEI on several projects including the upcoming Learning Webinar Series.