DHAKA: The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW)-2015, coordinated by World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), begun on Saturday with the theme, ‘Breastfeeding and Work: Let’s Make It Work’.

This year WABA calls for concerted global action to support women to combine breastfeeding and work. Whether a woman is working in the formal, non-formal or home setting, it is necessary that she is empowered in claiming her and her baby’s right to breastfeed.

The WBW 2015 theme on working women and breastfeeding revisits the 1993 WBW campaign on the Mother-Friendly Workplace Initiative.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages putting emphasis on creating awareness and highlighting the importance of breastfeeding.

President, in a message on the eve of WBW-2015, said breastfeeding can ensure all essential elements needed for physical and mental growth of children.

He further said breastfeeding ensures the ideal food for babies especially during the first six months of their births and for this reason breastfeeding should be ensured to children immediately after their births.

He also said, “If a mother can feed her infant at workplace then her baby would be healthy and the mother will also be tension-free and more sincere to her work.”

He said at present the habit of breastfeeding increased than before which helped decrease stunting by 36 percent and child mortality rate to 46 per 1,000. He also stressed on creating more awareness about breastfeeding.

Expressing happiness for observing the week in the country like elsewhere in the globe, he wished its success.

In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina highlighted the importance of breastfeeding and homemade foods for infants at mothers' workplaces.

She said if a mother can feed her infant at workplace her baby would be healthy and the mother will also be tension-free and more sincere to her work which would increase productivity.

The Prime Minister also said there was no alternative to breastfeeding for the normal growth of children as it contains essential nutrients for the infants and helps increase resistance power.

“For this reason the government ordered to introduce breastfeeding corners in government and non-government offices,” she added.

The premier also said, “We have been providing allowance and facilities under the maternal scheme, while working mothers are getting allowance from ‘working lactating mothers fund’.”

The government has also enacted Baby Food (Marketing Control) Act, 2013 to control the substitutes of baby food, she added.

Besides, everyone of the family of a pregnant mother should ensure nutrition and care for her, the premier said.

She urged the non-government organizations, banks, insurance companies, factories, shopping malls, professional bodies, trade unions and other human rights organizations to create awareness about the issue and to help mothers feed their infants at working places.

Expressing her happiness for observing the week in the country like elsewhere in the globe, she wished success of the week.

This year WABA calls for:

Concerted global action to support women to combine breastfeeding and work, whether in the formal sector, non-formal sector, or at home

Ratification and implementation of maternity protection laws and regulations by governments, in line with the ILO Maternity Protection Convention

Inclusion of breastfeeding target indicators in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

WBW 2015 Goals:

1) Galvanise multi-dimensional support from all sectors to enable women everywhere to work and breastfeed safely and adequately.

2) Promote actions by employers to become Family/Parent/Baby and Mother-Friendly, and to actively facilitate and support employed women to continue breastfeeding their children.

3) Inform people about the latest in global Maternity Protection entitlements, and raise awareness of the need to strengthen related national legislation and implementation.

4) Strengthen, facilitate and showcase supportive practices that enable women working in the informal sector to breastfeed.

5) Engage with target groups e.g. Trade Unions, Workers Rights Organisations, Human Rights agencies, Women’s, Occupational Health, and Youth Youth groups, to protect the breastfeeding rights of women in the workplace.

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from August 1-7 in over 176 countries. Each year, WABA selects the theme of WBW in consultation with its partners, in order to raise awareness on the chosen theme and to call for action from the global community.

BDST: 0734 HRS, AUG 01, 2015
SR