Editor’s Note: We wish to thank Melody Muchimwe Chikanda and Joseph Ogani, Action Against Hunger Nutrition Program Managers in South Sudan, for this post – and we also gratefully acknowledge Eefa Tabassum, our Technical Programs Intern, for her contributions to it.

With World Breastfeeding Week upon us this August 1st-7th, mothers have much to celebrate in terms of strides made in the US in the last year—including a provision in the Affordable Care Act that calls for time and suitable spaces for mothers to express milk in the workplace. This is important since one of the major hurdles mothers face in returning to work is providing milk for their babies. Breastfeeding needs to be promoted, supported, encouraged, and most importantly facilitated in every aspect.

The importance of breastfeeding becomes even more pronounced in humanitarian situations with large-scale displacements. At Action Against Hunger, we aim to end hunger in some of the world’s most malnourished and impoverished countries. Because children are often the most vulnerable, we ensure components of optimal infant and young child feeding practices, including breastfeeding, are integrated in all our undernutrition treatment and prevention programs.

For example,  South Sudan has experienced major strife and upheaval since independence just over four years ago. The current humanitarian situation in South Sudan has deteriorated sharply since December 2013, causing large-scale displacements. One of the drivers of undernutrition in such massive movements of people is poor infant and young child feeding practices, including a lack of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding through two years of age. We deploy a special team of humanitarian experts in such critical areas in order to promote and support the health of children through these practices.

We recognize that the most powerful actors and catalysts for change to support breastfeeding are the women within the community themselves. A mother-to-mother peer support group approach is a powerful strategy to empower women, and with the right opportunity and environments these groups are tremendously forceful agents of change.

In these groups, women generally meet on a weekly basis, in the presence of a mother leader who serves as a role model. She is part of the same community and also selected by the community members themselves. The mother leaders are selected on the basis of having breastfed before, being willing to share their experiences with others, and having the time and capacity to facilitate the group meetings. Thus the groups allow a peer-counseling approach and encourage women to share knowledge and experiences, and at the same time examine one’s own values and beliefs. 

We train mother leaders (in a three- to four-day training) on basic breastfeeding concepts, myths, and misconceptions surrounding breastfeeding, and counsel mothers on difficulties encountered in breastfeeding, age-appropriate complementary feeding, as well as support group formation and conduct. At the end of the training the mother leaders are given educational materials that reinforce the breastfeeding information which can be shared with their peers. To ensure the continuity and sustainability of the program, we partner with local and partner staff, including Ministry of Health personnel, to offer support and monitoring of the program. This ensures the projects will continue to run on their own.

To further promote breastfeeding and address any questions and concerns mothers of young children may have, our Nutrition Emergency Team has set up a baby-friendly tent in our sites. There, mothers can safely rest, breastfeed their children, and ask questions as well as receive counseling on adequate breastfeeding and young child feeding practices from our well-equipped and well-trained personnel. The tent also serves as a general counseling room where mothers and caregivers can receive either group or individual counseling. The baby-friendly tent is complete with toys and educational materials. For optimal physical and cognitive development to occur, a child requires both adequate nutrition and physical and emotional stimulation from caregivers, thus should receive physical stimulation through sounds, objects, touch and movement, hence the presence of toys in the tents.  

Lastly, taking into account the key role that men play, we also ensure that fathers of infants and young children receive education and counseling.