Underpinned by evidence-based national policies, this would help improve exclusive breastfeeding rates among Somali women, and adequate nutrition and health among Somali children in both the short and long term. Shocks such as drought, flooding, conflict, displacement, and disease outbreaks like measles and COVID have deepened inequalities and resulted in nutrition insecurity.
WHO and UNICEF recommend early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, feeding the child only breast milk for the first 6 months exclusive breastfeeding , and continuing to breastfeed for up to 24 months or beyond, with the introduction of timely, nutritionally adequate and safe complementary, solid foods at 6 months.
It is important for mothers to offer colostrum, the first form of breastmilk released after giving birth, to newborns as it is high in nutrients, antibodies and antioxidants. Somali mothers, generally caregivers of their families, need a supportive environment to be able to breastfeed their babies properly.
The campaign will also stress that breastfeeding is still safe during the COVID pandemic and the current drought emergency. Breastfeeding offers babies all the energy and nutrients that they need for their first months of life, and complements other foods after the first 6 months.
In , a World Health Assembly resolution endorsed World Breastfeeding Week as an important breastfeeding promotion strategy. The importance of breastfeeding is mentioned in the Holy Quran, in the rd verse of Sura Al-Baqarah, in which it is stated that: "mothers [should] breastfeed their children for a total of 2 years.
