World Breastfeeding Conferences
IBFAN holds a WBC every three years
The First World Breastfeeding Conference was held from 06 – 09 December 2012 in New Delhi, India.
Senior officials from the headquarters of WHO and UNICEF participated in the proceedings and committed to continue lending support in partner countries. Senior government officials from many countries made commitments to strengthening IYCF policies and to fighting the menace of industrial influence on Infant and Young Child Feeding practices.
More information on the conference can be found from the report:
https://www.bpni.org/report/World-Conference-Report-6-9-Dec2012.pdf
The Second World Breastfeeding Conference was held from 11 – 14 December 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
A total of 457 participants drawn from 46 countries worldwide attended the 2nd World Breastfeeding Conference. The participants represented civil society organizations, local and international NGOs, independent professionals, professional associations, academia, breastfeeding advocates, development partners, UN agencies, and governments. The theme of the conference was “Babies need mom-made, not man-made”. Countries represented included; Australia, , Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Congo, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Vietnam, Senegal, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. United Arab Emirates Breastfeeding & Human Rights Workshop held November 2016 before the World Breastfeeding Conference in 2016 IBFAN Africa with support from GIFA, CoE Human Development, University of Witwatersrand, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, and FHI360 South Africa conducted a pre-conference workshop which was attended by 102participantsfrom22countriesworldwide. Countries included; Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, India, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Tanzania, UEA Dubai, Uganda, USA, and Zimbabwe
More information on the conference can be found from the report:
Key Messages
• Worldwide breastfeeding rates are low; the 2nd World Breastfeeding Conference (WBC2) is part of the advocacy tool to increase breastfeeding in order to meet the maternal infant and young child targets.
• The conference aims to provide a platform for collective action, adoption and alignment of regional and country level strategies.
• Focus will also be on targets set in the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• The conference aims to highlight breastfeeding in a human rights framework emphasising women’s rights, children’s rights and the basic right to food and nutrition and maternity protection.
• To generate ideas for further resource mobilisation and or strengthening of interventions.
Breastfeeding & Human Rights Workshop held November 2016 before the World Breastfeeding Conference in 2016
IBFAN Africa with support from GIFA, CoE Human Development, University of Witwatersrand, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Nigeria and FHI360 South Africa conducted a pre-conference
workshop which was attended by participants from 22 countries of the 55 that attended the conference.
The participants consisted of International organisations and a wide-range of professionals, post-graduate students and civil society.
Second World Breastfeeding Conference December 2016
IBFAN Africa in partnership with the South Africa Department of Health, hosted the second World Breastfeeding Conference (WBC2) held in Johannesburg. A total of 470 participants from 55 countries world-wide attended the conference. The theme of the conference was “Babies need mom-made, not man-made”.
The Third World Breastfeeding Conference and the First World Complementary Feeding Conference were held from 11 – 15 November 2019 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
The Third World Breastfeeding Conference, and the First World Complementary Feeding Conference were preceded by two meetings: the XV Brazilian Breastfeeding Meeting and the V Brazilian Healthy Complementary Feeding Meeting which was preceded by the “Thousand Mothers Breastfeeding” promotion mass media event, on 11 November 2019.
The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) with the support of the Government of Brazil and public universities, proudly hosted a joint meeting of the Third World Breastfeeding Conference, and the First World Complementary Feeding Conference.
RIO DE JANEIRO DECLARATION
A CALL TO ACTION
We, citizens of the whole world, call on all governments, professionals, companies and everybody to implement the right of children to be breastfed and of mothers to breastfeed. Mothers have the sovereign right over their own bodies and States have a duty to ensure that they do not face obstacles to breastfeeding nor healthy complementary feeding.
Breastfeeding is one of the most important resources to face the climate crisis and social inequalities and violence. It is part of the imperative need to protect the environment and give future generations the opportunity for a better and dignified life. Breastfeeding promotes healthy growth and empathy from the beginning of life and is the only antidote against violence.
This is the conclusion of the debates of the 3rd World Breastfeeding Conference and 1 st. World Complementary Feeding Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2019, in conjunction with the 15th Brazilian National Breastfeeding Conference (ENAM) and 5 th Brazilian National Healthy Complementary Feeding Conference. For these events, 2400 mothers, professionals and experts from Brazil, and 60 other countries from Latin America and the rest of the world gathered to assess the progress made in the protection and promotion of breastfeeding since 1981, when the International Code was adopted.
Breastfeeding programs and incentives must be implemented to ensure that the human right to breastfeeding is respected. The consumption of ultraprocessed foods must be eliminated or limited. Breastfeeding for two years and beyond protects the environment and must be part of the ecological efforts to save the world.
There are international instruments that include this vision of breastfeeding and healthy complementary feeding, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Code of marketing Breastmilk Substitutes (Code), the ILO conventions, the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative ( WBTi), the Innocenti Declaration and others. We must ensure that all policy setting processes are free from commercial influence.
Participants in the 3rd WBC / 15th ENAM / 5th ENACS / 1st WCFC declare their commitment to the following actions:
1. Continuation of policies for the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding and healthy complementary feeding: with a coordinating committee and the necessary funding secured.
2. Protection of maternity at work: 6 months minimum paid maternity leave for all women.
3. Protection against unethical marketing of products that replace breastfeeding: implementation of the International Code and national laws.
4. Support for humanized childbirth by strengthening the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, human milk banks, kangaroo mother care and mother-to-mother support groups through counselling practices.
5. Serious emergencies compromise the health of infants; in emergencies breastfeeding should be the first resource, implementing international guidelines.
We, citizens of the world, will continue working towards achieving these goals and fighting for compliance with these instruments and we call on all governments and citizens of the world to join this fight.
Rio de Janeiro, 15 November 2019