In the margins of the N4G Summit, civil society organisations from across the world gathered for two days in the Civil Society Pavilion to confront pressing challenges in the nutrition landscape and shape a path forward. From these discussions, civil society united behind a set of key recommendations, with over a hundred organisations supporting this […]
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Navigating The Gender Nutrition Frontier
A Personal Reflection on a Training Experience in Vietnam by Kansiime Ruth Praise As I reflect on the transformative journey through “Closing the Gender Nutrition Gap” training organized by the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Network (SUN CSN) in collaboration with Vietnam Civil Society Alliance (CSA), a spectrum of experiences, insights, and cultural immersions flood […]
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A Timely and Engaging Learning Experience:
A Pakistani Perspective by Kaleem Ullah
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Flooding in Pakistan: Fears for Nutrition and Food Security
Flooding in Pakistan: Fears for Nutrition and Food Security Devastating flooding in Pakistan has swept away crops and stockpiles and left large areas of farmland under water, deteriorating the precarious food and nutrition security in the country. The communities who were already living on the edge now need to cope with this sudden shock of […]
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SUN CSA Vietnam goes digital! How AI technology is helping to fight Code violators in Vietnam.
Our Civil Society Alliance in Vietnam, led by Alive & Thrive, and thanks to FHI Solutions’ Innovation Incubator, have teamed up with artificial intelligence (AI) company Hekate. Their aim? To try and end exploitative marketing of commercial milk formula and related products within the scope of the BMS code, on the digital frontline. Hekate, a […]
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Life under the Taliban: Obstacles faced in Afghanistan
Part 4: Being a child in Afghanistan Written by Zuhra Dadgar-Shafiq, Programme Director and Co-Founder of Action for Development who provide vital health and education services in Afghanistan to the most marginalized and vulnerable individuals through cost-effective, cascade-model projects that allow for community participation and empowerment. Afghanistan has been struggling with conflict for over 40 years. The situation […]
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Life under the Taliban: Obstacles faced in Afghanistan
Part 3: Rising food prices Written by Zuhra Dadgar-Shafiq, Programme Director and Co-Founder of Action for Development who provide vital health and education services in Afghanistan to the most marginalized and vulnerable individuals through cost-effective, cascade-model projects that allow for community participation and empowerment. Afghanistan has been struggling with conflict for over 40 years. The […]
ReadWorld Breastfeeding Week: Kyrgyzstan are on a mission to protect breastfeeding
In 2019, the Ministry of Health in Kyrgyzstan created a working group to revise the Law “On the Protection of Breastfeeding”, the working group included representatives of CSA SUN Kyrgyzstan, who contributed to the development of proposals for the draft of the Law. In the same year, UNICEF arranged a visit from David Clark, a […]
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World Breastfeeding Week: SUN CSA Cambodia investigators violators of the code
In Cambodia, the code for producers of breast milk substitutes was put in place in 2005. However, for the next decade there was little to no enforcement and when surveyed, only 27% of officials actually knew the details of the code. Despite widespread violations, there was no reporting and no enforcement recognition in place. To combat these […]
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World Breastfeeding Week 2021: Zimbabwe changes Parliament for the better
With more women parliamentarians than ever before, it is crucial that facilities are available for women to adequately nourish their child during its first 1000 days. In Zimbabwe, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care chairperson Dr Ruth Labode said “We now have more young female legislators in Parliament who have children and are breastfeeding.” It […]
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With more women parliamentarians than ever before, it is crucial that facilities are available for women to adequately nourish their child during its first 1000 days. In Zimbabwe, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care chairperson Dr Ruth Labode said “We now have more young female legislators in Parliament who have children and are breastfeeding.” It seemed imperative therefore that there should be a suitable place for women to breastfeed their children whilst at work, even in Parliament.
ZCSOSUNA national coordinator Mr Kudakwashe Zombe said the country’s labour laws do not provide for adequate maternity leave to allow lactating mothers to breastfeed their babies. He said there was a need for innovative ways to accommodate working women through creating parent-friendly workstations and hoped that the government of Zimbabwe would establish themselves as leaders in this sphere. According to a UNICEF Global Guide for Employers, family-friendly workplaces are associated with increased staff retention — particularly for skilled staff — and therefore lower recruitment and training costs, improved employee productivity and a more diverse workforce.
After pressure from ZCSOSUNA, the government agreed to make this change and after collaborating with the alliance, set up a feeding room for nursing mothers in parliament.
The room will be a safe place for mothers to express and store breastmilk. According to Mr Zombe, “with the establishment of the parent-friendly rooms, women can store this milk and take it home so that children have adequate nutrition.”
He continues; “the breastfeeding rooms will give an opportunity to legislators and other female employees to come to work with their babies, and it helps them to have a peace of mind.” The breastfeeding room at Parliament, said Zombe, allows women the convenience to express their milk freely and also feed their babies.
Changes such as these are crucial to giving women every opportunity to work as well as ensuring their baby has the healthiest and most nutritious start to life. Coordinator of ZCOSUNA, Kudawashe Zombe has said “In line with this year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme, Protect Breastfeeding: A shared responsibility. I believe that the parliament of Zimbabwe took a noble step of establishing a parent friendly room at parliament building and hope that other government ministries and departments as well as the private sector will also adopt the initiative and share the responsibility in protecting breastfeeding at work places.”
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