World Breastfeeding Week 2024

World Breastfeeding Week is held in the first week of August every year. The theme for 2024 is Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all. The campaign will celebrate breastfeeding mothers in all their diversity, throughout their breastfeeding journeys, while showcasing the ways families, societies, communities and health workers can have the back of every breastfeeding mother.

Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all

Breastfeeding can act as an equalizer in our society and efforts must be made to ensure everyone has access to breastfeeding support and opportunities. It is essential that no-one is left behind, especially vulnerable mothers who may need additional support to reduce breastfeeding inequalities. Target audiences including actors along the Warm Chain of Breastfeeding support; civil society organizations, governments, policymakers, health systems, workplaces, communities and parents will be engaged to close the gap in breastfeeding inequalities and support breastfeeding for all especially the vulnerable groups.

This support includes:

Policies and attitudes that value women and breastfeeding
A women and breastfeeding-friendly health care system
Respect for women’s autonomy and her right to breastfeed anytime, anywhere
Solidarity and community support

Key messages:

This World Breastfeeding Week let’s appreciate breastfeeding mums and ensure they get the support they need.
Breastfeeding support comes in many forms – from staff welcoming breastfeeding in your local café to helpful advice from a health worker or maternity protections from your government. These all help protect the health and rights of women and babies.
Women everywhere have the right to respectful breastfeeding counselling from trained health care providers, as well as laws and policies like maternity leave and provisions like paid time off when you go back to work.
We can all help ensure women feel able to breastfeed anytime, anywhere – and work to improve the position and condition of women at home, at work and in public life.

What is needed to support mums:

Community support for women to breastfeed anytime, anywhere, so that it is normalized and not censured in public life
Effective maternity entitlements that do not force women to choose between their families and their work
Trained health professionals who can provide helpful, respectful breastfeeding support
An end to exploitative baby-milk promotions in all contexts

MORE INFORMATION ON Breastfeeding and complementary feeding

EVENTS

Join us on Wednesday, 31 July 2024, at 2:00 p.m. (Washington DC, or EDT) to celebrate the start of World Breastfeeding Week with the webinar Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All. Breastfeeding support comes in many forms and takes place at many levels, starting in the community, where breastfeeding mothers and infants should be welcomed in local establishments, to a woman- and breastfeeding-friendly health care system. On the highest level, support also includes maternity protections from governments, to help protect the health and rights of women and babies.

Join us to celebrate breastfeeding mothers in all their diversity throughout their breastfeeding journeys and showcase the ways families, societies, communities, and health workers can support every breastfeeding mother.

MORE INFORMATION

World Breastfeeding Week 2024

Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all

This support includes:

EVENTS

RESOURCES

SOCIAL MEDIA CARDS

More information