Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IFE)

Working Together in Emergencies

IFE Core Group

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IFE Core Group - since 1999

SCN Working Group on Nutrition in Emergencies

IFE Thematic Group

IFE Core Group: UNHCR, UNICEF,

WFP, WHOENN, IBFAN-GIFA,

Fondation Tdh, CARE USA

Associate members: ACF, Swiss IFRC

How does IFE Core Group work?

• Each member agency key participant

• Until 2004, co-ordination by NGOs, ENN since 2004

• Member agency contribute technically and financially

• Work reflects a much wider network of collaborators

The Mandate

• Not a stand alone initiative– Article 24, Convention on on the Rights of the

Child– UNICEF/WHO Global Strategy on IYCF

(2003)– Innocenti Declaration on IYCF (2005)

• Lancet Child Survival Series - breastfeeding save 13% of U5 deaths worldwide (Jones et al, Lancet 362: 65–71, 2003)

• Breastfeeding protection and support at the cornerstone IFE Core Group work

Point of departure

Much depends on:

• Perceptions and understanding of breastfeeding in the emergency setting

• Existing policies and their implementation by key actors

• Levels of knowledge and practical skills among those actors

Breastfeeding – the natural way?…OR...

Venezuela, 2005 Discussion with flood victims

DRC 2003, Kent Oage UNICEF

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…breastfeeding - the last resort?… OR... OR...

• Still weak from the birth, she was forced to breastfeed her 21-month-old child. "I had to, I couldn't give him anything else.“

[Mark Coultan, The Age, New Orleans, September 6, 2005]

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…not breastfeeding at all

• Lebanon, 2006

SC UK, Lebanon, 2006

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Many players in emergenciesSome obvious…….

CARE IYCF-E/CARE Indonesia Breastfeeding Counselling course, W Timor, 2006

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….some less so

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Dafur, 2006

Post-tsunami, Indonesia, 2006

Superdome, USA, 2005

Worldwide

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Approach adopted by the IFE Core Group

• The devil is in the detail• Concerned with protection and support of:

– breastfed AND non-breastfed infants and young children– complementary feeding in emergencies

• Policy development and implementation • Capacity building in programme management• Capacity building in practical knowledge and skills

– translate into implementation of interventions that support appropriate infant feeding practices

Policy basis – Operational Guidance

• Non-technical• Key audience: national

governments, UN agencies, national and INGOs, donors

• International Code for Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes embedded

• Version 2.1, Feb 2007

Available from ENN, http://www.ennonline.net

Module 1

Emergency relief staff

-policy makers

-managers

-logisticians

-coordinators and

-other non technical relief workers

Use: local, regional, international level

Delivery: 1- 2 hours

Module 25+3 hours * health and nutrition staff * technical knowledge

and practical skills to support appropriate IFE

Working documents

• Responsive updates to policy development and field experience– Version 2.1 of Ops

Guidance, Feb, 2007

• Filling gaps– Module 2

• Managing malnourished infants under six months

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Added dimensions

• Influencing policy, e.g. UNHCR policy on handling milk products in refugee settings (2006)

• Instances where suspicious of commercial ventures around IFE

• Proactively promote Ops Guidance and training materials in ‘real time’ emergencies, e.g. Pakistan, Indonesia, Mozambique

• Informing research agendas that have practical implications, e.g Southampton University developing weighing scales for 0-5 years

International Strategy Meeting on IFE

• Oxford, 1-2 Nov, 2006• Funded by UNICEF, IBFAN-GIFA,

CARE USA, organised by ENN– 58 delegates, UN,INGO, academics,

trainers, regional staff (Indonesia, Kenya, India, Mexico, Lebanon)

– to identify key constraints to supporting and protecting appropriate infant feeding practices in emergencies

– come up with strategy directions and practical steps to address these.

– OUTCOME: Practical action points

New level of working together• ENN/IFE Core Group joined the UNICEF-led Inter

Agency Standing Committee (IASC) nutrition cluster• Cluster funding, realise action points

– Development of a UN joint policy on handling milk products underway, coordinated by the Core Group

– Integrate breastfeeding support into guidance and training on the management of severe malnutrition

– Translation of materials– Regional orientation workshop on IFE, Indonesia, 2007

• Broadening our horizons– Other sectors, e.g. reproductive health, and other

players, e.g. donors, media, military

Elements of successful working together

• Money isn’t everything………..• Staying power of individuals and agencies • Fuelled by a strong belief in the need to address

this issue• Consistency and institutional memory amongst

members• Political and strategic thinking combined with

technical expertise and good contact with the field

Room for Improvement• Do more, quicker with funds?• Money talks?

– Million dollar IFE Core Group

• Committed individuals have a tough time institutionalising IFE work

• Notion prevails that breastfeeding is not a priority in early stages of emergency

• Engage with donors - limited – Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC):

Standards on using dairy products in food aid (Aug 2006)– DFID: Humanitarian funding guidelines (due April 2007)

Support the Ops Guidance• Reflects your position or where you would like to be and will work towards• 19 agencies signed up in support• CALL FOR collective support of the participants

of this meeting• CALL UPON individual agencies/

organisations/institutions to sign up to support the Ops Guidance

http://www.ennonline.net

Call for Action

• Extend an invite to anyone who would like to engage with us on IFE, as individuals, as organisations, as groups– Complementary feeding in emergencies

• Replicate this working together at a regional level – CALL UPON the cluster initiative grab opportunity to harness the power of bringing people together to work on these issues

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