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GIFA is doing advocacy with the bodies responsible for applying international human rights treaties to ensure that breastfeeding is considered a right of both mother and child.

2023/08/19

Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Position Statement: Breastfeeding As a Basic Human Right.
Feldman-Winter L, Van T, Varadi D, Adams AC, Kural B, Rouw ECJ. Breastfeed Med. 2022 Aug;17(8):633-634. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2022.29216.abm. Epub 2022 Jul 27. PMID: 35867074

Alternative reports on the state of child nutrition and breastfeeding in States parties are regularly submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women see here,, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CESCR and the Universal Periodic Review UPR. Our aim is to persuade these bodies to issue concluding observations see here to the States Parties undergoing their periodic review, urging them to adopt and implement effective legislative measures to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and optimal infant feeding practices.

In addition, GIFA contributes to a number of consultative processes, including on the right of the child to the enjoyment of best standrad of health standard of health (leading to the adoption of General Comment No. 15), on state obligations regarding impact of the corporate sector on the rights of the child (leading to the adoption of General Comment No. 16) and on child mortality. GIFA also participates in the thematic discussion days of international human rights bodies, bringing its expertise to bear on issues such as the rights of children of imprisoned parents.

GIFA also works alongside other non-governmental organisations, such as FIAN Internationaland ICCO, in support of the right to adequate food, as guaranteed by Article 25 § 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 24 letter c of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Article 12 § 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). c of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and article 12 § 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). With this in mind, we will be taking part in the Second International Conference on Nutrition (CIN2).

GIFA believes that companies should be held legally accountable for human rights abuses, including marketing rules designed to protect breastfeeding. GIFA is therefore an active member of the Treaty Alliance, a group of NGOs, social movements and trade unions campaigning for the adoption by the Human Rights Council of a United Nations treaty on human rights, transnational corporations and other business enterprises. It

In November 2023, we celebrate the 34th anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. To mark the occasion, we invite you to find out more about IBFAN GIFA’s work during the Committee’s sessions by clicking on the links below:

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