On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, IBFAN would like to congratulate
the States parties as well as the Committee on the Rights of the Child for the
work that they have achieved with the aim of realizing children’s rights at
global scale. For more than 10 years now, IBFAN has been collaborating with the
Committee and sending regular alternative reports and contributions on the
issue of infant and young child feeding, channeling information from its global
grassroots network to the international policy-making scene.
Breastfeeding constitutes one of the single most effective
interventions in order to fulfill the child’s rights to life and to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. Article 24 of the
Convention specifically mentions the importance of providing parents with
education and support related to breastfeeding and the CRC General Comment No.
15 stresses the obligation for States to protect, promote and support
breastfeeding through the implementation of the World Health Assembly Global
Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding.
However, breastfeeding continues to face tremendous
commercial pressures from the baby food industry. To date, only 37 countries
have enacted a law including all the provisions of the International Code of
Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and the enforcement of such laws is often
problematic. The influence of the baby food industry on parents’ feeding
choices through misleading marketing campaigns remains substantial and more
than one child out of two is not exclusively breastfed until 6 months of age,
despite the official recommendations of the World Health Organization.
Addressing this crucial issue, the Committee has repeatedly
re-affirmed the necessity for States to promote and support breastfeeding as
well as to implement and enforce the International Code and its relevant
subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions. This last recommendation has also
been highlighted in two General Comments issued by the Committee in 2013: the General
Comment No. 15 on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health and the General Comment No. 16 on State
obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights.
Protecting the right of every infant and young child to benefit
from the most adequate food possible and creating an enabling environment for
breastfeeding remain at the core of IBFAN’s engagement and we stay committed to
work alongside the Committee of the Rights of the Child in the future. IBFAN
will continue to provide information to the Committee and to support the
effective implementation of its Concluding Observations in reviewed countries,
in particular through the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative.
