New General Comment on Rural Women
Following IBFAN-GIFA’s joint advocacy with other public interest NGOs and social movements, the Committee on the Elimination of all Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) has released its new General Recommendation No 34 on Rural Women which, among other recommendations, urges countries to take specific measures to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
In addition, it is the first time ever that the CEDAW recognizes the right to food and nutrition. A whole section of the document is dedicated to this right, calling States to “pay particular attention to the nutritional needs of rural women, particularly pregnant and lactating women, putting in place effective policies ensuring rural women have access to adequate food and nutrition”. Read the CEDAW General Recommendation No 34 on Rural Women
Launch of the book Gender, Nutrition and the Right to Adequate Food; Toward an inclusive framework. It introduces the human right to adequate food and nutrition as an evolving concept and identifies two structural “disconnects” fueling food insecurity for a billion people, and disproportionally affecting women, children, and rural food producers. The chapter 4 focuses on maternal, infant, and young child feeding, the intertwined subjectivities of mother and child, and the lack of corporate accountability.
TV i24 news interviews IBFAN-GIFA on the importance of breastfeeding protection
On 14 June 2016, the international news channel i24news interviewed IBFAN-GIFA on Code violations and the negative impacts of unethical marketing of breastmilk substitutes on babies’ health. See the webcast of the interview (in French)
