The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has lamented the low percentage of organisations in Nigeria that have a workplace breastfeeding policy.
Development Diaries reports that only seven out of 36 states in Nigeria provide six months fully paid maternity leave as the country is far from reaching World Health Assembly’s 70 percent target by 2030.
Marking the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week, the UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Cristian Munduate, said it is imperative to highlight the significance of breastfeeding for the health and well-being of children, mothers, and society at large.
It is understood that only nine percent of Nigerian organisations have a workplace breastfeeding policy, with only 1.5 percent in the public sector.
Also, women in the informal sector have nearly no support for breastfeeding, with data from UNICEF showing that they make up 20 million out of the 46 million workforce in Nigeria.
Findings have shown that breastfeeding stands as a crucial pillar in safeguarding infants against life-threatening infections.
It also supports optimal brain development in children and reduces the incidence of chronic childhood and maternal illnesses, ultimately lowering healthcare costs.
‘In Nigeria, improved breastfeeding practices could save over 100,000 children’s lives each year, save U.S.$22 million in health care treatment costs related to inadequate breastfeeding, and generate an additional U.S.$21 billion for the economy over children’s productive years by increasing cognitive capacity and preventing premature mortality in the early years’, Munduate said.
‘There is evidence today that every 1,000 naira invested in supporting breastfeeding can yield an estimated 35,000 naira in economic returns for Nigeria’.
This is enough reason government at all levels in Nigeria and the private sector need to develop policies that support breastfeeding for all working mothers.
Development Diaries calls on governments and businesses in the country to provide breastfeeding support to mothers and caregivers.
We also call on the Nigerian government to ratify the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000, which is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Three.
Source: UNICEF
Photo source: WHO
