UNICEF, Kaduna Govt Deepen Support for Breastfeeding Mothers
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Kaduna State Government have intensified efforts to promote breastfeeding and improve child survival, nutrition and development in the state.
_PHOTO CREDIT: Photo courtesy of The Sun Nigeria / UNICEF Kaduna Field Office
The renewed commitment was made in Kaduna on Tuesday as the state joined the global commemoration of the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week, marked from August 1 to 7 with the theme: “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works.”

As part of activities for the week, UNICEF, in partnership with the state government, launched the First 1,000 Days Social and Behaviour Change Initiative for nutrition. The initiative is designed to promote proven nutrition and breastfeeding practices from conception through a child’s first two years.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Kaduna Field Office, Chinwe Ezeife, described the first 1,000 days as a critical window where interventions can significantly shape a child’s health, growth and development.

Ezeife said the theme for this year’s celebration was a call to go beyond awareness and strengthen interventions already proven to work. She cited Kaduna State’s six-month paid maternity leave for eligible women as a key policy that enables exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended six months.

She, however, noted that government policies must be complemented by support from families, communities and workplaces to help mothers sustain breastfeeding after resumption of work.

She urged mothers to practice three key steps: early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months without water or other foods, and continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary feeding from six months to two years and beyond.

In her remarks, Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Umma K. Ahmed, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition services across the 23 local government areas of the state.

According to her, breastfeeding is an investment in human capital development, as healthy and well-nourished children are more likely to excel in school, become productive adults and contribute to the state’s socio-economic growth.

Ahmed said the government would continue to support infant and young child feeding programmes, baby-friendly health facilities, maternal nutrition, community nutrition services, and training of health workers to provide quality breastfeeding counselling.

She called on fathers, families, employers, healthcare providers, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organizations, development partners and the media to collectively create an enabling environment for successful breastfeeding.
SOURCE: The Sun Nigeria –