FLRF believes it is important to effectively translate existing knowledge into every sociocultural context and geography, to ensure all countries can benefit. In order to achieve this, we believe regional experts are central to successfully addressing the myriad practical questions and steps needed to transform policy into action.
In a new strategic phase that started in the second half of 2019, FLRF began to focus on ways to help expand regional capacity in low- and lower-middle-income economies, as defined by the World Bank. For instance, the Foundation aims to facilitate translational activities that will lead to effective implementation of sustainable, public programmes and resources that address challenges and meet needs at both the individual and community levels. This is the targeted, often practical work that occurs between policy creation and implementation – it answers the ‘how to implement?’ question.
FLRF seek to drive knowledge from discovery to sustainable social impact by collaborating with experts around the world to achieve the following goals, many of which have been outlined in The Lancet series on breastfeeding (2016):
• Improve practical understanding of the complexities surrounding breastfeeding, according to personal circumstances and sociocultural contexts
• Support researchers, healthcare providers, NGOs, policymakers, governmental bodies and the public to develop concise plans to implement breastfeeding policies that are durable over the long-term
• Foster communication and collaboration among researchers, healthcare practitioners, NGOs, policymakers, governmental bodies and the public to develop practical and sustainable implementation strategies and solutions
• Help implement existing breastfeeding-related tools and underpin the implementation of new public resources, educational and clinical tools which create environments that support healthcare providers, governments, communities and families to overcome obstacles and advance breastfeeding in practice
• Uncover existing knowledge gaps, and connect them with relevant researchers and other experts to fill the gaps
As we and our partners learn, we will publicise our findings and channel them back into the expanding, global network of interdisciplinary researchers and experts to improve existing programmes, plus shape new projects and inquiries, in an ongoing cycle of knowledge discovery, dissemination and deployment.
We believe this is the way we can contribute to the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition Targets 2030, set out by the World Health Organization and UNICEF and endorsed by the World Health Assembly.