Learn how Ghana is bringing policy into practice to achieve national breastfeeding targets
5th FANUS conference – Dakar, Senegal
Tuesday, 21 November
2 pm – 3:30 pm
Room B05/06
Ubora Institute and the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation will share progress from the ‘Breastmilk for Life Project’ – being tested in partnership with the Ghana Ministry of Health.
Contact: Michaela Turan, MTU@FLRF.org
Symposium abstract
Closing the operationalization gap: Learnings from 'Breastmilk for Life' – GhanaConsiderable, impressive work has been done to translate scientific knowledge into policies that promote and protect breastfeeding. Yet implementing these policies – at scale and with sustainable impact – has been less successful as is evident in stagnating breastfeeding rates globally.
At the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation (FLRF), we believe this is a direct result of the ineffective translation of policy into actionable plans – "the operationalization gap". And together with our partners, we are working to close it.
The concept to close this gap was inspired by what FLRF began recognizing several years ago: that after policy formation, there is little to no conceptual foundation from which to translate a country’s breastfeeding policy into a step-by-step, actionable implementation plan. The unfortunate result is that work post-policy remains fragmented, uncoordinated, and without a long-term vision, unlikely to yield change and sustainable impact. A multisectoral approach is needed and is currently being tested under the leadership of
Ubora Institute in Ghana.
Join experts from Ubora Institute and FLRF for learnings from the 'Breastmilk for Life Project' in Ghana.'Breastmilk for Life' is about operationalizing the national breastfeeding strategies. Symposium attendees will be introduced to both the concept and the practical approach, which is one example of a multisectoral approach to sustainably improve the breastfeeding environment nationwide to help achieve Ghana’s infant feeding targets.
FLRF began developing such an approach to close the operationalization gap together with a variety of partners inside and outside of academia. It is now testing this approach in Ghana in partnership with Ubora Institute, Ghana’s Ministry of Health and relevant agencies. Symposium attendees will learn about the 'Breastmilk for Life Project' approach and progress to date, including roadblocks the partners encountered and how they were overcome. There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the closing discussion.
Thank you for joining us – we look forward to meeting you!
