The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) will hold a Day of General Discussion (DGD) on the 30th of September 2011, in Geneva. The topic of this day will be: Children of incarcerated parents. The purpose of the 2011 DGD is to raise awareness about and explore child rights issues related to children of prisoners and provide guidance to States as to how they can provide greater protection of the rights of such children, through their policies and practices.

The current situation of prisons shows that there are more and more women who are detained, due to an increasing trend of criminalizing minor offences and punishing them with imprisonment. Also, the number of births by pregnant women in prison has increased, leading to an increasing number of babies and young children which are born and may live with their mothers in prison. Hence, the situation of infant and young children up to 2 years of age with a parent in prison needs particular consideration.

A submission was prepared by IBFAN-GIFA for this day, with a focus on the implications that infant and young child feeding has with respect to the situation of children with incarcerated parents.

The submission was based on a desk research and a few direct experiences from IBFAN groups working at national level. It does not aim to give recommendations on whether infant and young children should be living in prison with their parents or not. It aims to highlight some aspects of the rights of the child with regards to optimal feeding practices, which should be taken into serious consideration when authorities decide upon the situation of incarcerated parents/mothers and their infants and young children.

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