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 International Baby Food Action Network – IBFAN

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WBW 2026

Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works

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The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) is an international coalition aiming to improve maternal and infant and young child health through the protection, support and promotion of breastfeeding and optimal complementary feeding. It was formed by a small group of organisations and activists, concerned about the high mortality of formula fed babies, who came together in 1979 at the end of a WHO/UNICEF joint meeting on infant and young child feeding. The meeting had recommended an international code to regulate the marketing of infant formula, bottles and teats and other products marketed as breastmilk substitutes.

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OUR FOCUS AREAS

INTERNATIONAL CODE
CODEX ALIMENTARIUS
CONTAMINANTS IN BABY FOODS
HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
INFANT FEEDING IN EMERGENCIES
WBTi

IBFAN'S SEVEN PRINCIPLES

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1

The right of infants and young children everywhere to the highest level of health.

2

The right of families to enough nutritious food and sufficient and affordable water.

3

The right of women to informed choices about infant and young child feeding.

4

The right of women to full support for successful breastfeeding and for sound infant feeding practices.

5

The right of all people to health services which meet basic needs.

6

The right of health workers & consumers to health care systems which are free from commercial influence.

7

The right of people to organise in international solidarity to secure changes which protect and promote basic health, and ethical behaviour of the baby food industry.


NEWS IBFAN

MATERNITY PROTECTION

State of Maternity Protection in 97 countries

An increasing number of women are entering the job market and they need maternity protection to make a balance between their productive and reproductive roles to take care of themselves, their children and their families.

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IBFAN Position Paper on Maternity Protection at Work

This paper presents IBFAN’s position on maternity protection at work and the tools for advocacy needed to increase the implementation of measures that enable mothers to participate as equals in the workplace while exercising their reproductive rights to breastfeed.

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Breastfeeding after returning to work or study

Many women find ways to continue breastfeeding their baby. Employers and  course providers have certain obligations towards breastfeeding women to support your return to work or study.

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100 years of maternity protection

100 years ago, the ILO adopted the first-ever international standard on maternity protection. Since that Convention, the definition of maternity protection has expanded and its importance has become more widely appreciated – including as an essential element in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of good health, gender equality, decent work and economic growth. But, despite this progress, many mothers and mothers-to-be still face serious challenges in the workplace.

VIDEO ‘100 years of maternity protection’,  from the channel International Labour Organization, published on YouTube on 8/11/2019.

The IBFAN network is a global coalition formed by nearly 200 citizen groups in over 100 countries

Learn more about the IBFAN network in various parts of the world. Access the following websites or social networks, and soon we will have more links here:

© 2026 IBFAN . All Rights Reserved.