Ethiopia Steps Up Breastfeeding Support for Mothers and Children

Ethiopia is strengthening its efforts to protect and promote breastfeeding as a national public health priority, with health authorities and international partners calling for greater investment in services that give mothers the practical, medical and workplace support needed to breastfeed their children successfully.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health marked World Breastfeeding Week 2026 in partnership with WHO Ethiopia, the Addis Ababa City Administration Health Bureau, United Nations agencies, development partners, healthcare professionals and community representatives. This year's global theme, "Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works," places attention on proven measures that can improve nutrition and health outcomes for mothers and children when they are made widely available.

Opening the event, Ethiopia's State Minister of Health Dr. Dereje Duguma said breastfeeding provides infants with essential nutrition, supports healthy growth and offers protection against disease, while mothers can also benefit through improved postpartum health. He described breastfeeding as a valued cultural practice in Ethiopia that needs to be protected for future generations.

Ethiopia Focuses on Protecting Breastfeeding Practices

The Ministry of Health reaffirmed its commitment to stronger enforcement of national rules governing the marketing of breast-milk substitutes, including efforts to address inappropriate promotion of infant formula through mainstream media and social media platforms.

The government's approach is aligned with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and Ethiopia's national Baby Food Control Directive Number/2021, which provide a framework for protecting families from marketing practices that could interfere with informed infant-feeding decisions.

Protecting breastfeeding involves more than encouraging mothers to breastfeed, since women also need access to accurate information, skilled healthcare professionals and supportive environments at home, in healthcare facilities and at work. These conditions can become particularly important during the first days and months after childbirth, when mothers may face feeding difficulties or require professional guidance.

WHO Calls for Wider Access to Proven Support

Delivering the WHO keynote address, Dr. Bejoy Nambiar, Health Policy and Systems Advisor and Team Lead for the Universal Health Coverage Cluster at WHO Ethiopia, said the focus should now be on expanding interventions that have already demonstrated their effectiveness.

"We know what works. The challenge now is to ensure that proven interventions reach every mother and every child at the scale required," he said, describing breastfeeding investment as an important route towards better nutrition, healthier families and sustainable development.

WHO continues to support Ethiopia in programmes that encourage mothers to begin breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, exclusively breastfeed during the first six months and continue breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary foods until children reach two years of age or beyond.

Dr. Nambiar called for wider access to skilled Infant and Young Child Feeding counselling throughout pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood, along with expansion of the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative and national breastfeeding awareness campaigns. Stronger maternity protection, paid leave and family-friendly social policies were also identified as important because a mother's ability to continue breastfeeding can depend heavily on the support available after she returns to work.

Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplaces Seen as Key Priority

WHO highlighted the need for workplaces that provide mothers with adequate time, private space and practical support to breastfeed or express breast milk, making breastfeeding support a responsibility shared by health systems, employers, policymakers, families and communities rather than placing the burden entirely on individual mothers.

Many proven breastfeeding interventions remain underfunded or are not implemented widely enough, according to WHO, creating gaps between existing health recommendations and the support mothers actually receive. Closing those gaps could contribute to better maternal and child nutrition while supporting Ethiopia's national health priorities and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

WHO said it will continue working with the Ethiopian government, UN agencies, development partners, civil society groups, professional associations and communities to strengthen policies, train health and nutrition workers and improve monitoring and accountability.

World Breastfeeding Week 2026 has given Ethiopia and its partners another opportunity to place maternal support at the centre of breastfeeding policy, with the focus shifting towards making proven services accessible to every mother and giving children a healthier nutritional start in life.