Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies

This position paper lays out Action Against Hunger’s position on the protection, promotion and support of appropriate IYCF, the protection of non-breastfed infants and the issue of breastfeeding and HIV, within emergency contexts.

Published: 2015

Author: Angeline Grant

The protection, promotion and support of good nutrition and child development in emergency and non-emergency contexts is at the heart of Action Against Hunger’s mandate. Action Against Hunger International drafted and adopted a first position paper on infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IYCF-E) in July 2008. This second position paper seeks to update the previous existing paper in light of recent developments in the field of IYCF-E. It presents a brief outline of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in general and focuses on the specific issues relative to IYCF in emergencies. Emergency settings generate specific threats to appropriate IYCF, meaning that specific recommendations need to be promoted and applied in order to protect appropriate IYCF in emergency contexts.