By Ngor Deng Matem
Women in Northern Bahr El Ghazal state are appealing to the UN and humanitarian agencies to increase nutrition supplies to improve children’s health.
Speaking during celebration of World Breastfeeding Week, Elizabeth Ajok appealed on behalf of Aweil women.
“Let us join hands to educate breastfeeding mothers on how to adequately breastfeed their young ones,” she said.
Organizations, together with the government, should increase the assistance provided to the children who are malnourished and lactating mothers,” she urged.
Ajok stressed that there must be continuous awareness campaigns conducted in the villages to help people understand the importance of breastfeeding children with only breast milk from 0 to 6 months.
“To adequately allow children to breastfeed with only breast milk, the women who are working class must have their maternity leave increase from three to six months so that they can have enough time with their children,” she emphasized.
The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the occasion, Mr. Paulino Kuol Akok, supported the idea but urged women to raise the complaint in the Legislative Assembly.
“This is a very good call, but the right people to respond are the members of parliament,” he said. “To implement this, it has to be enacted into the constitution or put in the laws”.
Inclusive breastfeeding prevents children from getting diseases such as asthma, malnutrition, and others.
“So as parents or guardians, we have to put this into practice, but not by saying it in the Mouth. We have to support our breastfeeding mothers to continuously provide children with only breast milk,” Akok advised.
For their part, the GIZ head of Natural resources and nutrition, Mr. Manuel Fuertos, expressed his organisational readiness to support the nutrition sector in NBGs.
“GIZ and our partner Welt Hunger Organisation are committed to supporting the people of South Sudan through nutrition,” Fuertos said.