Social behaviour change (SBC) programs are the key to addressing complex nutrition behaviours. The capacity to build a nutrition program with a strong foundation in SBC requires specialist knowledge and activities. 

With the aim to build the capacity to implement nutrition programs using an SBC lens among government nutrition program managers in West and Central Africa, Alive & Thrive, UNICEF and WHO have launched since August 2021, a blended learning program comprising a rigorous online course (with videos, animations, readings and quizzes), coaching by SBC experts and live lectures by external experts.

Read more here

Alive & Thrive and UNICEF have released a report which provides a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed and grey literature on the social and behavioral determinants of exclusive breastfeeding and other feeding practices during an infant’s first six months of life in West and Central Africa.

The findings draw attention to the multiple drivers and barriers to exclusive breastfeeding, as well as the various determinants of the practice of giving water to infants in the first six months of life, one of the main obstacles to exclusive breastfeeding in the region.

The review underlines the importance of identifying and understanding the motivations of the people who influence infant feeding and care practices and the factors that both facilitate and prevent exclusive breastfeeding when designing interventions to protect, promote, and support exclusive breastfeeding. Implementation of social and behavioural change interventions grounded in this understanding are needed to tailor responses that are respectful, genuine, and acceptable to the families and communities for whom they are designed.

The results of this review have been used as a basis for the conceptualization of the regional initiative 'Stronger with Breastmilk Only' in 2019.

You are invited to read it

Speakers from UNICEF, WHO, Alive & Thrive and Helen Keller International presented information and insights on the role of health workers in protecting and supporting breastfeeding during the second regional Stronger With Breastmilk Only webinar. Watch the presentations by clicking on links in this resource document (pdf).

From all of your friends and colleagues at Stronger With Breastmilk Only, we wish you a very happy New Year!

In 2007, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria was just 13%; today, it has almost doubled, to 24%. This short (5 min) video provides an overview of how Alive & Thrive worked with the Government of Nigeria and its partners to address the gap between exclusive breastfeeding knowledge and behavior and adapt its proven social behavior change framework to urban and rural areas of Nigeria to increase rates of exclusive breastfeeding. Watch the video.