Seven organizations have called for an increase in breastfeeding news coverage in Cambodia, with the aim of promoting breastfeeding awareness and reinforcing related policies for the benefit of mothers and children.

On Thursday, as part of World Breastfeeding Week 2023 celebrations, World Vision International in Cambodia (WVI-C), UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), Alive & Thrive (A&T/FHI360), Helen Keller International, Plan International Cambodia, and the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Alliance (SUN-CSA) partnered to hold a journalism competition under the theme "Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a Difference for Working Parents".

The competition had several specific objectives, including positively influencing policies related to promoting breastfeeding; increasing awareness of the challenges faced by mothers in Cambodia who intend to exclusively breastfeed their child for their first six months of life, and wish to continue breastfeeding for longer; and providing feasible solutions that working mothers can adopt to overcome challenges and barriers to breastfeeding.

A total of 19 journalists from different news outlets took part in the competition, including Apsara Media Services, Cambodian Muslim Media Center, Cambodia Press Agency, Cambodian Center for Independent Media, Cambodian Islamic Voice TV, CamboJA, Khmer Times, Kiripost, Mongkol Media, Radio France International, Radio National of Kampuchea, Phnom Penh Post, Thmey Thmey, Vayo FM, and Women’s Radio.

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Kirsty Milev, Programme Quality Director of World Vision International in Cambodia, emphasized that the media is playing a crucial role in promoting breastfeeding, especially for informing policy making in Cambodia.

“News coverage can help raise awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding and the need for policies and programmes to support breastfeeding. It can also help dispel myths and misconceptions and provide mothers with accurate information on how to breastfeed their babies,” she said.

Will Parks, UNICEF Cambodia Representative, said that the achievements of journalists in covering news and features related to breastfeeding has shown how powerful the media is in reinforcing for the better that breastfeeding practices have good benefits for mothers and their children.

“As we mark this occasion, let us also reaffirm our commitment to creating a supportive environment that enables mothers to breastfeed in all settings, from the health facility to home and the workplace. This is how we can ensure that every child gets the best start in life,” he added.

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Breastfeeding is one of the best ways to avoid malnutrition and guarantee children's healthy growth and development, according to WHO and UNICEF. Breast milk is essential for a newborn's health as it provides an easily digestible source of all the essential nutrients and antibodies that a baby needs to grow. Mothers who breastfeed their children experience additional health benefits, such as a lower incidence of breast and ovarian cancer.

Despite these advantages and the UNICEF and WHO guidelines, the proportion of newborns in Cambodia who are exclusively breastfed for their first six months of life has declined over the past 10 years, falling from 74 percent in 2010 to 65 percent in 2014, and even lower to 50 percent in 2021 and 2022.

Prak Sophonneary, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health, stated that creating more lactation rooms in the workplace is important to help encourage mothers to continue breastfeeding their babies when they go back to work.

“Breastfeeding is critical for the health and well-being of children and mothers. Family members are important drivers in supporting and encouraging mothers to breastfeed successfully. Especially for women who have to go back to work, they can also continue to breastfeed their babies by expressing their breastmilk or creating a lactation room at the workplace,” she emphasized.

Sophonneary added that workplaces need to have equitable working conditions for working mothers to breastfeed their children to ensure their children are healthy and free from malnutrition.

The media plays a critical role in spreading knowledge about breastfeeding, its advantages, and the best practices for mothers to follow by utilizing a variety of communication channels, including radio, television, newspapers, and social media. Reduced malnutrition among Cambodian children under the age of five is a result of such vigorous promotion and awareness raising.

Chin Sedtha, the Programme Manager at Alive & Thrive/FHI360, encourages media outlets to continue to cover the challenge of breastfeeding and raising awareness about the importance of breastfeeding in Cambodia.

“This collaborative effort involving multiple partners is pivotal for improving the health and well-being of Cambodian children and mothers. Media plays an important role in this endeavor, and we strongly encourage media outlets to continue to cover this issue and raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding in Cambodia,” he said.

Yi Kimthan, Deputy Country Director–Program at Plan International Cambodia, also motivates the media to keep promoting breastfeeding, especially among working parents.

“The media and social media have played a crucial role by contributing to improving breastfeeding rates and fostering breastfeeding in Cambodia through raising awareness, educating the public, normalizing breastfeeding, portraying role models, and advocating for supportive policies,” he said.

Hou Kroeun, Country Director of Helen Keller Intl Cambodia, said breastfeeding is not a personal issue and is the responsibility of everyone to help support working parents to ensure a healthy start for children.

"By providing enabling environments and advocating for supportive policies, we can empower working parents to make breastfeeding a shared reality in their lives. Through this journalism competition, we hope to amplify the voices and stories that highlight the positive impact of breastfeeding on both working parents and their children,” he said.