Chairperson of the Committee on Gender and Children’s Affairs in Sierra Leone’s Parliament, Hon. Cathrine Zainab Tarawally has announced plans to extend maternal leave from three to six months.
Speaking ahead of World Breastfeeding Week, which runs from August 1 to August 7, Hon. Tarawally emphasised Parliament’s commitment to enhancing support for new mothers.
She revealed that Sierra Leone is aligning with global standards by enacting the Breast Milk Substitute Act and working towards increasing maternal leave to six months, stressing the need for stricter regulations to ensure the closure of shops selling harmful baby foods.
Encouraging public support for breastfeeding, Hon. Tarawally urged citizens to help lactating mothers breastfeed exclusively for the first six months.
In similar move, Deputy Minister of Trade, Fatmata Kargbo echoed this support, emphasising collaboration with Parliament to promote breastfeeding and advising market women to breastfeed their infants for 20 minutes every two hours for optimal growth and cognitive development.
Also, Minister of State at the Vice President’s Office, Manty Tarawallie, addressed the issue of malnutrition, calling it a significant factor in infant mortality, highlighting breastfeeding’s role in enhancing immunity, brain development, and emotional bonding.
Liv Elin Indreiten, Deputy Director of UNICEF, praised breastfeeding as a cost-free practice that significantly reduces child mortality by 16%. She urged the government to bolster support for breastfeeding through legislation and improved healthcare services and called for workplaces to accommodate extended maternity leave.
Indreiten stressed that community involvement is crucial, noting that raising a child is a collective effort.