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Infant Feeding in Emergencies (IFE) Core Group

 

The IFE Core Group is an interagency collaboration on infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IFE/IYCF-E) that connects practitioner experiences with policy and guidance development.

Current members are individuals within UN agencies, NGOs, academics, independent agencies and individuals. ENN is the coordinating agency and produces IFE Core Group publications.

Since 1999, the IFE Core Group has produced a number of resources and undertaken a range of activities to support safe and appropriate IFE (see below). Members also lead on initiatives informed by and shared with the collective.

In October 2017, ENN and UNICEF co-led an IFE Core Group update of the established Operational Guidance on Infant Feeding in Emergencies (version 3.0, October 2017) funded by OFDA. The updated version incorporates the latest technical guidance, is informed by recent emergency experiences and has most extensive content on emergency preparedness and cross sectoral collaboration.

An ENN-hosted meeting in early December began the process of identification of collective plans for rollout and dissemination (report available early February 2018).

The guideline 'HIV and Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Operational Guidance' has been developed by WHO and UNICEF in collaboration with ENN, to outline the duration of breastfeeding and support from health services to improve infant feeding practices among mothers living with HIV.

IFE Core Group members 

Membership comprises named individuals with responsibility for strategic oversight and operations related to infant and young child feeding in emergencies. They may be independent or associated with an agency. Current members of the IFE Core Group are:

Individual members: Karleen Gribble, Marko Kerac

IFE Core Group areas of activity

The IFE Core Group’s work involves development of policy guidance and capacity building tools, experience capture on infant and young child feeding in emergency response and promotion of policy and practice change in the context of preparedness and response.

The IFE Core Group strategic areas of activity are:

• Advocacy on infant and young child feeding in emergencies within and external to agencies, across sectors and from policy level to field practice
• Capturing experiences and extracting lessons from emergency response and reflecting these in policy guidance updates and resource development
• Supporting appropriate, consistent communication in general media and statements
• Identifying policy, guidance and research gaps and highlighting these to policy makers/researchers and relevant organisations and agencies
• ‘Stop gapping’ policy and guidance where there are outstanding and critical gaps in guidance from normative agencies
• Dissemination of key resources
• Peer to peer support for members to help put operational guidance into practice and address challenges,
• Participation in global initiatives and forums around improving emergency response, such as the Global Nutrition Cluster, The Sphere Project, en-net technical form and various trainings

The IFE Core Group does not directly implement programmes.

IFE Core Group resources and outputs 

Infant and young child feeding in emergencies: Operational guidance for emergency relief staff and programme managers. Version 3.0. October 2017.

HIV and Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Operational Guidance

Story of Change: ENN’s role in the development of the Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies

Infant Feeding in Emergencies (IFE) Module 2, Version 1.1 (2007)

Infant and young child feeding in emergencies: information for the media

How to write and talk about infant and young child feeding in emergencies

Integration of IYCF support into CMAM (2009)

Infant Feeding in Emergencies (IFE) Making it Matter: Report of an international strategy meeting (2006)

Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies: Making it Happen. Report of a regional workshop on IFE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model joint statement on IFE

How to write and talk about infant and young child feeding in emergencies 

Background information for communications experts on infant & young child feeding in emergencies

Talking about IYCF and child age: a briefing 

Orientation Package on IFE, v2.1, 2010. English.

Complementary feeding in emergencies. A review of training resources and needs. October, 2009

Follow up report of regional workshop on IFE. 2009

Key messages on IFE - for mothers and caregivers. English and French

Protecting infants in emergencies: the role of the public. IFE Core Group.

World Breastfeeding Week, 2009. 'Breastfeeding, a vital emergency response: are you ready?'

IFE Core Group Strategy Meeting Report, November, 2010

Please see our resources section for more IFE resources. 

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Reference this page

Chloe Angood (2014). IFE Core Group. www.ennonline.net/ifecoregroup

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