• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ManoReporters.com
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Business and Economy
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Sci-Tech
    • Regional
    • Culture
    Ghana's High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Senalor K. Yawlui, PhD (middle in smock) with the Police Local Unit Commander at Kabala (Koinadugu District), Chief Supt. Ibrahim Barry. Image credit, Ghana High Commission to Sierra Leone.

    Sierra Leone: Ghana High Commissioner conducts familiarization tour in north-eastern region

    Tacugama is located in a forest reserve called the Western Area Peninsular National Park. Image, Hassan Kamara, manoReporters.

    Sierra Leone: Chimps sanctuary shut down over government inaction against encroachers

    How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

    How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

    Chief Justice Komba Kamanda. Image, Judiciary of Sierra Leone

    Sierra Leone: Accountability group worried over erosion of confidence in judicial system

    Dr Yap Boum, Deputy Head of the Africa CDC's IMST. Image, Screengrab, Kemo Cham, manoReporters

    Africa CDC ramps up support for Sierra Leone’s Mpox response

    Participants at the opening ceremony of a four-day boot camp in Freetown, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Image, Kemo Cham, ManoReporters.

    CAF-SL and partners host Boot Camp for 250 young people

    Trending Tags

  • Special Reports
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • True or False
  • Interview
  • ManoReporters TV
  • Tender and Job
  • Election 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Business and Economy
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Sci-Tech
    • Regional
    • Culture
    Ghana's High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Senalor K. Yawlui, PhD (middle in smock) with the Police Local Unit Commander at Kabala (Koinadugu District), Chief Supt. Ibrahim Barry. Image credit, Ghana High Commission to Sierra Leone.

    Sierra Leone: Ghana High Commissioner conducts familiarization tour in north-eastern region

    Tacugama is located in a forest reserve called the Western Area Peninsular National Park. Image, Hassan Kamara, manoReporters.

    Sierra Leone: Chimps sanctuary shut down over government inaction against encroachers

    How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

    How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

    Chief Justice Komba Kamanda. Image, Judiciary of Sierra Leone

    Sierra Leone: Accountability group worried over erosion of confidence in judicial system

    Dr Yap Boum, Deputy Head of the Africa CDC's IMST. Image, Screengrab, Kemo Cham, manoReporters

    Africa CDC ramps up support for Sierra Leone’s Mpox response

    Participants at the opening ceremony of a four-day boot camp in Freetown, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Image, Kemo Cham, ManoReporters.

    CAF-SL and partners host Boot Camp for 250 young people

    Trending Tags

  • Special Reports
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • True or False
  • Interview
  • ManoReporters TV
  • Tender and Job
  • Election 2023
No Result
View All Result
ManoReporters.com
No Result
View All Result

Religious leaders trained on advocacy for exclusive breastfeeding

Kemo Cham by Kemo Cham
November 3, 2022
in News, Health
0
Religious leaders trained on advocacy for exclusive breastfeeding

Kombra Network Chairman. Dr Ramadan Jalloh, makes a presentation at a training on advocacy for exclusive breastfeeding in the Adele Roberts Hall on Robert Street, Freetown, November 2, 2022. Photo Credit, ManoReporters.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The NGO FOCUS 1000 has concluded a two-day training for religious leaders on advocacy for exclusive breastfeeding.

ADVERTISEMENT

The two days event which ended on Wednesday in Freetown was designed to capacitate the participants on propagating the practice of giving babies breastmilk only from birth up to six months.

Exclusive Breastfeeding is a recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) which says breastmilk is the best source of nutrients for newborn babies. Within their first six months in life, they are to be given only breastmilk and not even water.

A total of 120 religious leaders drawn from 15 churches and 15 mosques across the Western Area Rural and Urban, took part in the training. They included Imams and Pastors, as well as the youth and women’s leaders of their respective congregations. The training was conducted at two separate locations within the city.

Christlyn Williams, Programme Manager for Nutrition at FOCUS 1000, said the training is the second segment of a pilot pogramme being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and the UN children agency, UNICEF. It is part of the government’s ‘Stronger with Breastmilk Only’ campaign, which is a global initiative aimed at promoting Exclusive Breastfeeding.

Religious leaders participate in a training on advocacy for exclusive breastfeeding in the Adele Roberts Hall on Robert Street, Freetown, November 2, 2022. Photo Credit, ManoReporters.

In Sierra Leone, the pilot phase of the campaign is being implemented in the Western Area (Urban and Rural) and the southern district of Moyamba.

The global target for exclusive breastfeeding is 50 percent by 2025. According to the 2021 National Nutrition Survey, Sierra Leone has already attained above that, with 52.7 percent coverage. The government has since set its national target at 75 percent. Williams said the campaign is being used to achieve that.

The religious leaders are expected to help in this regard, using their various platforms – churches and mosques – as well as other gatherings in their communities. They are expected to do this using specially designed religious texts adopted from messages prepared by the MoHS, backed up with scriptural references from the two dominant religions in the country.

The participants are members of the Christian Action Group (CRISTAG) and the Islamic Action Group (ISLAG), two of the five components that make up the Kombra Network, a coalition of grassroots organizations that also include market women, traditional healers, civil society and KMN as the media arm.

“We are working with religious leaders for them to pass on the information to their congregations at the mosques, the churches and any religious event like naming ceremonies and even marriage ceremonies,” Williams told ManoReporters in an interview on the sidelines of the event.

While data show that the rate of exclusive breastfeeding has increased in Sierra Leone, a major obstacle to the national goal has been the practice of giving water to newborn babies. This campaign, with the slogan ‘Stronger with Breastmilk Only,’ emphasizes on the importance of not giving babies any complimentary food, including water.

Some women complain that their breastmilk is not enough for their babies and therefore they supplement the babies’ food with water. Many others hide behind myths to justify not suckling their babies and instead rely on breastmilk substitutes.

The practice of giving babies warm water or water generally is also based on entrenched traditional practices, making countering it a daunting task. This, said Williams, makes the role of the religious establishment in uprooting it paramount.

“We know that community people believe and trust in their religious leaders,” she Williams said in the interview.

The messages were designed to counter all these myths. And they were compiled into a booklet, comprising a total of nine messages drawn from the Quran and hadith – the teachings of the Prophet Mohamad, as well as the Bible.

Dr Ramdan Jalloh, National Chairman of the Kombra Network and head of ISLAG, presented on the Islamic perspective. He cited the story of Moses, who was suckled by a strange woman, by the help of God, even in that difficult circumstance. This, he noted, signifies the importance even God himself attached to breastfeeding.

“There is nothing that cares for humanity more than religion,” Dr Jalloh told the participants, while emphasizing on the role religion plays in promoting healthy living and wellbeing.

Moses’ story, which is also a well-known biblical one, featured at the top of the presentation of Rev. Christiana Sutton Koroma, Chairperson of CRISTAG. She said that God loves His creation so much that He provides him with a lifesaving gift like breastmilk.

“The Bible says that children are a blessing to the family,” she said, stressing the obligation of parents to help protect their offspring from any harm.

The government and its partners say they intend to use data from this pilot phase of the campaign to expand it to other districts.

“For a long time we have been working on breastfeeding but we found out that we have not been documenting what was happening. So in this campaigner, we want to rectify that by generating data, which we intend to use to solicit resources to enable us expand the campaign to other parts of the country,” said Williams.

Tags: Sierra LeoneHealthFOCUS 1000BreastfeedingKombra NetworkISLAGCRISTAG
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Liberia: “Ray of hope” as France convicts ex-rebel commander for war crimes

Next Post

Why COP27 Matters to Sierra Leone

Kemo Cham

Kemo Cham

Next Post
Why COP27 Matters to Sierra Leone

Why COP27 Matters to Sierra Leone

Stay connected

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
State security forces man a checkpoint at an intersecition between State House and Siaka Steven Street in Freteown. Photo credit, Ishmail Kindama Dumbuya

Breaking: Sierra Leone gov’t says it ‘rebuffed’ attempted break into armory

November 26, 2023
Sarah Van Horne, Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy in Freetown. Photo credit, Courtesy.

Sierra Leone: US considering further actions after visa ban – Embassy spokeswoman

September 1, 2023
Anthrax Outbreak: Sierra Leone records first human cases

Anthrax Outbreak: Sierra Leone records first human cases

May 22, 2022
Former Guinea junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara and the two other close allies of his who are thought to have escaped from prison in Conakry on Saturday, November 4. Image by Guinea News.

Breaking! Guinea: Heavy gunfire reported in Kaloum, around central prison

November 4, 2023
Diabetes: The “Ticking Time Bomb” for Africa! Are we sitting on it?

Diabetes: The “Ticking Time Bomb” for Africa! Are we sitting on it?

0
Sierra Leonean on trial for war crimes in Liberia released

Sierra Leonean on trial for war crimes in Liberia released

0
Sierra Leone, France seek tighter cooperation

Sierra Leone, France seek tighter cooperation

0
Wellington Fire Disaster: Victims Benefit From Fullah Progressive Union Largesse

Wellington Fire Disaster: Victims Benefit From Fullah Progressive Union Largesse

0
Ghana's High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Senalor K. Yawlui, PhD (middle in smock) with the Police Local Unit Commander at Kabala (Koinadugu District), Chief Supt. Ibrahim Barry. Image credit, Ghana High Commission to Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone: Ghana High Commissioner conducts familiarization tour in north-eastern region

May 29, 2025
Tacugama is located in a forest reserve called the Western Area Peninsular National Park. Image, Hassan Kamara, manoReporters.

Sierra Leone: Chimps sanctuary shut down over government inaction against encroachers

May 26, 2025
How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

May 25, 2025
Chief Justice Komba Kamanda. Image, Judiciary of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Accountability group worried over erosion of confidence in judicial system

May 25, 2025

Recent News

Ghana's High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Senalor K. Yawlui, PhD (middle in smock) with the Police Local Unit Commander at Kabala (Koinadugu District), Chief Supt. Ibrahim Barry. Image credit, Ghana High Commission to Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone: Ghana High Commissioner conducts familiarization tour in north-eastern region

May 29, 2025
Tacugama is located in a forest reserve called the Western Area Peninsular National Park. Image, Hassan Kamara, manoReporters.

Sierra Leone: Chimps sanctuary shut down over government inaction against encroachers

May 26, 2025
How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

How a GAVI funded project has helped boost vaccine coverage across Sierra Leone (VIDEO)

May 25, 2025
Chief Justice Komba Kamanda. Image, Judiciary of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Accountability group worried over erosion of confidence in judicial system

May 25, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
Contact

info@manoreporters.com | Freetown, Sierra Leone

Contact

info@manoreporters.com | Freetown, Sierra Leone

© 2022 Powered by Manocommunication.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business and Economy
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Sci-Tech
      • Data
    • Regional
    • Culture
  • Special Reports
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • True or False
  • Interview
  • ManoReporters TV
  • Tender and Job

© 2022 Powered by Manocommunication.com