In the two years following its official recognition as the world’s first ‘Baby-Friendly City’ in December 2015, the emirate of Sharjah, through the Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign (SBFC), supervised by the Sharjah Baby-Friendly Office (SBFO), has made milestone achievements, in fostering the welfare of newborn babiesandenabling working mothers to maintain a healthy balance between work and family.

These milestones align with the UAE’s developmental and cultural vision for setting a regional and international model for providing a healthy and conducive environment to ensure the sound upbringing of future generations.

Under the theme ‘A True Beginning for a Better Future’, the Sharjah Baby Friendly Emirate Campaign was launched in February 2011 in line with an Emiri decree issued by His HighnessSheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and with the directives of his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA).

Initial preparations were carried out prior to the field launch of the Campaign in 2012 under the leadership ofSheikhaBodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and President of the Campaign.

The pre-launch phase included setting plans and strategies needed to achieve the goals of enhancing childcare in the emirate, by encouraging breastfeeding andpromoting awareness about its importance, as well as protecting society from the misleading marketing of formula milk products by manufacturers.

Targeting children aged 0-2, SBFC has been pioneering in introducing the concept of a baby-friendly city, leading up to Sharjah’s recognition asthe world’s first baby-friendly city by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in December 2015, after adopting four initiatives that were implemented simultaneously for the first time in the world.

The four initiatives Sharjah adopted included the Baby-Friendly Health Facility, which is based on the International Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), launched by WHO andUNICEF in 1991.

Sharjah then extended this initiative to include other places and institutions, including Mother-Friendly Workplaces, Breastfeeding-Friendly Nurseriesand Mother-Baby Friendly Public
Places – threecommunity initiatives that targeted establishments and community members to encourage breastfeeding.

Drawing on the immense efforts by the Campaign to strengthen Sharjah’s stature as a
baby-friendly emirate, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah ordered the official establishment of the SBFO in 2016 to boost the emirate’s efforts and expand the Campaign’s scope to include children of all age groups. This also includeddeveloping the scope of the office, granting it greater powers and providing a platform for cooperation between government and private organisations and institutions concerned with children, in the UAE and beyond.

Increasing breastfeeding rates

Following the announcement of Sharjah as the world’s first Baby-Friendly City in December 2015, SBFC continued its efforts to protect the rights of children and ensure their well-being and safety by conducting a series of educational workshops, meetings and inspection visits to promote awareness about the importance of breastfeeding.

As a result, the campaign succeeded in increasing breastfeeding rates for children in the first 6 months ofage in Sharjah from 43% by the end of 2015 to 50% in 2016, meeting the WHO global nutrition target for the year 2025. It continued this upward trajectory, increasingbreastfeeding rates in the emirate to 56% in 2017.

New Accreditations and Renewals

SBFO launched an awareness campaign throughout 2016 and 2017 to promote the culture of breastfeeding and highlight its importance at health facilities, workplaces, nurseries, shopping malls and museums, among others. It received delegations from different countries to introduce them to Sharjah’s milestones in supporting mothers and children. SBFO also participated in local and international events to promote Sharjah as a baby-friendly emirate.

Since its inception, SBFO made numerous achievements that contributed to solidifying Sharjah’s reputation and image as a baby-friendly emirate. The Office celebrated World Breastfeeding Week in Sharjah in August 2017, and carried out 117 meetings and field visits to health facilities, along with 71 meetings and site visits to public places in 2016 and 2017. During their visits, SBFO highlighted the important role played by workplaces and public places in enabling mothers to care for their children to ensure the right beginning for their health and wellness.

As a result, many official entities, health facilities and public places were recognised as
‘Baby-Friendly’ in 2016 and 2017 after they succeeded in applying environmental and healthstandards. Among these, Al Dhaid Healthcare Centre has been accredited as a baby-friendly health facility, while five public places, including Al Qasba, Al Majaz Waterfront, Al Noor Island, Mleiha Archeology Centre and the Heart of Sharjah, were recognised as ‘Mother and Baby-Friendly Public Places.’

With continued achievements by SBFO, four establishments renewed their accreditations as Mother-Friendly Workplaces, including the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sharjah Directorate of Human Resources, Sharjah Police and Sharjah Ladies Club. In addition, Hadanaty (‘My Nursery’) at Sharjah Media Corporation wasaccredited as a Breastfeeding-Friendly Nursery, while BasateenPre-school Centre at Sharjah Ladies Club renewed its accreditation as a Breastfeeding-Friendly Nursery.

Sharing local and international expertise

Pressing ahead with its efforts, SBFO organised the 20-hour breastfeeding coursethat targeted 71 medical professionals in Sharjah’s healthcare centres, nurses at the Sharjah Education Council and medical staff at Al Qasimi and Khorfakkan hospitals.It also conducted three awareness workshops for working mothers associated with Sharjah’s government entities on the importance breastfeeding on the heath of mothers and babies.

The success attained by SBFO in a short period of time has garnered impressive local, regional and international attention, and the ongoing efforts and great strides made by Sharjah in the welfare of children have been duly recognised.

SBFOhas received several local and international accolades in recognition of its role in promoting awareness of breastfeeding, in addition to sharing expertise with a number of government and private organisations in the UAE and beyond.