To honor World Breastfeeding Week, more than 4,000 women marched to their local mayor’s offices in Benin. On the spot, the government officials committed to putting $2,517 into their budgets to support the cause. That may not sound like much, but if you adjust for the relative GDPs, that would be over $5.3 million in a US budget.
With the generous support of the Sall Foundation, Nutrition at the Center (N@C) is making advocacy a key strategy in getting real results for nutrition. They partner with FADEC—a local NGO—to mobilize communities.
What did they accomplish?
- More government support: The 2 target mayors promised more than the $2,517 in a line item for nutrition. They also personally committed to reach out to other mayors and explain to them why these ideas were important—and how they should commit resources to areas the N@C program doesn’t cover.
- Men got involved: Women marched on the mayor’s offices, but they didn’t do it alone. They got support from men in the community, too. Men have decided that nutrition is an issue they need to care about, and that they have to support women.
- National-level attention: The mayors are planning to advocate for a parliamentary committee to take up the issue of malnutrition and raise it to the highest level of government priorities.
How did they get there?
- Mobilize women: More than 4,000 people marched on the mayor’s offices, largely women involved in CARE VSLA programs.
- Unify your message: The women all marched with the slogan "Breastfeeding: The Key to Sustainable Development." They agreed on a speech that unified their voice around nutrition as women’s priority for the budget.
- Focus on Action: The marchers read a specific list of demands to the mayors that had specific, doable actions-including increasing the budget line item.
Want to learn more?
Check out the Benin page on Nutrition at the Center’s blog.