The campaign, led by the wife of the governor, Bishop Eyoanwan Bassey Otu, was launched in Calabar on Tuesday as part of activities marking World Breastfeeding Week 2026.
Represented by her Special Adviser on Programmes, Apostle Queen Eton, Mrs Otu said she would work with the Cross River State Ministry of Health, the State Primary Health Care Development Agency and UNICEF to expand the campaign to communities across the state.
The first 1,000 days cover the 270 days of pregnancy and the first 730 days after birth up to a child’s second birthday. The campaign seeks to improve maternal and child nutrition and promote behaviours that can influence a child’s health and development during the period.
The initiative will encourage pregnant women to eat properly, attend antenatal care and sleep under treated mosquito nets. It will also promote breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.
The campaign is also targeting social practices around infant feeding, with husbands, mothers-in-law and traditional leaders being encouraged to support nursing mothers and avoid pressuring them to give water or other substances to babies during the exclusive breastfeeding period.
The Director General of the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Vivian Mesembe Edet, called for broader stakeholder support for exclusive breastfeeding, stressing that child nutrition involves farmers, teachers, traditional rulers, religious leaders and parents.
She said the campaign materials would help reach mothers and families from conception through a child’s second birthday, while breastfeeding remained a cost-effective intervention for reducing child deaths and promoting better health.
Edet said the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week theme, Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthening What Works, highlighted the role of breastfeeding in preventing malnutrition. She identified early initiation, exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and appropriate complementary feeding as key measures for improving child health.
She also recalled the recent flag-off of the National Community Food Bank Project in Cross River State by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, and acknowledged the contributions of UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, Nutrition International and other development partners to breastfeeding and nutrition initiatives.
UNICEF Nutrition Specialist at its Enugu Field Office, Dr Ngozi Onuora, represented by the State Nutrition Facilitator, Blessing Nwaerungwa, described the launch of the Social and Behaviour Change Communication materials as an important step towards improving awareness and nutritional practices among mothers and children.
Onuora commended the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency and other partners for their efforts on maternal and child nutrition and called for wider dissemination of the campaign messages to households and communities.
The World Health Organisation State Coordinator, Olatunde Rebecca, represented by Etemah-Aboh Ekane, pledged continued support for the campaign.
She said the initiative would help bridge the gap between awareness of breastfeeding and its adoption as a regular practice by influencing social norms, empowering mothers at grassroots level and equipping health workers to promote early initiation of breastfeeding.
The WHO official said the organisation would continue supporting efforts to ensure infants in Cross River had a sustainable start in life, adding that activities to promote healthier outcomes should continue beyond World Breastfeeding Week.
The State Coordinator of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Christian Okechukwu, represented by the Zonal Technical Officer, Offiong Edem, said the first 1,000 days represented a critical period in a child’s development, with about 80 per cent of brain development occurring during the period.
He stressed the importance of antenatal care, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary feeding.
Okechukwu said the period was characterised by rapid growth and required sustained attention, assuring that the NPHCDA would continue supporting programmes focused on the first 1,000 days for the wellbeing of children and the wider economy.
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