Advancing the Evidence on Implementing the Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (OG-IFE) in Humanitarian Contexts

Given the outstanding impact of "If Maternal Breastfeeding is Not Possible: Exploring Safe and Sustainable Infant Feeding Options in All Contexts", Frontiers in Nutrition is happy to launch a second Research Topic on this important area.

Infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IYCF-E) remains a critically under-documented and underfunded area despite its lifesaving potential. During crises—whether due to armed conflict, displacement, food insecurity, climate-related disasters, or disease outbreaks—disruptions to breastfeeding and safe complementary feeding practices can significantly increase the risk of malnutrition, illness, and death among infants and young children.
The Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (OG-IFE) offers a practical framework for governments, humanitarian actors, and donors to protect, promote, and support optimal IYCF practices during emergencies. However, evidence on the real-world implementation of the OG-IFE, including challenges, innovative approaches, adaptations, and effectiveness, remains limited and fragmented.

This second call for papers aims to broaden the scope beyond support for non-breastfed infants to include a full spectrum of IYCF-E programming and research experiences. We welcome contributions that critically examine the application of the OG-IFE in humanitarian and fragile settings and highlight interventions that ensure safe and appropriate infant and young child feeding during emergencies.

We invite original research articles, program evaluations, implementation science studies, case studies, and field reports that document efforts to implement the OG-IFE in diverse emergency contexts. Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Operationalization of the OG-IFE in crisis contexts:
o National or subnational adoption and integration into preparedness and response frameworks and planning documents
o Barriers and enablers to implementation
o Experiences with coordination, policy alignment, and intersectoral integration (e.g., with WASH, protection, health, food security, and other sectors)

• Interventions to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding:
o Community-based or facility-based breastfeeding support, including mother-baby tents or safe spaces
o Peer support programs, psychosocial support, and counseling
o Strategies to support mothers with disrupted lactation, including relactation and wet nursing
o Addressing breastfeeding challenges in contexts of trauma, insecurity, or maternal illness

• Capacity building of health and humanitarian workers in IYCF-E/MIYCN-E:
o Training and mentorship models to equip frontline health workers, nutrition staff, and emergency responders with the skills and knowledge to implement the OG-IFE
o Evaluation of pre-service and in-service training curricula for IYCF-E and MIYCN-E across humanitarian and fragile settings
o Innovations in training delivery, including remote learning, cascade training, and blended modalities in conflict-affected or low-resource contexts
o Documentation of the effectiveness, reach, and scalability of workforce capacity-building efforts, including engagement with community-based actors and peer counselors

• Complementary feeding in emergencies:
o Implementation of safe and culturally appropriate complementary feeding interventions in displacement or food-insecure settings
o Use of local or fortified complementary foods, responsive feeding practices, and food distribution linkages

• Human milk alternatives and innovations:
o Experiences with donor human milk, human milk banks, and pasteurized milk in emergency contexts
o Relactation efforts, human milk, or innovative delivery models for feeding support
o Wet nursing efforts, operationalization of the new UNICEF wet nursing guidance, case studies, and intervention studies

• Use of breast-milk substitutes (BMS):
o Implementation of OG-IFE provisions in situations where infant formula is required
o Case studies of controlled distribution of infant formula aligned with international standards
o Monitoring, documentation, and lessons learned from programs that responsibly provided BMS in emergencies

• Program effectiveness, ethics, and accountability:
o Evidence of impact, cost-effectiveness, or sustainability of IYCF-E programs
o Ethical dilemmas in providing feeding support during emergencies
o Community engagement and accountability to affected populations

We encourage submissions from humanitarian practitioners, researchers, academicians, scientists, government actors, and frontline implementers. Submissions should:

• Clearly describe the emergency or fragile context
• Highlight how the OG-IFE (the standards, recommendations, or principles) was applied or operationalized
• Include practical lessons learned and recommendations for future programming

All article types are welcome, including original research, review articles, case studies, and policy briefs. Articles must adhere to ethical principles and standards of publication. Collaborative submissions between local and international partners are strongly encouraged.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: infant and young child feeding, emergencies, OG-IFE, breastfeeding support, complementary feeding, humanitarian settings, capacity building, breast-milk substitutes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.