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NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women has reiterated the need for the government to initiate policies that make it compulsory for organisations to provide a safer working environment for lactating mothers in workplaces.
The President of NNEW, Mrs Funmilayo Arowoogun, made the call during an advocacy visit to the Institute of Directors Nigeria in Lagos recently.
Arowoogun explained that friendly workplaces in the country were currently less than one per cent for nursing mothers with only a few organisations providing facilities and policies that aid nursing mothers.
She said, “If the workplaces are friendly, by providing crèches and lactation facilities, nursing mothers will be able to drop their babies for care. While mothers will have peace of mind, the baby will be well-fed and comfortable and the mothers, in turn, will be able to give their best to organisations where they work.”
The NNEW president further said that the government could boost such policy by ensuring that organisations that support safer working environments for nursing mothers are granted tax waivers.
“NNEW is working with Alive &Thrive, a donor agency on a project centred on a baby-friendly workplace for nursing mothers and we know that IoD Nigeria is a very strategic organisation with members comprising directors of organisations in Nigeria, where a lot of women work.
“We believe that if we can work with IoD and collaborate with their members, they will be able to realise the benefits of making the workplace friendly for nursing mothers. A baby that is well-fed does not fall ill but is strong. So, we will be able to build a stronger generation of Nigerians,” she maintained.
Arowogun stated that through this partnership, the two organisations will be able to influence policies towards making the workplace baby-friendly.
On his part, the Director-General, and Chief Executive Officer of Institute of Directors Nigeria, Bamidele Alimi, lauded the project, promising that the institute would give the association needed support to realise the objective.
He noted that in other climes, leaders had moved beyond trying to convince people to provide a work-friendly environment for mothers.
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