Gina Infant Nutrition Alliance CIC

GINA Infant Nutrition Alliance CIC started providing breastfeeding support in Gaza in August 2024. With a humble beginning of a team of 6 healthcare workers (contractors) who received detailed training and were linked to lactation consultants in the UK (volunteers) as mentors the core team established its presence as an effective supporter of mothers and vulnerable infants. In the first 13 months GINA supported 14,706 breastfeeding mothers in Gaza and improved their ability to breastfeeding their infants. The team in Gaza gradually expanded over 13 months to cover 5 hospitals and a community clinic in collaboration with MSF Spain, by end of August 2025 the team has 33 lactation advisors, 2 administrators and 2 data analysts. The team in the UK and Europe (all volunteers) also expanded to include 20 lactation consultants and 20 Arabic-speaking healthcare workers providing translation, for the WhatsApp-mediated remote support scheme. GINA delivered capacity building workshops on the ground for other NGOs such as MDM France, MSF France, MSF Belgium and Ard Al Insan and is currently delivering the breastfeeding support part of the WHO training for primary care staff workshops in Gaza, over 200 healthcare workers attended these workshops between Aug 2024 and Aug 2025. GINA supports 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) with lactation advisors, breast pumps and sterile milk bags. We also pay for transport for the mothers who are unable to attend the hospital to breastfeed their NICU babies due to lack of cash. GINA has become the hub for caring for Cleft Lip and Palate infants in Gaza, with 34 infants being followed up for nutrition and liaising with surgical expeditions to operate on the children as safely as possible. GINA is currently in the process of signing up a project with the World Health Organisation focusing on the prevention and management of malnutrition in infants less than 6 months old in Gazan Hospitals. The Total number of mothers who had benefitted from GINA's services in Gaza is around 10,000 lactating women, providing lifesaving breastmilk to at least 10,000 infants below the age of 24 months. GINA's work has also contributed to scientific conferences and publications, as per the following list: 1. Lactation Consultants of Great Britain Conference (18th-19th Sept 2024) - Outstanding Award for Contribution to Breastfeeding and human Milk - First Prize for poster Presentation 2. Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Nurture International conference MAINN, Cumbria UK (28th-20th April 2025) - Supporting Breastfeeding in conflict zones: workshop delivered by GINA 3. Scottish Neonatal nurses Conference, Glasgow, UK (6th June 2025) Breastfeeding Support in Emergencies – presentation 4.Supporting, Protecting and Sustaining Breastfeeding in Conflict Zones: The Gaza Experience. Webinar hosted by eCrianza – Spain, 12/07/2025 Published papers: 1. GINA infant nutrition alliance supports breastfeeding in Gaza. Discover Public Health 22, 436 (2025). Qudieh, A., ldhiar, H., Ajweh, Y. White, M. Haridas, R. Yassi, A. 2. Gaza’s infant malnutrition crisis needs more than just infant formula. Maternal and Child Nutrition/ Volume 22, issue 1/ e70131(2025). Gribble, K., Al Soufi, R, et al End of Report