Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene announced a new directive on maternal and newborn rights in Kathmandu on 15 October 2026, issuing the Maternal and Newborn-Friendly Health Institution Program Operation Directive, 2083. The measure is intended to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and replaces the framework previously used for the programme under the Maternal and Newborn-Friendly Service Campaign Directive, 2073.
A new framework for maternal and newborn services
The directive updates the basis for operating the maternal and newborn-friendly health institution programme. By replacing the 2073 campaign directive, it moves the programme to a new operational framework and further systematises an initiative that had been run under the earlier guidance.
The stated purpose is to ensure the rights of mothers and newborns. The directive also explicitly gives breastfeeding a central place, setting out the government’s aim to protect, promote and support it. These objectives link the programme’s focus on health institutions with the rights and needs of mothers and newborns.
The change is therefore more than a retitling of the earlier campaign guidance: the ministry has issued a directive specifically for the operation of the programme. The available announcement describes the policy’s overall purpose and its relationship to the previous directive, but does not detail individual implementation measures or specify how institutions will be assessed under the new framework.
Replacing the 2073 campaign directive
The previous programme was run under the Maternal and Newborn-Friendly Service Campaign Directive, 2073. The newly issued 2083 directive replaces that document and is intended to make the programme more systematic. The change establishes a new point of reference for the initiative while retaining its focus on maternal and newborn-friendly services.
The two directives are identified by their Nepali calendar years. The new document’s title marks it as the 2083 operation directive, while the earlier campaign directive was issued under the year 2073. The announcement does not provide further details about the transition, including whether existing programme activities will continue unchanged or what timetable institutions will follow in applying the new guidance.
Breastfeeding and rights at the centre
The ministry’s stated aims bring together two priorities: ensuring the rights of mothers and newborns, and protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding. The directive frames breastfeeding not as a separate concern but as part of the programme’s broader maternal and newborn-friendly approach.
The announcement in Kathmandu provides the central elements of the policy: its formal title, its purpose, its breastfeeding focus and the earlier directive it replaces. It does not, however, set out specific service requirements, enforcement arrangements or measures for monitoring progress. Those details are not included in the information accompanying the announcement.
By issuing a dedicated operation directive, the ministry has revised the framework under which the programme is run. Its stated direction is clear: to systematise the initiative and place the rights of mothers and newborns, alongside support for breastfeeding, at the heart of maternal and newborn-friendly health services.
