Dear friends,

We are happy to send you the final announcement text for WBW 2003. In this
revised version, the final slogan reads: Breastfeeding in a Globalised
World - for Peace and Justice.

We apologise for the delay in sending you the final text as there were a
number of emerging issues and concerns that the WABA Steering Committee
members had to discuss and debate on following our first announcement. We
believe this modified text better reflect the current concerns and mood of
citizens worldwide.

Do share this text with your friends and partners as widely as you can. As
in previous years, please feel free to use in full or adapt for your
local/national audience. Thank you.

We wish you every success for your WBW preparations.

With warm regards,
Denise Arcoverde
WABA Steering Committee

**********************************************
Breastfeeding in a Globalised World
- for peace and justice

Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding and the best possible
complementary feeding for infants and young children is the collective
campaign purpose of the world wide breastfeeding movement as it prepares to
celebrate World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2003.

Globalisation is a manifold and sometimes even an elusive concept for there
is no single definition. It has been defined as the intensification of
worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that
local happenings are shaped by events many miles away and vice versa. The
result of this interconnectedness of globalisation can have both positive
and negative impact on breastfeeding.

The current trend of globalisation is predominantly based on structuring a
single global economy powered by transnational corporations and financial
markets. Increasingly, globalisation is shaping a world where trade
agreements, world trade organization priorities and the economic interests
of transnational corporations hold sway and are no longer accountable to
governments, let alone the needs of mothers and children.

In a globalised world, policy makers face new obstacles in implementating
the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and the
relevant subsequent Resolutions of the World Health Assembly. Spreading
privatisation of health care and hospitals may well put profits ahead of
public health needs and breastfeeding friendly practices. Global
deregulation and harmonisation are overriding national policies to regulate
the marketing and labelling of infant feeding products and genetically
modified ingredients, gradually making their way into infant foods, are
claiming the product to be closer to breastmilk than ever before. And in the
face of the global HIV epidemic, mothers are expected to make difficult
decisions in order to select infant feeding options that are in the best
interest of their children.

Although the agenda of globalisation may set economic goals above health, we
can at the same time utilise its tools and structures to create peace and
justice and a better world for all.  Mothers, parents, women's groups,
health care workers, institutions, and environmental networks are indeed
resorting to new and creative ways to ensure that the protection for infant
and child health that is conferred through breastfeeding remains safe and
sound.

Our tools for achieving this are impressive. We have the Global Strategy for
Infant and Young Child Feeding, endorsed unanimously in 2002 at the World
Health Assembly and by the Executive Board of UNICEF. The Strategy gives us
a universal framework for action to address a number of challenges facing
those working for breastfeeding. The Global Strategy notes that trade
agreements and World Trade Organization priorities should not override the
needs of mothers and children; and that governments need to continue their
commitments to the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes and the relevant subsequent Resolutions of the World
Health Assembly.

And we can mobilize. Today, as never before, coalitions and individuals can
join forces across the globe, voicing concerns, "fighting against war",
raising awareness among the general population, and insisting that policy-
and decision-makers address issues of concern.

Mothers' groups all over the globe can demonstrate the power and joy of
mutual support, knowing that they share this act of love with all mothers
around the world. Researchers can insist on independent research that can
make a difference in providing reliable information when mothers confront
infant feeding decisions in the face of the HIV epidemic. Coalitions can
come together to ensure that claims are not made for "new and improved
formulas" to mislead parents into believing that artificial feeding confers
benefits similar to breastmilk.

In 2003, we need to use the mechanisms available to us through globalisation
to bring people together, finding positive ways to address the challenges of
globalisation and creating viable solutions. Working together, members of
the global breastfeeding movement can have a positive impact on the
structures and on individuals  - both internationally and within local
communities - that influence and enable women to breastfeed and to provide
optimal care for their children.


Our goals for World Breastfeeding Week 2003 are:

·         To recognise the threats and opportunities of globalisation for
breastfeeding practices
·         To maximise the potential of global communications to educate
people on the benefits of breastfeeding and appropriate complementary
feeding, and the disadvantages of artificial feeding
·         To promote and act on the Global Strategy for Infant and Young
Child Feeding
·         To prevent the weakening of the International Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent relevant WHA resolutions
·         To work with potential allies by building alliances with civil
society movements fighting for global justice, peace and health for all
·         To think globally and act locally with all sectors of the
community to protect, promote and support breastfeeding

Challenges:

·         Trade agreements should not
-          Undermine a nation's Code implementation or national laws
regulating infant feeding products and food labelling
-          Weaken a government's ability to develop and enforce national
infant feeding policies, in matters such as breastfeeding, indigenous foods,
genetically modified food ingredients, labelling of infant foods, and food
safety standards
·         Privatisation of health and nutrition care services could
-          Divert funds from public health systems, diminishing their
capacity to provide high quality services, especially to the poor and needy
-          Decrease the accountability of governments for ensuring health
care
-          Decrease the neutrality of UN agencies and organisations that
partner with private sector businesses and corporations, in accordance with
respect for the Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent
relevant WHA resolutions.
-          Undermine publicly-funded programmes and initiatives that promote
breastfeeding (e.g. BFHI)
-          Increase disparities among the rich and poor, particularly for
women in low-income countries and areas

·         The global breastfeeding movement must catch up to and monitor the
activities of the private sector, which has been introducing components that
may not be Codex approved, such as milk that has undergone genetic
modification, acidifiers, and pro-biotic components, into infant formula in
recent years, advertising these as improvements. We must call for
independent research to determine whether it is wise to test such products
on our most vulnerable citizens.

Opportunities:

·         Increased worldwide cooperation among members of the breastfeeding
movement to address common problems and issues
·         Enhanced understanding of global issues among various civil
society organisations working towards global and public justice
·         Improved access to efficient, low-cost communication tools that
link people with one another across the globe
·         Potential links and alliances with the People's Health Movement
celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma Ata on health
for all.

Tools for Action

Supportive legal instruments, technical documents, strategies, guidelines,
and global networks through which breastfeeding advocates can work:
·         Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding
·         International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and
subsequent relevant WHA resolutions
·         World Health Assembly Resolutions on Infant and Young Child
Nutrition
·         ILO Conventions on maternity protection
·         Convention on the Rights of the Child
·         Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination in all forms
Against Women
·         Millennium Development Goals
·         Codex Alimentarius Commission
·         Alliance for a Corporate-Free UN
·         International Forum on Globalisation

             ***********************************************

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