Forwarding with permission.
Nan Jolly
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Labbok" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 10:05 PM
Subject: Re: [bfmed] Unicef
Dear All:
Please understand - and I'm sure that you who know me understand - that I am totally supportive of productive efforts in support of the Code, BFHI, Innocenti, etc.
Supportive forward looking communications for mutual planning sometimes have a positive impact. Some of the letters received fall into this category.
Allow me to assure one and all that a negative, somewhat personal, attack on the head of a multilateral organization, whether or not they made any one decision, does not help the cause.
Best,
M
Miriam H. Labbok, MD, MPH
Senior Advisor, Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care
UNICEF/PD/Nutrition,
UNICEF House, Room 756
3 UN Plaza, East 44th St.
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212 326-7368
Fax: 212 326-7129
If you are unable to reach me in an emergency, please contact the Program Assistant for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care, Ms. Willis Demas ([log in to unmask])
For Every Child: Health, Education, Equality, Protection
ADVANCE HUMANITY
----- Original Message -----
From: INFACT Canada
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 2:55 PM
Subject: ACTION ALERT - UNICEF Withdrawing Support for the International Code!
Anne Veneman recently took over the post of the Executive Director of the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), but has already made some startling changes to the organization.
Veneman, who was picked by President Bush for the position, has announced that UNICEF will no longer provide legal assistance for governments in order to enact the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes
into national legislation. Since the International Code was passed in 1981, UNICEF has helped 64 countries legistlate some form of the Code, and 23 additional countries now have similar laws pending. The withdrawl of
UNICEF's support in this process seriously damages the ability of any further nations to pass the International Code into law.
A lack of strong legal measures controlling the marketing of breastmilk substitues puts infants and young children at risk and will surely impede the achievement of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goal of reducing global infant mortality by two thirds by 2015. This decision by Veneman clearly runs counter to UNICEF's mandate of protecting the health of infants and young children the world over.
Veneman's action is all the more disheartening because of her links to major food companies. Before becoming Seceratary of Agriculture under George W. Bush, she served on the International Policy Council on Agriculture, Food and Trade, a group funded in part by Nestle, the world's largest baby food manufacturer and the greatest single violator of the International Code.
While many doubt that Veneman's experience as a corporate lawyer for major food companies qualified her to head UNICEF, unfortunately she has already been appointed and the international community will have to do its best to cooperate. This is a drastically important issue and urgent action is needed. Please inform Veneman that cutting support for the International Code is an absolutely unacceptable decision that will cost young lives.
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