Karleen
 
The UNICEF offices in developed countries are basically NGOs of the host country and the main mandate is fundraising for UNICEF.
 
UNICEF in and of itself is a fund tied to the UN and not actually a part of the structure such as the WHO, etc. It is considered an equal partner in many things today but this is not how it is structurally. 
 
It is a business . The mother ship is the one that puts out the policies and programs for the parts of the world that receive help. The National Committes (Nat Comm) raise one third of the total budget the rest comes from contributions from governments, etc.
 
These National Committees can retain a portion of their earning and thus pay staff, have local projects and also contribute to other projects of interest in the world. They also receive info and publications from UNICEF which can be distributed and used as seen fit.
 
Some National Committees are very involved in breastfeeding promotion and some are not.
 
I was involved with our Israeli Committee for almost 20 years as the breastfeeding person. 
 
We were mainly involved in advocacy and most efforts  for projects were almost all self funded.  Our committee did not earn very much and as a result, after 40 years in existence, we were told to dissolve. The group is being recreated as basically a non profit organization with a business bent.  Advocacy may be there but fundraising is its main purpose.
 
There is a lot of competition for the same private donor money, e.g.  Save the Children, GOBI (immunizations) 
 
I am writing all of this to let people know why their individual UNICEFs, if served by a committee (about 34 countries), are doing what they do. Do not expect each country to have obligations and results.
 
A lot of politics are involved, as in most parts of our lives.
 
If you are lucky your country will put out WBW supporting info. This is not part of their mandate.
There are materials put out by various organizations which collaborate with UNICEF.
 
The actual UNICEF, in the last few years, has had a lot of turmoil in the breastfeeding area. It had huge importance in the time of Jim Grant. 
 
After his death it started to go down  the tubes- slowly. Breastfeeding projects are now part of other programs and do not  stand alone. There are no full time expert consultants on the payroll .
 
The good news is that there have been a lot of new appointments in the last few years to the main organization and there is hope for the future.
 
Bottom line, it is your local UNICEF NatComm's job if they want it to be its job.
 
I hope my above post is not too turgid and oblique, I am being diplomatic.
And the info is to the best of my knowledge and my personal interpretation.
 
We have to also remember the great amount of work that has been done by all of us which began with  the seven mothers in a Chicago suburb a little over 50 years ago. World Breastfeeding week is a small part of the big wave we have created.
 
Evi Adams
Israel

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