Dear Friends,

Greetings from WABA, and Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

This year WABA celebrates the 22nd year of our flagship World Breastfeeding Week (Aug 1-7)! For your information, the campaign reaches out to a growing number of people from all over the world, including people’s organisations and groups, NGOs, governments, and is endorsed by the WHO and UNICEF. All come together every year to mobilise on and highlight critical Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) issues that the WABA network raises.

For 2014 WABA asserts the importance of increasing and sustaining the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding with the theme, BREASTFEEDING: A Winning Goal - for Life! – for the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) countdown, and beyond. Adopted at the Millennium Summit in 2000, the eight global MDGs were set in 1990 by governments and the United Nations to fight poverty and promote healthy and sustainable development by 2015. Breastfeeding is linked to them all!

To assist WBW celebrants with their events, and for those interested to know more, WABA has made available a range of information materials we gladly invite you to use, that is available on the WBW 2014 website

Specifically, we would like to share information about the WABA Information Materials for World Breastfeeding Week, as follows:
1) English language WBW 2014 Action Folder, see:
Download Section

Action Folder translations and adaptations are also available in the downloads section.
· The WBW 2014 Action Folder has also been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese Lusophone, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Serbian, and Chinese (traditional); and adapted into Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu, Dutch, Oriya, Marathi and Croatian
· WBW Logos available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Dutch and Serbian;
· WBW Poster available in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Dutch, Serbian and Brazilian Portuguese.

2) Endorsement and Letter of Support from UNICEF, and Statement of Support from WHO, see:

· Letter of Support from UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week 2014
· WHO Statement of Support on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week 2014

3) WABA WBW 2014 Press Release


4) WHO-UNICEF Early Initiation of Breastfeeding Brochure

WABA is pleased to share the brochure developed jointly by Nutrition and Maternal, Newborn and Child Health colleagues on the crucial link between breastfeeding and newborn survival and health. Led by UNICEF and WHO, the brochure has been endorsed by a wide array of organizations (17 in total!) who are joining together to advocate, raise attention and strengthen programmatic efforts in order to enable more mothers to breastfeed. It is quite exciting to see global momentum to support breastfeeding growing through a variety of advocacy initiatives, including the Every Newborn Action Plan which is integrating breastfeeding counselling and support as an essential part of community maternal and newborn care programmes. We hope that you will be able to use the brochure in your own advocacy efforts during World Breastfeeding Week and beyond. We encourage you to share this with partners. See the brochure here

5) PDF and Prezi Issue Presentations (based on the Action Folder content), see:

· PDF format
· Prezi format

We hope you find these useful.

WABA wishes you every success in your WBW activities and events!

Jennifer Mourin,
WABA WBW Global Coordinator

WABA calls on all celebrants of WBW to Protect, Promote and Support Breastfeeding!

Please note: WABA does not accept sponsorship of any kind from companies producing breastmilk substitutes, related equipment and complementary foods. WABA encourages all participants of World Breastfeeding Week to respect and follow this ethical stance.

For more information contact: Jennifer Mourin, Global WBW Coordinator.
Email: wbw@waba.org.my

History and Background to World Breastfeeding Week
(See more here: http://worldbreastfeedingweek.net/): )

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) was formed in 1991 to act on the Innocenti Declaration (1990) to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. As part of its action plan to facilitate and strengthen social mobilisation for breastfeeding, WABA envisioned a global unifying breastfeeding promotion strategy. A day dedicated to breastfeeding was suggested to be marked in the calendar of international events. The idea of a day's celebration was later turned into a week.

This has become to be known as World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) celebrated every 1-7 August to commemorate the Innocenti Declaration. WBW was first celebrated in 1992. Now it involves over 170 countries and is endorsed by UNICEF, WHO, FAO and IPA.

Overall coordination of WBW is done at the WABA Secretariat in Penang, Malaysia, which includes the selection of the theme and slogan, identifying resource persons for a specific theme and the preparation and dissemination of WBW materials such as the calendar announcement, posters, action folders and banners. These advocacy materials serve to stimulate action among local groups, governments, UN and other agencies and other issue organisations for their own WBW activities in their area/country.

In conjunction with International Women’s Day (IWD) which falls on 8th March, WABA invites you to take this time to reflect on the social changes necessary to ensure full economic, political and social equality for all women – especially breastfeeding mothers who face numerous challenges in their quest to provide the best for their children and families.

WABA calls upon individuals and communities to recognise the value of breastfeeding to women, children, families and communities. Full equality for breastfeeding mothers would in fact contribute toward progress for all.

For the full WABA statement please click here.

United Nations IWD theme please click here

Dear World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2013 Celebrants and Supporters,

Greetings from the WABA Secretariat!

We would like to sincerely thank all WBW celebrants from over the globe who celebrated WBW so successfully this year. To date, we received 316 pledges for events taking place globally, involving more than 1,248,142 celebrants. THANK YOU for all your great work, and Congratulations to everyone involved for making WBW such a success!

WABA is now pleased to announce that the slogan and theme for WBW 2014 is BREASTFEEDING: A Winning Goal - for Life! The theme asserts the importance of increasing and sustaining the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding - in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) countdown, and beyond.

This focus was discussed and decided on at the WABA Extraordinary Global Breastfeeding Partners Meeting (EBPM) held in Penang, 8-10 November 2013; with earlier discussions during the WABA Global Forum and Global Breastfeeding Partners Meeting (GBPM) 2010; as well as at the 2011 and 2012 WABA Steering Committee Meetings.

The WABA Senior Technical Advisor, Amal Omer-Salim, has been appointed Key Writer for the WBW 2014 Calendar Announcement and Action Folder, working with small team of WABA SC members, and Core Partner representatives.

WBW 2014 Objectives are:

1. To inform people about the MDGs and how they relate to Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding.
   
2. To showcase the progress made so far and the key gaps in Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding.
   
3. To call attention to the importance of STEPPING UP actions to protect, promote and support breastfeeding as a key intervention in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) countdown, and in the post 2015 era.
   
4. To stimulate interest amongst young people of both genders to see the relevance of breastfeeding in today's changing world.
   

The Calendar Announcement will be developed and should be ready for distribution in January 2014. So do keep a lookout for it.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year!

Jennifer Mourin
WABA WBW Coordinator

Congratulations to Dr Miriam Labbok on being the first recipient of the Carl E. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Public Health Association's International Health Section on 5 November 2013. WABA is very proud to have you as the Co-Chair of our Steering Committee as well as a regional representative for North America from our Core Partner, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM). We look forward to your continued guidance to move forward WABA's agenda to protect, promote and support breastfeeding worldwide. Best wishes, Dato Anwar Fazal, Chairperson Emeritus, WABA.

See also: articles on http://www2.sph.unc.edu/schoolwide_news/labbok_presented_with_apha_lifetime_achievement_award_28000_8289.html

(Photo caption: Dr. Miriam Labbok, right, accepts the lifetime achievement award from Professor Gopal Sankaran, chair of the International Health Section awards committee. Source: UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health).

Oct 8, 2013 - WABA announces the launch of the global report Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2013, focusing on "Alternatives and Resistance to Policies that Generate Hunger".

Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2013 points out that in recent years, several schemes related to food, agriculture and nutrition lead by the most powerful countries in the world in close cooperation with corporations have gained unprecedented influence. The new precept in international affairs appears to be that no major development project can be carried out without the active participation of major corporations and their front foundations/agencies, often in the form of public-private partnership (PPP). WABA believes that programmes related to food and nutrition, health care and development and, especially programmes on infant and young child feeding, should be free from commercial influence and conflicts of interest. Breastfeeding has a vital role in making food security a reality for millions of babies born every year. Breastmilk is the first food for babies, and breastfeeding also benefits women, families, communities, and our planet. There is an urgent need to question this trend as it should be clear to everyone that the interests of corporations do not always align with public interests. The key message of Right to Food and Nutrition Watch this year is that people's participation in the planning, development and implementation of alternatives to dominant policies in food, agriculture and nutrition is needed to challenge the current balance of power and effectively tackle hunger. It is of utmost importance to engage rights holders—people, communities and their organizations—in the design and implementation of policies that affect their daily lives.

See more at Advocacy section

Today we celebrate the 21st WABA coordinated World Breastfeeding Week (WBW), which will have breastfeeding advocates, government officials, groups and individuals in over 174 countries worldwide celebrating the WBW theme 'BREASTFEEDING SUPPORT: Close to MOTHERS' - focusing on breastfeeding peer counselling.

"Women are often drawn to other women with whom they share life experiences, especially when those experiences relate to parenting. When new mothers have someone who can understand and identify with their experiences, they can better enjoy and cope with parenthood. A peer counsellor is an invaluable partner with mothers in their journey through parenthood, helping them gain confidence in their ability to breastfeed" states Anne Batterjee of La Leche League International, and key writer of the theme-related WBW Action Folder produced by WABA.

Do check out the WABA created WBW 2013 website for a wealth of materials including the WABA Press Release, Action Folders, Posters etc; Letters and Statements of Support from UNICEF and WHO!

WABA looks forward to collaborating with celebrants around the world to make World Breastfeeding Week 2013 a great success in promoting peer counselling as a vital way in which mothers can get support close to where they are.

Celebrating the role of fathers in the lives of children and their mothers in fostering a healthy and loving family!

Father's Day is usually celebrated all over the world on the 3rd Sunday of June to pay tribute to fathers' substantial role in the lives of their children. Ideally speaking their contribution begins even before their babies are born! Starting from taking care of the mothers throughout the maternity period to the delivery time and onwards.

To read full statement online by WABA on Father's Day ,please click here.

To read full statement by WABA on Father's Day in PDF, please click here.

Please share the statement with your constituencies and friends. We encourage you to adapt and widely use the statement to suit your local/national context and do give us your feedback if you use it.

"Countries need to improve their national laws on maternity protection and should aim to ratify ILO Convention C183 for all working women!"

On the eve of International Labour Day on 1st of May 2013, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) reiterates its stand that all countries in the world should improve their legislation on maternity protection and ratify the most recent ILO convention on maternity protection for working women (C183, 2000) as a step towards addressing the problems that working mothers all over the world have to face during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period.

To read full statement online by WABA on "International Labour Day" please click here.

To download PDF document of the statement, please click here

In conjunction with International Women's Day, on 8th of March WABA is pleased to present our Statement on the theme "The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum".

International Women's Day (IWD) is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of supporting mothers who increasingly work both at home and elsewhere in the formal and informal sectors. In some instances even playing the role of the main breadwinner of the family.

Women everywhere have to juggle with the increasing and competing demands on them - from their families, children, partners and work. Women's struggles to balance their productive and reproductive roles often come at enormous cost to themselves and their breastfeeding babies.

To view the full Statement please click here.

Please share the Statement with your constituencies and friends. We encourage you to adapt and widely use the statement to suit your local/national contest and do give us your feedback if you use it.

We are also pleased to share that WABA with WCC (Women Centre for Change Penang) and MMPS (Penang Mother-to-Mother Peer Support) celebrates the Penang State "Penang Women Rising" IWD event on 8 March.

Together WABA and WCC dances the BREAK THE CHAIN dance revolution that was performed on 14 February for One Billion Rising.

Watch our video on the dance

And together with MMPS, WABA supports the MPBF (Make Penang Breastfeeding Friendly) Campaign at the Penang State IWD celebration.

Here is the video of the "BREAK THE CHAIN" dance performed on 8th of March at the IWD celebrations at Esplanade,Penang.

Comments by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) on DRAFT Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Health (WHO, UNICEF, Governments of Botswana and Sweden

WABA is pleased to note that health related goals will continue to be prominent in the post 2015 agenda. There is still the "unfinished business" in relation to the current health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the same time, more evidence now exists to support the fact that breastfeeding is a key intervention for infant and maternal health and survival, both in the short-term and long-term (including non-communicable diseases/NCDs).

Read more about it on Advocacy Websection

In response to repeated requests for in-depth training on breastfeeding and related aspects of young child feeding to be made available regionally, WABA and the Infant Feeding Consortium are introducing a 2-week course in Penang. Short practical courses are widely used and successful, but the need for more advanced training for doctors and other senior health professionals has not been met.

The course is specially designed for doctors and other senior health professionals from the region who are responsible nationally or locally for:
- clinical care of mothers and infants
- teaching short courses
- pre-service curricula for health professionals
- advocacy and policy development
- implementation of programmes such as the BFHI.

The Infant Feeding Consortium directs the 4-week course Breastfeeding: Practice and Policy (now called the Infant Feeding: Practice and Policy Course (IFPP)) from United Kingdom, and they will be responsible for organising the course in collaboration with WABA. Teaching will be conducted mainly in English, with some use of Bahasa Malaysia.

If you or your colleagues might be interested in applying, please fill in our application form . If you like to know more about the course, please contact WABA at info@waba.org.my.

Click here to download brochure.

We are pleased to share with you WABA's statement for the World AIDS Day 2012 on the theme "Getting to Zero: Health for all HIV-Positive mothers and Zero HIV-transmission to their babies".

In conjunction with World AIDS Day, WABA is pleased to launch a resource document on HIV and breastfeeding with the title "Understanding International Policy on HIV and Breastfeeding: a comprehensive resource". This resource aims to clarify the confusion which has arisen during the last decade due to changing HIV and infant feeding guidance. The resource is intended for policy-makers, breastfeeding advocates, national breastfeeding committees, public health advocates, women's health activists and others working in the community.

This Resource also summarises up-to-date scientific evidence as at the end of 2012. Research emerging between WHO's 2006 and 2010 guidance documents shows conclusively that maternal/infant ARV regimens during pregnancy and breastfeeding greatly reduce vertical transmission of HIV; and that exclusive and continued breastfeeding significantly improves overall HIV-free survival.

Please click here for the statement

Please click here to access the full HIV Resource document.

WABA was recently alarmed to learn of the proposed consolidated draft Bill before the Philippines Congress, and joined hundreds to protest the proposal that will effectively overturn and weaken the milestone National Milk Code (EO 51).

See more at: Advocacy Section

The tabulation of votes for the WABA Steering Committee Election 2012 was officiated and certified by a legal officer and WABA's auditor, and witnessed by WABA Executive Director and Senior Coordinator at the WABA office on Thursday 21 June 2012.

The following candidates (for the Asia-Pacific position and Latin America & the Caribbean position) received the highest votes and are duly elected to serve in the committee:

a. Asia-Pacific Steering Committee Position - Dr Rukhsana Haider , Bangladesh

b. Latin America & the Caribbean Steering Committee Position - Irma Chavarria de Maza (Mimi de Maza), Guatemala

For the Steering Committee positions for Africa and North America, the following candidates were elected uncontested:

a. Africa Steering Committee Position - Hussein H.T. Tarimo, Botswana

b. North America Steering Committee Position – Dr Miriam Labbok, USA

The elected Steering Committee members will serve for three years from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015.

Congratulations to the newly elected Steering Committee members.

11 July - On the occasion of the 3rd Peoples Health Assembly (PHA3), held in Cape Town, South Africa (July 6-11), WABA is updating the information on the Healthy Documents Website - see: http://www.healthydocuments.org/ It is hoped, this updated site, which now also includes People's Declarations/Statements, continues to be a source of useful information, and an important action tool for advocacy to promote people's health. We welcome feedback and suggestions on this site.

Additionally, for this occasion, WABA is happy to present the professionally designed up version of the "21 Dangers of Infant Formula" poster, sharing information on the effects that Formula companies do not want you to know about. The evidence based references and sources of information are presented on the back of the poster, see here

This is a highly readable and encouraging introduction to the topic. It is filled with practical advice. You will find solutions to problems large and small, as well as topics ranging from sore nipples to the feeding of a premature baby. The book also provides a fascinating insight into the checkered history of breastfeeding from ancient times to the present. Why was it that in the past healthy well-to-do women so often entrusted their precious infants to the care of professional wet nurses? What led generations of physicians to draw up rules that made it impossible for many mothers to breastfeed? And how and why did science and common sense triumph in the end

Authors: Elisabet Helsing and Anna-Pia Häggkvist

For more information please visit Health Care Practices Page

The publisher of Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health (the official journal of the American College of Nurse-Midwives) offers all the WBW celebrants the free access to their special issue (Volume 52, Issue 6) on breastfeeding issues. This will be open until the end of August 2012 in celebration of World Breastfeeding week.

Click here to go to the link on WBW webpage

For every pledge that is received, the WBW 2012 Logo will appear on the world map – listing the names of celebrants! To participate, just complete this pledge form and send it back to WABA as an attachment by emailing to wbw@waba.org.my

To view it please visit our Advocacy Websection

See more here

Penang Medical College and World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) will be holding a 2-day conference on May 3 and 4, 2012.

At this conference, we aim to present and discuss current status of lactation management curriculum in Malaysian medical schools. There will also be updates on the newer evidence and practices in lactation management and medical education. The programme will include workshops focusing on enhancing current curriculum. Our list of speakers includes international authorities in breastfeeding and medical education.

International Speakers:
Dr Audrey Naylor, Wellstart International, USA
Dr Felicity Savage, Institute for Child Health, UK
Dr Miriam Labbok, University of North Carolina, USA

Audience:
The target audience is as follows:
1. Medical curriculum committee members
2. Medical educators responsible for teaching lactation management in each of the relevant disciplines
3. Medical education experts

Venue: The Northam All Suites, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Penang.

TO REGISTER: Please fill in the form from WABA website and email it back to Ms Pei Ching at info@waba.org.my

For more information please download the brochure.

On this date 21 years ago, WABA began as a global force for happiness, riding on the impetus of the Innocenti Declaration to bring about the needed change for healthier mothers and babies, and by extension, a better world. WABA was created as the people's force to mobilize actions to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. As a network of networks and organisations, the thrust of WABA's work has been to provide common platforms to facilitate collective action globally, the World Breastfeeding Week campaign being the main avenue.

Twenty-one years on, WABA has also made it our priority to nurture and mobilise young people on our issues, actions and campaigns to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Today, 14 February 2012, we have the pleasure to announce the launch of WABA's most recent video "Feed the Future", an outcome of the the WBW 2011 and workshops for young people in Penang, Malaysia. Visit us frequently to see the series of short videos to come.

Click here to view the full statement.
Click here to view the Chinese version of the full statement.

FEED THE FUTURE Youth Video





We are happy to present a compilation of photos from World Breastfeeding Week over the years accompanied by the song "How Could I Not Love You" specially written by Maria Jasmine in honour of WABA's 21st Anniversary.

The Statement brings critical updated information on this complex issue of HIV and infant feeding policy guidelines and decision making; and the important role of exclusive breastfeeding in HIV intervention and child survival!

We also urge you to take note of a recently update paper by WABA with references on "What Women need to know on HIV and Infant Feeding". The short document aims to guide all women in understanding this complex issue better, and help them make informed decisions on needed treatment and infant feeding for both maternal health and prevention HIV transmission to infants. All health and women's health activists will find this document most useful!

Read the WABA 2011 World Aids Day statement

Read "What Women Need to Know about HIV and Infant Feeding!"

Saw any interesting page on breastfeeding gateway ? Now you can share them on your facebook, twitter, G+, or other place with the direct link. More details on the screenshot below.

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) is making its first Music Video which will feature a special song by talented songstress Maria Jasmine called "How Could I Not Love You".

This music video will be featured in the upcoming WABA/UNICEF Malaysia Feed the Future Video Project.

We are now inviting mothers and babies who are interested to be featured in this historical music video - to record a short (at least) 30 second clip of yourself, partner or friends dancing with your babies to the song "How Could I Not Love You" and upload it on Facebook.

The top 3 videos selected will be featured in the final video and receive a copy of the WABA/UNICEF Feed the Future video.

Step 1 : Download the "How Could I Not Love You" song.
Step 2 : Record your ( minimum 30) second video i.e. a dancing with baby to the "How Could I Not Love You" song, in the highest resolution possible.
Step 3 : Join WABA's Facebook Group
Step 4: Upload your video on the WABA Facebook Group Page
Step 5 : Send a short email to WABA - aida.redza@waba.org.my - with your name, full mailing address and link to your uploaded video.

If your video is selected, WABA will notify you and send you a request to submit your high-resolution original video.

All entries must be submitted by 28 October 2011. Please note that the original song "How Could I Not Love You" is copyrighted and is shared only for this specific video project. The downloading of this song without permission to use for other purposes than for the FEED THE FUTURE! Music Video is strictly prohibited.

Participants of this contest hereby declare and agree to the following:

1. That I am the lawful author/copyright owner/authorised party of this image/works submitted.
2. That I give WABA and its partners the absolute rights and permission to the copyrights to use or reuse, to publish or republish and to produce the image/works that I have submitted.
3. That I have sought relevant permission, and authority for the models/persons/individuals involved and venue and image of props used in my submitted works. I hereby declare that I indemnify WABA any of all liability claims or legal claims as a result of my submission.
4. That I have met with all the rules and regulations stated for this contest.

If you have any queries, please write to Aida Redza

Download "How Could I Not Love You"

WABA mourns the passing of our beloved Women and Work Task Force Co-coordinator Chris Mulford who passed away in USA on 23 August 2011.

Chris entered WABA's life in 1996 at the first WABA Global Forum in Bangkok. She became a regular long term volunteer for WABA -- involved particularly in writing and documentation of a host of conference, meetings and task force reports. Chris was the second Women and Work Task Force Coordinator since the late 1990's bringing many achievements in supporting working women to breastfeed globally. She also paved the way for the WABA-ILCA Fellowship by being an exemplar of a fellow, having spent several months each year in Penang volunteering at the WABA Secretariat almost annually. Chris was much loved by the WABA Secretariat and her many other social and professional networks. We will always remember Chris for her kindness, humour, hard work and sensitivity. Thank you Chris for giving so much to WABA and to the mothers and children worldwide!

"I believe breastfeeding is far more than a health issue. For me, it was a way to take care of myself and my babies, not just a way to feed them. It was an activity, a life stage, that shaped me as a person and permeated my relationships with my children, family, and friends" - Chris Mulford, Feb 2011.

If you would like to pay tribute or share any interesting pictures of Chris that we could post on our website, please mail to waba. To view tributes for Chris, please click here

Press Statement: "Feed the Future!", First World Breastfeeding Week Flashmob in Malaysia!

Click Here to read the press statement.

All together: (Front from left to right) Dr Anwar, Dr Savage, Dr Naylor and Fidalgo cutting the 20th anniversary birthday cake, with Dr Gupta (second left) and Ong looking on.(Photo from The Star newspaper)

In conjunction with WABA's 20th Anniversary and its Steering Committee meeting, the WABA Secretariat together with Galeri Seni Mutiara in Penang jointly organised an Art Exhibition on "MOTHERHOOD: Celebrating and Supporting Women as Mothers, Workers and Nurturers" from 22 May - 12 June 2011 to celebrate and raise awareness on women's contributions to society as mothers and workers. WABA is grateful for the support and contributions from the Penang State Government and the very civic conscious artists who painted on various mother and child themes. Proceeds from the sale of the paintings will partly go to supporting WABA.

news coverage of the event from New Straits Times (2011/05/29)
news coverage of the event from New Straits Times (2011/06/30)
news coverage of the event from The Star

Cick Here to go to the gallery page
These works of art are for sale at the Galeri Seni Mutiara. For information please contact: koaysookau@gmail.com

The 1st of May is International Workers' Day—a day when all workers celebrate their rights to work and to organise to improve their working conditions. For women workers, this includes obtaining the full range of maternity protection provisions in strong laws and collective agreements that are implemented on a day-to-day basis. Please share this statement with your constituencies and friends. We encourage you to adapt and widely use the statement to suit your national/local context and do give us your feedback if you use it.

To view the full Statement, please click here.

Contribution to the General Comment on the right to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) by IBFAN and WABA. In light of the upcoming General Comment on the right to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) developed a paper for the attention of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on why breastfeeding is a women's reproductive right and how this right can be supported.

Click here for the full paper.

WABA's oldest pioneer, Professor Michael Latham, who was among the first persons to serve on the WABA Steering Committee since it's inception in 1991, left us on Friday, 1 April, 2011. He also led the WABA Research Task Force as its Coordinator for a number of years, and then co-chaired the WABA International Advisory Council (IAC) with Elisabet Helsing till now. Michael has been a champion for the breastfeeding movement in so many ways, knowledgeable, courageous, spirited, yet kind, sensitive and loving. WABA is deeply indebted to Michael for his enormous contribution to the work of the network. We will miss him and hope his contributions to the world will live on through all the people he has taught, touched and loved!

If you'd like to share a few words or a message on how Michael has impacted your life, please send it to the Secretariat and we will post it here on our website HERE.

We are pleased to share with you our Press Statement for the International Women's Day 2011 on the theme 'EQUAL ACCESS TO EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: PATHWAY TO DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN'. Please share the statement with your constituencies and friends. We encourage you to adapt and widely use the statement to suit your national/local context and do give us your feedback if you use it.

To view the full Press Statement, please click here.

To view the full Press Statement in Spanish, please click here

WABA is pleased to announce the World Breastfeeding Week theme for 2011 focusing on engaging and mobilising youth intergenerational work with the catchy slogan of: "Talk to me! Breastfeeding - a 3D Experience". The theme deals with communication at various levels and between various sectors.

Why 3D?

When we look at breastfeeding support, we tend to see it in two-dimensions: time (from pre-pregnancy to weaning) and place (the home, community, health care system, etc). But neither has much impact without a THIRD dimension – communication!

Communication is an essential part of protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding. We live in a world where individuals and global communities connect across small and great distances at an instant's notice. New lines of communication are being created every day, and we have the ability to use these information channels to broaden our horizons and spread breastfeeding information beyond our immediate time and place to activate important dialogue.

This third dimension includes cross-generation, cross-sector, cross-gender, and cross-culture communication and encourages the sharing of knowledge and experience, thus enabling wider outreach.

WABA is an approved provider of the CERPs by the IBLCE Regional office in Australia

• Total CERPs allocated: 40.5L, 2.5E & 20.5R CERPs
  
  
• CERPs Approval Number: C21108M

COME CELEBRATE THROUGH THE WEAVING OF COLORS, CREATIVITY AND WARMTH IN A GLOBAL BREASTFEEDING QUILT MAKING RITUAL TO COMMEMORATE THE ACTIONS AND JOYS FOR BREASTFEEDING WORLDWIDE.

Express with your hands and heart, and share through the art of weaving a common thread of hope and unity into a global tapestry of action for solidarity and change.

We are planning to launch the Initiative during WABA's Global Breastfeeding Partner's Forum in Penang, Malaysia in October 2010. If you would like to submit a panel in time for the launch event, please send us your panel by 25 September 2010.

The Global Breastfeeding Quilt is an on-going initiative.

Click here for more quilt Brochure

Click here for quilt Form

A Regional Outreach Course by the Infant Feeding Consortium,
From the Institute of Child Health, London, and WABA.
21 February – 5 March 2011
Penang, Malaysia


In response to repeated requests for in-depth training on breastfeeding and related aspects of young child feeding to be made available regionally, WABA and the Infant Feeding Consortium are introducing a 2-week course in Penang. Short practical courses are widely used and successful, but the need for more advanced training for doctors and other senior health professionals has not been met.

The course is specially designed for doctors and other senior health professionals from the South East Asian region who are responsible nationally or locally for:
- clinical care of mothers and infants
- teaching short courses
- pre-service curricula for health professionals
- advocacy and policy development
- implementation of programmes such as the BFHI.

The Infant Feeding Consortium directs the 4-week course Breastfeeding: Practice and Policy at the Institute of Child Health, London, and they will be responsible for organising the course in collaboration with WABA. Teaching will be conducted mainly in English, with some use of Bahasa Malaysia.

To apply please fill in the Application Form and mail back to waba@waba.org.my

to view the brochure please click here

Image used with permission from Sue Saunders, IBCLC, July 2010.

*Good News: Early Bird rate extended from 30th April to 31st May 2010!

For the first time WABA is organising a GBPF that is open to participation of the wider network allowing for greater networking among participants and the Core Partner organisations – ABM, IBFAN, ILCA, LLLI and Wellstart International. In line with the 20th anniversary of the Innocenti Declaration, the event will open with a celebration of 20 years of action and achievements around the Innocenti as well as reviewing the gaps and areas still needing attention and a strategic response. This will be followed by a two-day technical meeting/forum on the topic Enabling Mothering: Keeping mothers and babies together, focusing on the expanded BFHI and maternity protection and support for working women.

For the full announcement, please click here.

For the program schedule, please click here.

If you are interested in attending, please complete theOfficial Registration Form and send to waba@waba.org.my.

Join La Leche League International (LLLI) and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) In Celebration of World Health Day 2010.

This year's World Health Day theme addresses the challenges surrounding the growing urban population. The World Health Organization is calling upon cities across the globe to be counted among the "1000 cities" dedicated to improving the health in urban areas.

To view the full Joint Statement, please click here.

To view the full Joint Statement in Bulgarian translation, please click here.

To view the full Joint Statement in Spanish translation, please click here.

On the 14th of February 2010, WABA is officially 19 years old.

We would also like to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentines Day.

We are please to announce that the Calendar Announcement for World Breastfeeding Week 2010 is now available.
Please visit World Breastfeeding Website www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org to download a copy of the calendar.

Although mothers typically assume the blame when breastfeeding fails, a new documentary examines the many other factors that are responsible - including a lack of information and support and aggressive marketing by formula manufacturers. Produced by The Peel Breastfeeding Coalition and Northwitch Productions, “Breastfeeding: Making the Connection” is being launched at the Annual National Breastfeeding Conference on October 22, 23, 2009.
For full press release, please click here.

This is a new documentary that captures the views of leaders and feeders, a project funded by WABA community support seedgrant.
To order the DVD, go to INFACT Canada

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) is pleased to announce the release of the new issue of the Right to Food and Nutrition WATCH. This year’s edition focuses on the question of “Who controls the governance of the world food system?” - a burning issue in light of the current World Food Crisis. WABA has contributed two items for this year’s publication that focus on pertinent Infant and Young Child feeding issues.

To view full release from WABA, please click here..

For more information click here ...

Click here...

JOINT STATEMENT based on a workshop of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) Global Breastfeeding Partners Meeting (GBPM) VII in Penang, Malaysia, October 2008
For more details click here

• Joint Statement by LLLI / WABA. Click here...
• WHO Website. Click here...

WABA's IWD 2009 Press Release - 'Women and Men Unite to End Violence against Women and Girls'. Click here...

Click here to view the commemorative poster.

Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response
Are you ready?

For more information on the theme, please visit: www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org

The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch is the first and only international periodical review that monitors state actors' actions related to the realisation of the right to food.
See Press Release

The Zero Issue of the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch deals with the topic "The World Food Crisis and the Human Right to Food" and gathers articles and country monitoring reports from different experts and regions.
Details

James Achanyi-Fontem has been appointed the Coordinator of the Men's Working Group (MWG), effective May 29th, 2008.
Details

celebrates the work and life of Michael Latham in Ithaca, USA, July 4-5 2008. This reunion will also be a unique opportunity to celebrate all our professional commitment and services in the field of nutrition and public health for so many children and people around the world, inspired by the mentoring and guidance of Michael Latham. More...

WABA Congratulates Dato' (Dr) Anwar Fazal, Chairperson Emeritus of WABA on receiving the Langkawi Environmental Award by the government of Malaysia on World Environment Day 2008.

For newspaper article click here
To learn more about Anwar Fazal click here

Details...

WABA's IWD 2008 Press Release - Financing for gender equality and women's empowerment: Let's count breastfeeding and childcare! Click here...

Breastfeeding Budget

A decade of uncertainty has fuelled an agonizing dilemma about the least risky way to feed HIV-exposed babies. Research presented in 2007 finally points conclusively to the need for renewed protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding. More...

WABA together with BPNI, will be organising the workshop in New Delhi, India from 22^nd - 25^th October 2007. More...

WABA's Community Support for Breastfeeding Seedgrant aims to establish or strengthen community support worldwide for breastfeeding protection, promotion and support. For more information please click here

The WABA YOUth brochure is the first global project of the WABA YOUth Initiative. To find information about WHY breatfeeding important, HOW can it be fashionable, and its linkages with other important issues, please click here...

To download the brochure for offline viewing/printing, please right click your mouse on the image & choose "Save target as..."

A Regional Outreach Course by the Infant Feeding Consortium, from the Institute of Child Health, London and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA).

Save the dates: 25 February to 10 March 2007. More info l Application Form l Brochure

Anwar Fazal, a leading Malaysian civil society activist has been awarded the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Peace Award from Morehouse College, a leading Black American University in Atlanta , Georgia. More...