To:    All WABA friends and partners

 Dear friends,

World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 1-7 August 2003
Breastfeeding in a Globalised World - for peace and justice

WABA invites you to join individuals and organisation in over 120 countries around the world in celebrating WBW. This year's theme on globalisation provides an opportunity for breastfeeding advocates to consider the challenges as well as opportunities of globalisation, in promoting breastfeeding as a symbol for peace and justice.

We are pleased to enclose with this letter the following WBW 2003 materials for your use: Action Folder, Poster, Press Release, UNICEF Letter of Support, WHO Letter of Support, Order Form, and Feedback Form. Besides these, WABA has also produced banners for WBW2003, priced at USD50 each (inclusive of postage). To purchase, please contact the WABA Secretariat.

CELEBRATE WBW 2003!
Produce and Distribute Materials

You can produce and distribute materials such as flyers, posters, banners, buttons, T-shirts and pens to help create a more celebratory mood for your events and to facilitate the spreading of the breastfeeding message to the public. Please feel free to share and use the WABA action folder, poster and other documents in part or total to develop your own materials. Where appropriate, you can also invite your audience/readers to visit the WABA website <www.waba.org.my> for more information on WBW.

 Organise WBW Events

Breastfeeding groups around the world celebrate WBW by having a variety of events such as seminars, walks and exhibitions. In New Zealand, a national art competition on breastfeeding was organised. In the Philippines, the Pantomime Moms did public performances on breastfeeding issues. In Australia and the US, attempts were made to create records of the most number of mothers and babies breastfeeding at the same time in one place. In Colombia, children visited the zoo to learn how mammals feed their young.  These are a few examples that your group can do.

 Publicise the Theme

Making announcements on the theme will encourage interested individuals and organisations to reserve the week to participate in your events. Use or adapt the press release enclosed to highlight to the press in your countries about breastfeeding and globalisation.

 Link and Network

You can also seize this opportunity to work with your governments, various breastfeeding groups and other issue groups such as those working on women, environment, health, public justice and human rights issues. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration on Health for All <http://phmovement.org>. It is an excellent opportunity to link breastfeeding with the larger issue of primary healthcare, health rights and globalisation.

Use International Instruments to Make a Change

Utilise supportive legal instruments, technical documents, strategies and guidelines that have been adopted, such as those listed on the page on Ideas for Action in the WBW2003 Action Folder, to emphasise the importance of breastfeeding in working towards a just, healthy and progressive society locally and internationally.

We wish you every success in your WBW celebration. WABA would appreciate hearing from you on your WBW activities and your feedback on the materials enclosed to help us improve. We request that you fill in the WBW 2003 Feedback Form and send it back to us. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Liew Mun Tip
WBW Coordinator