In just one month, please join us in celebrating World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2016, 1-7 August 2016!
Breastfeeding: A Key to Sustainable Development is this year’s theme, developed by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA).
At ILCA, we believe that world health can be transformed through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care. We also know the many impacts breastfeeding has on individuals, communities, and national health. As a part of our global advocacy strategy, we are working hard to ensure that breastfeeding is on the worldwide agenda.
In September 2015, world leaders committed to 17 goals aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity. These goals are known as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
One way to ensure the world’s leaders know what we know – the lifelong outcomes of breastfeeding for mothers and their children – is to show the connections between these outcomes and the 17 SDGs.
As one of WABA’s core partners, ILCA is committed to spreading the word. We need your help! Here’s how you can support breastfeeding in your community, your country, and the world:
- Learn about the SDGs.
- Educate others in your community and your country about how the SDGs relate to breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).
- Engage and collaborate with others to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding.
How can you participate in World Breastfeeding Week this year?
Visit the WBW 2016 website for general information and downloadable promotional materials, including the WBW 2016 Action Folder. The action folder explains how breastfeeding is linked to each of the SDGs individually and along four thematic areas. It includes useful facts and figures, examples of actions for various levels of participation, and a section on ways of working to achieve the SDGs through sustainable partnerships and the rule of law.
Sign the WBW 2016 Event Pledge Form. By submitting a form, you or your organization pledge to celebrate WBW 2016 by hosting a WBW event. For every pledge that is received, the WBW 2016 logo will appear on a world map on their website, with celebrants names and the locations of events.
Share your commitment to breastfeeding advocacy and education as an imperative part of accomplishing the SDGs. The link between breastfeeding and each of the SDGs may be obvious to breastfeeding advocates, but there is still work to be done to make these connections clear to others working on SDGs. We know what needs to be done to support and enable mothers to breastfeed optimally, but we need to be more proactive and engage more people to make this a reality. Linking breastfeeding with the SDGs helps us to do this.
Look for information and action steps throughout the week at Lactation Matters, where you’ll find articles, images, action steps, and more to help with your successful WBW 2016 observance.
For the most up-to-date information about WBW 2016 and to download and purchase promotional materials, please visit the World Breastfeeding Week website by clicking here.
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