I received this through email...it's crazy!! Please, write letters letting them know how wrong this is!!
copy of email:
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.
Send your letters to:
aveneman@unicef.org
2 comments:
<p>There is no truth whatsoever to this allegation. UNICEF is still firmly in support of The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The UNICEF stance on the Code is here:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24805.html" REL="nofollow">http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24805.html</A><BR/><BR/>Furthermore, <A HREF="http://www.unicef.org/about/structure/index_26319.html" REL="nofollow">Ann Veneman</A> has personally acted to retain to legal advisor post for at least another year.<BR/><BR/>And frankly, your attempt to tie her association years ago with an organization promoting international trade, which includes <I>dozens</I> of members, to a current issue about breast-milk substitutes is a <I>real</I> stretch.</p>
Forgive the poor formatting -- I thought HTML code was acceptable. Again:
There is no truth whatsoever to this allegation. UNICEF is still firmly in support of The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. The UNICEF stance on the Code is here:
http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24805.html
Furthermore, Ann Veneman has personally acted to retain to legal advisor post for at least another year.
And frankly, your attempt to tie her association years ago with an organization promoting international trade, which includes dozens of members, to a current issue about breast-milk substitutes is a real stretch.
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