Say Yes, Spring 2003: In This Issue

THE BEST START IN LIFE

There is much evidence to support the fact that breastfeeding offers a baby the best start in life. For over a decade now, UNICEF Turkey has been promoting the Baby-friendly Hospitals Initiative (BFHI) in order to increase rates of exclusive breastfeeding during the baby’s first six months.

But new mothers can find it psychologically difficult to feed their newborn on an exclusive regime of breastmilk. First attempts in the aftermath of labour can often be disheartening and there tends to be a great deal of pressure on mothers to give their babies formula and supplements.

In this issue of Say Yes, a new mother tells of her failure to suckle her little girl in the first week. She tells how she eventually overcame her anxiety and stress and turned her experience to the advantage of others by setting up a breastfeeding support group.

Read A Mother’s Story.

A TALK WITH DR. MEHMET RIFAT KÖSE

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and UNICEF have been working together in Turkey for just over half a century. Speaking to UNICEF in this issue, the General Director of Mother and Child Health and Family Planning, Dr Mehmet Rifat Köse, says that I think UNICEF brings valuable international experience to our work together and acts as a bridge to bring a more global perspective to Turkey.

Amongst other programmes, the MOH works with UNICEF on the iodisation of Salt, the Adolescent Health and Development Programme and the BFHI as well as the establishment of Baby-Friendly Health Centres throughout the country.

Dr Köse speaks about a variety of issues close to his heart, such as girls’ education, exclusive breastfeeding, prioritising health initiatives and motivating public awareness.

Read Family Man.

PEACE AT HOME, PEACE IN THE WORLD

On the 1st of April, UNICEF Turkey sent two truckloads of water purification kits and nutritional supplies into Northern Iraq. The first relief supplies to cross the Turkey/Iraq border since the war began, this consignment is the start of many which UNICEF will send to the women and children of Iraq.

There is no doubt that supplies are desperately needed. Even before this conflict, one in eight Iraqi children died before their fifth birthday and we fear that the most vulnerable may not have the strength to survive this war, said UNICEF Representative, Edmond McLoughney.

With more than 200 staff still on the ground in Iraq despite the conflict, UNICEF launched an appeal for US$166 million to support urgent aid for the women and children of Iraq. Stressing the vulnerability of Iraqi women and children, Executive Director Carol Bellamy said: Without rapid humanitarian assistance in health, nutrition, water and sanitation, and primary education, child and maternal deaths are likely to increase sharply.

Read Protect Children from War.

IT’S NO GAME

Protecting children from war when it is so much a part of life today is a complex issue. If we are not in the midst of armed conflict, the subject is rarely out of the newspapers or off our television screens.

So what must our children be thinking?

Public interest in Iraq is high and manufacturers are exploiting the market in much the same way that they will shift footballs during a World Cup tournament. The validity of letting children play with war toys has long since been open to question, but nevertheless, sales of toy guns and other weapons of war are buoyant -- not only in Turkey but everywhere in the world where toys are an affordable commodity.

In this issue, we discuss how children can very easily relate to the concept of armed aggression in the wrong way.

Read War Games.

LET’S STAND BY OUR PROMISES …

Less than a year ago, the Global Movement for Children’s (GMFC) phenomenally successful Say Yes for Children sent a message to world leaders at the United Nations Special Session on Children (UNSSC) that we want A World Fit for Children within the next ten years.

Leave No Child Out was the first of the ten actions on the GMFC’s Say Yes for Children pledge. Of almost 100 million pledges presented on the eve of the UNSSC, 26 million came from the CEE/CIS Region -- an amazing 16 million of which came from Turkey -- where people identified Leave No Child Out as the first priority.

Now the Regional Network for Children (RNC) is keeping the torch alight with the Leave No Child Out campaign which will be launched in June. Dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of children, the RNC is a part of the NGO/UNICEF Global Forum formed by NGOs from the CEE/CIS Region.

Read Leave No Child Out.