UNC supports the Golden Bow as the symbol of optimal feeding

Why is the Golden Bow endorsed by the University of North Carolina School of Public Health as the symbol for the protection, promotion and support of optimal infant and young child feeding?

Meaning and Purpose:
Many social change efforts have used a symbol to create a sense of belonging to a unified movement.  The Golden Bow serves this purpose: it is unique in that it is both a symbol for social change, and it carries many meanings within its own design.  The Golden Bow is a lesson in the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding, young child feeding and maternal health.

Gold:
The use of the golden color for the bow symbolizes that six months of exclusive breastfeeding is the gold standard for infant feeding, against which any alternative should be judged.

A Bow:
Why do we use a bow, rather than the looped ribbon of most campaigns?  Each part of the bow carries a special message:

• One loop represents the mother and one represents the child.
• The ribbon is symmetrical, telling us the mother and child are both vital to successful breastfeeding – neither is more important, and both must be supported.
• The knot is the father, the family and the society. Without the knot, there would be no bow; without support, breastfeeding cannot succeed.
• The streamers are the future: one for continued breastfeeding for 2 years or more with appropriate complementary feeding, and the other for adequate delay of the next birth to give the mother and child time together, to recover and to grow, and to give the mother the time she needs to provide active care for the health, growth and development of this child.

By wearing the Bow, you are stating your commitment to create and sustain change!

The Global Golden Bow Initiative:
UNICEF launched this symbol, derived from earlier symbols, and an associated educational campaign on the 12th anniversary of the Innocenti Declaration (2002). In 2004 the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) created the Golden Bow Initiative and it became the symbol of World Breastfeeding Week. Today, the University of North Carolina School of Public Health endorses this symbol of support for optimal infant and young child feeding.

Follow the lead of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Public Health Dean Barbara K Rimer and UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman --
Wear it proudly -- Take action today.

For additional information, visit:
UNICEF Breastfeeding Initiatives Exchange or
World Alliance Breastfeeding Initiatives Exchange

For additional information on the UNC Golden Bow, and the explanatory card or bookmark, please contact ciycfc@unc.edu.

To obtain a UNICEF/WABA golden bow and bookmark, please e-mail waba@streamyx.com.