Annelies Allain has been at the forefront of global efforts to support and promote breastfeeding for more than 30 years. Her accomplishments continue to affect all of us who work with breastfeeding families. Born in the Netherlands in 1945, Annelies Allain-van Elk received a scholarship and completed a BA from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, USA. Back in Europe, she obtained a BA in French language and literature (University of Geneva, Switzerland) as well as a translator's diploma. After 4 years working in West Africa and visits to South America, she returned to Geneva to obtain an MA in development studies. She is fluent in English, French, and Dutch and has working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German. Ms. Allain was a co-founder of IBFAN (1979) and the coordinator of IBFAN Europe (1980-1984). In 1984, she moved to Penang, Malaysia, and IBFAN work soon took over as a full-time job. She was instrumental in developing the Code Documentation Centre (1985) and by 1991 it became a foundation (ICDC) registered in the Netherlands. Subsequently, the Centre has trained over 2,000 officials from 148 countries about the International Code, making it the world's top International Code implementation institution. Among her many other education and advocacy activities, Ms. Allain was a co-founder of WABA (1990) and for many years has been a consultant with UNICEF and WHO's Western Pacific Regional Office on International Code implementation and monitoring. In this interview she provides a firsthand account of how most of the major global breastfeeding protection efforts influencing our current situation came into being. (This is a verbatim interview: MA = Maryse Arendt; AA = Annelies Allain.).
Anwar Fazal has been a driving force in the founding of several civil society organizations in the areas of health, human rights, environment, and peace, that have been at the forefront of activism locally, nationally, and globally. In this interview, he shares his journey of 6 decades, involving a multiverse of public interest issues, which led him into the breastfeeding movement. It began with the setting up of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), a pioneering action that triggered the formation of Health Action International (HAI), Pesticide Action Network (PAN), and the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). Each of these resulted in several unique frameworks and codes relating to the marketing of infant foods, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. They also led to the formation of World Breastfeeding Week, now being celebrated globally. Anwar studied Economics at the University of Malaya and did his postgraduate studies in Education. Anwar has served as a visiting professor at the University of Science Malaysia and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, popularly known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize," for his work on breastfeeding and infant nutrition and other health, environmental, and consumer issues. La Leche League International (LLLI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have honored him with the International Health Award and the Millennium Development Goals Award. He has written extensively on breastfeeding. He is currently Chairperson Emeritus of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) and continues to speak out actively on protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding.