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Arugaan,
a Filipino word for nurturing fully with a commitment, is a non-government
NGO. The pioneering members of Arugaan are community leaders, NGOs,
social workers and professionals. They had been in the breastfeeding
movement since 1981, as well as members of IBFAN. In 1986, the Philippine
Code on Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and Related Products
and The Breastfeeding and Rooming-Act of 1992 were enacted as laws
to protect breastfeeding. It hosted the first Asian Breastfeeding
Conference in 1982. The first IBFAN International Forum was held
in Manila in 1989 with 300 participants from institutions, communities
and international agencies worldwide. Arugaan was one of the leaders
responsible in organizing international caucuses for IBFAN groups
namely the 3rd Asia-Pacific IBFAN meeting held in Japan in 1997and
Pacific Islanders IBFAN Caucus in Fiji in 1996.Arugaan as a lead
organization in the Southeast Asian region has coordinated the network
members in Maternity Protection Campaign, International Code Monitoring
Project, Breastfeeding Counseling Trainings and Community Development.
Arugaan has pioneered in innovative projects integrating IYCF particularly
indigenous healing foods and traditional therapies. It establishes
crèches at the workplaces and applies IYCF principles. The
unique initiatives are being shared with other countries as a stimulus
for them to recapture sound traditional practices on IYCF through
people’s action. Arugaan facilitated the first international
conference on IYCF for the sub-regional countries of Vietnam, Cambodia
and Lao PDR in November 2002. Arugaan’s Executive Director
is the elected Southeast Asian Representative for IBFAN Asia-Pacific
Council.
Management and funding of Arugaan:
Five sectoral representatives from the labor, community/grassroots,
and youth, professional and medical sector manage Arugaan. The committee
holds regular quarterly meetings and special emergency meetings.
An Executive Director coordinates the management of Arugaan. The
management committee members form its own working group in support
of their respective sectoral issues such as Maternity Protection;
Code, Codex and Campaign; Mother Support Group; Crèche at
the Workplace; Infant Feeding In Emergencies and HIV. Arugaan was
formally registered in 1989 with the government’s Securities
and Exchange Commission as a non-profit organization. It is a leader-member
of two large coalitions of NGOs in the Philippines. In principle,
Arugaan believes in sustainability. It does not accept funds from
the baby food industry. Several donors have provided funds for Arugaan,
these include ICCO, SIDA, IBFAN, WABA, CIDA, Friedrich Stiftung
Germany, DGIS – ICDC, ABS-CBN Foundation Philippines, and
Pearl S. Buck International, SIDA has funded a three year project
to establish IBFAN groups in Vietnam and Laos. This project is initiated
by ARUGAAN.
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