Press Release
Dr. Natalia Kanem welcomes renewed support from the United States Government in first meeting with U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
07 June 2021
New York, 7 June 2021 – UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem today met with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Today marks the first time the two leaders have met and comes in the wake of the Biden-Harris Administration’s pledge to restore support to UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency.
The United States today announced $30.8 million in ‘core’ support to UNFPA’s work and an additional $6.6 million to support humanitarian efforts.
"UNFPA is very pleased that the United States has restored critical funding and political support,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, “Our renewed partnership will have an enormous impact on women and girls globally, including those caught in humanitarian crises.”
U.S. humanitarian support enables UNFPA to deliver lifesaving protection, support, and reproductive and maternal healthcare and services to vulnerable women and girls in humanitarian settings, including in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, Sudan, and Afghanistan.
Renewed ‘core’ support from the United States Government enables UNFPA to respond to the crucial needs of women and girls as efficiently as possible across the more than 150 countries we work in to uphold their rights and choices.
Across the world, UNFPA works to meet all unmet need for family planning and contraceptives, end all preventable maternal deaths and end all instances of gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls, including child marriage and female genital mutilation.
About UNFPA:
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, formally named the United Nations Population Fund.
UNFPA's mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services, including voluntary family planning, quality maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education.
For more information please contact:
- Eddie Wright: ewright@unfpa.org; +1 917 831 2074
- Yasmeen Chaoul: chaoul@unfpa.org, +1 929 353 4708
