Press Release
UNFPA Saddened By U.S. Decision Not to Rejoin Nations' Support For Multilateral Work to Protect Women's Health
16 September 2005
UNITED NATIONS, New York— The United States Administration's decision for the fourth consecutive year not to release $34 million appropriated by Congress for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is regrettable, especially when leaders at the World Summit are stressing the need to act together on global concerns, the Fund said today. The funds are urgently needed for effective multilateral work in developing countries to prevent maternal and child deaths, stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, provide voluntary contraception and to support the work to end poverty.
The Administration's stated reason for continuing to withhold funds is simply incorrect, as an assessment team sent to China by the Administration itself found no evidence that UNFPA supports coercive abortions or sterilization, the Fund emphasized. To the contrary, it reported that UNFPA had registered its strong opposition to such practices. Other independent teams, from the British Parliament and a multi-faith panel of religious leaders, reached the same conclusion, some adding that UNFPA was a force for good, promoting positive change.
“This decision is disheartening because it contradicts clear evidence that UNFPA works hard to end coercion by proving the efficacy and superiority of the voluntary approach to family planning over any other alternative,” said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA’s Executive Director. “We receive funding from 166 nations that believe in strengthening UNFPA’s role as a leading voice for human rights in family planning, safe motherhood and AIDS prevention.”
“I hope the United States will rejoin the family of nations that support our multilateral work to eliminate maternal deaths, prevent HIV/AIDS, empower women and reduce poverty,” said Ms. Obaid. “Our task is made more urgent by the fact that more than 300 million poor women in the world suffer from short- and long-term illnesses related to pregnancy or childbirth, with more than half a million of them dying each year.”
The current Administration has, so far, withheld $127 million in funds appropriated by Congress. One year’s withheld funding of $34 million could prevent as many as 2 million unwanted pregnancies and 4,700 maternal deaths in developing countries. The funds could also be used to scale up promising maternal health and HIV-prevention efforts, as well as to treat young women suffering from obstetric fistula.
UNFPA’s pilot assistance in several China counties is proving that a client-oriented and quality-of-care approach to reproductive health and family planning is the superior alternative to a target-driven system. The Fund is pushing for Chinese women to have increased choice and access to quality, voluntary family planning and reproductive health. Abortions, surgical contraception and maternal deaths have dropped in the counties, while more women are choosing their own methods of contraception.
UNFPA helps approximately 146 countries and territories increase access to reproductive health care, including voluntary contraception; to promote safe motherhood; and to prevent unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.
The United States is the only country to ever deny funding to UNFPA for non-budgetary reasons in the agency’s entire 36 years of operation.
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UNFPA is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
Contact Information:
Sarah Craven
Tel.: +1 (202) 326-8713
Email: craven@unfpa.org
Kristin Hetle
Tel.: +1 212-297-5020
Email: hetle@unfpa.org
Abubakar Dungus
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5031
Email: dungus@unfpa.org
