UN Supporters Blast 'Scurrilous' Attacks on Population Fund

1/17/2002

From: Sarah Craven of the U.S. Committee for the U.N. Population Fund, 202-326-8713

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 -- Opponents of family planning are using "scurrilous lies" to try to persuade the Bush administration to cut funding for the United Nations Population Fund, according to a group of prominent U.N. Population Fund supporters.

Peter Purdy, president of the U.S. Committee for U.N. Population Fund, today urged President Bush to release $34 million that Congress has already appropriated this year for the fund, which supplies reproductive health care services and materials to women and families in more than 140 countries worldwide.

Critics of family planning, led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and the so-called Population Research Institute, have urged the president to block U.N. Population Fund funding on grounds that human rights have been violated in one of the provincial counties of China where U.N. Population Fund runs a model voluntary family planning program.

The charges are "simply not true, and are, in fact, scurrilous lies," Purdy said in a letter to Bush. "Are there human rights abuses in China? Absolutely. Does the UN Population Fund have anything to do with them? Absolutely not." Blocking the funds "would be an act of bad faith" with Congress and with the president's own Fiscal 2002 budget request, which included full funding for U.N. Population Fund," he said.

Purdy cited "inaccuracies" and "unsubstantiated claims" in the assertions of U.N. Population Fund's opponents, noting that an independent board had traveled to China to review the charges and found that U.N. Population Fund's programs there "uphold the highest human rights standards" and also provide a model for wider democratic reforms. Purdy's letter added that blocking U.N. Population Fund funding "would be a sharp, embarrassing rebuke" to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has strongly defended U.N. Population Fund's work.

"For no good reason and without a shred of substance, a handful of family planning opponents are trying to diminish the reputation and funding of an important provider of health care services to the world's poor-people who live on less than $1 a day," Purdy's letter said. He urged President Bush to demonstrate his avowed commitment to family planning by releasing U.N. Population Fund's appropriation immediately.

--- The US Committee was formed in 1998 to strengthen American support for the UN Population Fund and its critical work in developing countries -- providing family planning education and services; improving reproductive health care; reducing maternal and infant mortality; and supporting local efforts to improve gender equity and reduce violence against women in its many forms. The US Committee focuses its efforts on raising awareness among Americans about the UN Population Fund's mission and programs, educating elected and governmental officials, and funding special needs and projects including humanitarian relief efforts -- all with the goal of returning the American contribution to a consistent, fair-share level. The US Committee can be found on the web at http://www.uscommittee.org.