PAI Appalled by White House Decision to Deny UNFPA Funds; Politics Triumph Over Fact in Dispute Over China Programs

7/22/2002

From: Kimberley Cline, 202-557-3423, or Karyn Beach, 202-557-3419, both of PAI http://www.populationaction.org

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Population Action International today expressed deep disappointment at the Bush Administration's decision to deny funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), bringing to a bitter end the seven-month saga over the U.S.' $34 million contribution.

"I am stunned and appalled," said Amy Coen, president of PAI. "Having just visited countries in Africa where UNFPA works, I can testify to the tremendous need for the kind of programs UNFPA supports -- family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention, maternal health care and the like. This decision will have a devastating impact on these programs."

The decision comes seven months after President Bush put a hold on the $34 million contribution approved by Congress in December, responding to allegations made by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and the extreme anti-family planning organization, Population Research Institute, claiming that the Fund supported coercive abortion policies in China. A U.S. delegation sent to investigate those claims returned in May, but its report is only now being made public.

"The Administration's own delegation recommends that the U.S. contribution to UNFPA be released," said Terri Bartlett, vice president of public policy at PAI. "As with the other 60 delegations that have visited UNFPA's program in China, they found no evidence of UNFPA involvement in coercive practices; rather they found that UNFPA is a positive force, although understaffed and underfunded, moving China toward more voluntary practices and greater respect for individual rights."

"The delegation also recommended that no U.S. family planning funds be spent in China, which they are not. In fact, not one penny of the U.S. contribution to UNFPA has gone toward programs in China for the past eight years," said Bartlett. "Thus, the Administration's decision will have its greatest impact in the other 140 countries in which UNFPA supports programs."

The decision marks a reversal in the Administration's previous support of UNFPA, and contradicts recent moves by the Administration to build stronger ties with China.

"Just last month, the Department of Health and Human Services signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese government, pledging greater collaboration for HIV/AIDS prevention and research. Last November, the Administration gave UNFPA $600,000 for its work in Afghanistan," said Bartlett. "If the Administration believes that engagement is key to building more democratic societies, why is such engagement okay for trade relations and HIV/AIDS prevention, but not for working with the Chinese government to show them that voluntary, non-coercive family planning programs work? And are Afghanistan's women no longer in need of basic reproductive healthcare? The hypocrisy of this Administration is staggering."

The Administration has said the $34 million contribution intended for UNFPA will go to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) instead. PAI notes that while USAID operates in more than 80 countries, UNFPA operates in an additional 60.

"It's domestic politics that has prevented UNFPA from receiving its $34 million," said Bartlett. "And it is the world's women -- and their families -- who will pay the price."