Clinton Hails Key Senate Committee's Restoration of Support for United Nations Population Fund

Press Release

Clinton Hails Key Senate Committee's Restoration of Support for United Nations Population Fund

Provides Funding for Women and Children's Health Worldwide; Incorporates Clinton Legislation

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today welcomed approval by a key Senate committee of funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Senate Appropriations Committee included important provisions of Senator Clinton's UNFPA Restoration Act in its larger foreign operations appropriations bill. The measures will direct the funding for UNFPA to be used for essential women's health services, including safe motherhood initiatives, infection prevention, and provision of health and hygiene supplies in disaster situations.

"The United Nations Population Fund provides vital services and helps save the lives of countless woman and girls around the world every year. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has chosen to put politics and ideology ahead of this absolutely essential effort. In directing funding to specific critically needed women's health services, I hope that we can underscore the importance of UNFPA's work for women and families in over 150 countries. Approving these provisions is a critical step in restoring our support to the UNFPA and I hope that my colleagues and I can continue to work together to enact these provisions into law," Senator Clinton said.

UNFPA was created in 1969, with the strong support of the United States government. Today, 180 countries from all regions of the world provide support to UNFPA programs operating in more than 154 countries. With this funding, UNFPA works to reduce maternal mortality, train safe birth attendants, decrease sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, and provide essential supplies to women in disaster or conflict situations. It does not provide abortion services.

Despite the fact that UNFPA has overwhelming support from the international community, the Bush Administration has suspended U.S. contributions since 2002 to UNFPA over baseless allegations that the organization has helped to provide abortions in China. This suspension of funding has persisted even though an Administration-backed fact-finding mission to China in 2002 found "no evidence that UNFPA has knowingly supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization."

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton introduced the United Nations Population Fund Restoration Act. This legislation was designed to address unfounded concerns that UNFPA funding is being misused by ensuring that the U.S. contribution would be used for a specific set of activities to improve the health of women, children and families. In limiting the use of funds in this manner, this bill counters the objections of the Bush Administration, and thus makes it harder for them to justify withholding funds from UNFPA and its valuable women's health work around the world.

Senator Clinton's legislation is supported by Americans for UNFPA, American Jewish World Service, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Population Connection, Center for Reproductive Rights, Center for Women Policy Studies, Catholics for Choice, the Sierra Club, Center for Health and Gender Equity, Global Health Council, Population Action International, the United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, the International Women's Health Coalition, the Center for the Environment and Population, Advocates for Youth, Pathfinder International, and the International Center for Research on Women.

Source