UNFPA IN THE NEWS – JUNE 19-25, 2004

PROGRESS ON GLOBAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH GOALS

Associated Press reported June 21 that the global HIV/AIDS epidemic is threatening efforts to achieve sexual and reproductive health goals that are supposed to improve the lives of women and reduce poverty, the head of the United Nations population agency said. The fight against AIDS has exhausted health services in many poor countries, compounding high rates of death in childbirth, and other risks associated with complications during pregnancy, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund. Governments in poor nations cannot afford to train midwives or obstetric specialists, Obaid said as she launched a 120-page study by UNFPA on the slow progress made since 1994, when governments at a conference in Cairo adopted an ambitious 20-year program to slow the growth of the world's population in the hope that the move would help cut poverty and make it easier for countries to provide education and other services. Agence France-Presse, UN News Centre, United Press International and Accra Mail (Ghana) also reported on this story. Read: Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, UN News Centre, Accra Mail

CHINA: Gender Imbalance Highlighted

In a June 21 story by Knight Ridder (U.S.) on the gender imbalance in China, Siri Tellier, the representative in China for the United Nations Population Fund, said, “In the last two years or so, I think the Chinese government really has looked at the census data and said, ‘We have a problem here.’” The story noted that experts foresee the skewed ratio leading to an increase in prostitution and the selling of women. The prevailing desire for boys is already visible in many parts of China, where classrooms have mostly boys and orphanages have mostly girls. Read: Knight Ridder

FIJI: News Center Opens for Adolescents and Reproductive Health

Fiji Times reported June 25 that a center for adolescents and reproductive health has been set up to help boost knowledge of the subject in the north in Labasa. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Josaia Samuela said they were glad the Ministry of Health and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and United Nations Population Fund agreed to set up the center. Read: Fiji Times

UNITED STATES: U.S. Funding for UNFPA

The Los Angeles Times (U.S.) ran a June 24 editorial that mentioned: “It's hard to overstate the threat posed by global overpopulation. Many of the most serious problems facing the world and region can be traced to it, from global warming to famine to traffic jams on the 405. Yet one of the most effective programs for combating it is under siege by the Bush administration. In a triumph of ideological obsession over rationality, antiabortion advocates, who often oppose any form of family planning, are zeroing in on the United Nations Population Fund.” Read: Los Angeles Times

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (U.S.) ran a June 22 editorial that noted: “Not content merely to cut off the support that the United Nations Population Fund needs and deserves, the Bush administration now is seeking to weaken the fund by ostracizing it. This tactic is not only petty and vindictive, but it's also self-defeating because it will worsen the very problem the administration professes to care about.” Read: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Courier-Journal (U.S.) ran a June 22 editorial that noted: “If the choice lies between the needs of the world's most desperate women and Mr. Bush's political agenda, there's no doubt which course this administration will take. The administration ‘is stepping up its efforts to damage the United Nations Population Fund.’” Read: Courier-Journal

A June 23 editorial by The Chattanooga Times Free Press (U.S.) featured a study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation that found that out of nearly 400 spending votes, “Only one amendment to cut spending – reducing money going to the U.N. Population Fund—became law. It amounted to only 0.001 percent of the federal budget.”

UNITED STATES: United Nations Officials and Diplomats Press Bush Administration Funding for UNFPA

The New York Times reported June 21 that the Bush administration, which cut off its share of financing two years ago to the United Nations agency handling population control, is seeking to isolate the agency from groups that work with it in China and elsewhere, United Nations officials and diplomats say. The story noted, “Pressed by opponents of abortion, the administration withdrew its support from a major international conference on health issues this month and has privately warned other groups, like UNICEF, that address health issues that their financing could be jeopardized if they insist on working with the agency, the United Nations Population Fund.” Read: New York Times

OneWorld.net ran a June 22 story that noted: “If there is one foreign-policy issue on which the Bush administration is even more isolated internationally than in its decision to invade and occupy Iraq, it is on what critics call its ongoing war against the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) which supports the reproductive health rights of women around the world.” Read: OneWorld.net

UNITED STATES: 34 Million Friends of UNFPA Campaign

A June 23 column by Clint Talbott ran in The Daily Camera (U.S.) on the 34 Million Friends of UNFPA. Talbott noted that Lois Abraham, who will appear at Boulder'sDairyCenter for the Arts tonight at 5, is pleased that a good idea has spawned nearly $2 million, all of which has gone to the population fund. At the same time, she notes, $2 million is "well short of 34." Abraham cites several fact-finding missions that have confirmed that the UNFPA doesn't support coerced abortions. Additionally, the abortion rate is lower in the Chinese regions where the population fund works. When women have contraceptives, abortions decline. "That's not rocket science," Abraham observes. The column concluded, “She sees what a dollar can do. She hopes more friends do, too.” Read: Daily Camera

In These Times ran a feature story in its July 5 issue on the 34 Million Friends for UNFPA campaign. "We want anybody to be able to contribute, and feel good about it," said Jane Roberts. The article noted that one donor, a grandfather, sends in $5 a month in honor of his five granddaughters. Another, a teenage mother, read about the fund in Glamour, and sent in a donation with hopes for a better future for her daughter. Such stories convince Roberts that her fund is empowering the donors by giving them a voice and a stake in world affairs. Read: In These Times

YEMEN: International Midwives Conference

Yemen Times reported June 21 that the first National Association for Midwives in Yemen held a national seminar that included international experts and was supported by the United Stated Development Agency (USAID), UNFPA, and PHR Plus Organization. At the seminar, experts discussed the role and development of midwives in Indonesia and Morocco. Read: Yemen Times

Back to top