UNFPA IN THE NEWS – JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2004

ECLAC CONFERENCE IN PUERTO RICO

The Associated Press reported June 29 that at the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) conference in Puerto Rico, UNFPA head Thoraya Ahmed Obaid had referred to a survey by her agency that found "great [regional] progress and depth of commitment over a broad range of population and development issues - despite resource shortfalls and a range of competing priorities.”

The Associated Press also reported June 29 that Catholics for a Free Choice issued results of polls in three Latin American countries that indicated the Vatican and the Bush administration are "out of step" for taking stances at Latin American meetings that oppose contraception while the vast majority of Catholics in Latin America support a full range of contraceptive methods. The report also criticized the U.S. government for policies penalizing groups seeking to provide birth control options. Bush in 2001 reinstated a policy barring aid to foreign nonprofit groups promoting abortions. Since 2002, the U.S. government has blocked US$34 million in annual aid to the U.N. Population Fund, saying it contributes to coerced abortions in China - a charge that agency denies. Read: Associated Press

On July 1, the Associated Press reported that on the last day of the conference, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, head of UNFPA, urged U.S. President George W. Bush to restore funding that he blocked two years ago. "We hope there is a change in policy that will allow him (Bush) to release the funds that have been given to us by U.S. Congress," said Obaid.

CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL CAMPAIGN TO END FISTULA

Ghana News Agency reported June 29 that Moses Dani-Baah, Deputy Minister of Health, said the Health Ministry had been charged to conduct research into the causes of obstetric fistula. Fama Ba, Director of UNFPA’s Africa division, informed participants that the global campaign to end fistula and raise awareness, was on course and that the UNFPA was currently providing support to over 20 countries mostly in the Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and some Arab states. "Additional needs assessment carried out in countries including Senegal, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Chad, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali and Zambia, the training of national doctors from many African countries by the Addis Ababa Fistula hospitals and the establishment of a working group are some of the important steps in the right direction," she said. Read: Ghana News Agency

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Sex Education

IRIN reported June 29 that in Swaziland, nearly one-third of young people in secondary school have had sex by age 16, according to the U.N. Population Fund. In Malawi, abstinence was viewed until recently as the appropriate response to sex by school-age children. Now, recognizing that sexual experimentation - and exploitation - does take place, a "life skills" component has been added to the syllabus with the help of UNFPA and the U.N. Children's Fund, which teachers are going to be trained to impart. "Pupils in our schools are not learning anything about sex. Even at home there is no proper parent-child communication on the issue, and as a result our pupils are getting unreliable information from friends," said Daniel Msonda, UNFPA's program assistant. Read: IRIN

BULGARIA: UNFPA Funding Project to Improve Reproductive Health Awareness

World Markets Analysis reported June 28 that UNFPA is giving $504,000 to Bulgaria under a project to improve reproductive health awareness, reports the Bulgarian News Agency. The country's high rate of teen pregnancies and births (71 per 1,000 in the 15-19 age group) necessitates an increase in awareness, according to the report. The project will provide sex education classes and training activities involving GPs and school nurses over the next four years in four regions of the country.

LIBERIA: UNFPA Hosts Advocacy and Sensitization Workshop

The Analyst (Liberia) reported June 30 that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on June 23 hosted a one-day advocacy and sensitization workshop on STI/HIV/AIDS programming process for chief executives and senior managers of companies and organizations in the private sector. Addressing workshops participants, UNFPA Representative, Deji Popoola expressed UNFPA's interest to promote private sector involvement in STI/HIV/AIDS at the workplace through advocacy from the highest to the lowest level of all parties involved in private sector activities. Read: The Analyst

THAILAND: Prime Minister Leads Tour of AIDS Treatment Centers

The Nation (Thailand) reported June 29 that as a lead-up to next month's international AIDS conference, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hosted ambassadors and international non-governmental AIDS organizations on a tour of Thailand's successes in fighting the deadly disease in the North. The tour group included ambassadors from China, India, Nigeria, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Canada and the European Commission's Delegation to Thailand, as well as representatives from the UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNAIDS and WHO.

UNITED STATES: U.S. Funding for UNFPA

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (U.S.) June 27 editorial noted: “The eventual harm to America could be immense. By fighting family planning at home and abroad, the administration will drive up populations in poor countries, deprive Americans of pregnancy prevention and worsen the problems of overcrowding. Internationally, the administration apparently has expanded its baseless attacks on the U.N. Population Fund, raised prospects for fund cutoffs to associated agencies and launched an effort to persuade other countries in the Americas and the Caribbean to kowtow to anti-abortion orthodoxy during a conference opening this week.” Read: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Register-Guard (U.S.) June 28 editorial noted, “President Bush's decision to strangle the United Nation's Population Fund represents a new low in his ongoing efforts to prove that ‘compassionate conservative’ is an oxymoron.” The editorial concluded, “President Bush speaks grandly of bringing the benefits of freedom and democracy to the Third World, but his wrongheaded crusade against this important U.N. agency does nothing but increase human suffering.” Read: Register-Guard

The Fresno Bee (U.S.) July 1 editorial highlighted: “Never mind that the [U.S.] government's own investigators recommended providing federal money to UNFPA, as was done for many years. Never mind that UNFPA has helped reduce the number of abortions—and maternal and infant deaths—in poor countries through family planning programs, and that WHO and UNICEF are working everywhere to protect the health of women and children. Never mind, for that matter, that abortion is legal in this country.” The editorial concluded, “So much for the argument that, by seeking others' help in Iraq now, Bush has embraced multilateralism. In this election year, his rejection of programs that save lives serves a unilateral political objective. It's also mean.” Read: Fresno Bee

In The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Liz Stevens wrote a June 27 column that mentioned according to FreeChoiceSavesLives.org, a project of International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Bush administration not releasing an annual $34 million contribution to the United Nations Population Fund counts as part of a number of acts that disprove the slogan, “W Stands for Women.” Read: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The New York Times ran a June 27 letter by James Gustave Speth, former administrator of the United Nations Development Program, responding to The Times June 21 story,“U.S. Is Accused of Trying to Isolate U.N. Population Unit.” Speth wrote: “Republicans and others have urged United Nations reform, particularly the need to overcome fragmentation among the agency's programs. In response, Secretary General Kofi Annan undertook a major reform initiative, which was my assignment to carry out. A critical part of that reform was to insist that agencies like the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Program and the targeted United Nations Population Fund integrate their work, especially in the countries in which the United Nations works.” He concluded, “The administration's actions to undermine the population fund run counter to our interest in having others see us as committed to their success. This objective takes on urgency in the world in which we find ourselves.” Read: New York Times

The Baltimore Sun (U.S.) ran a June 30 op ed by Carmen Barroso, regional director for the Western Hemisphere of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, that noted: “This year, Congress approved $34 million for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), but the White House is balking at releasing the money. This is the third consecutive year that UNFPA money appropriated by Congress has been withheld, forcing the closing of dozens of reproductive health clinics that often were the sole source of medical help for miles around. The administration's justification is a widely discredited report linking UNFPA to forced abortions in China, most recently debunked by a fact-finding team sent to China by the State Department. The people affected are again poor women in developing countries.”

In a June 26 letter by reader of The Journal News (U.S.), Lloyd Marcus wrote: “As the June 21 New York Times reported: ‘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.’ And further: ‘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." Marcus summarized, “And there's the Bush presidency in a nutshell: ideologically driven, mixing the constitutionally separated realms of church and state, using the mailed fist to batter its chosen opponents, and playing the make-believe champion of embryos everywhere with slogans akin to ‘leave no child behind’ while reversing the U.S. budget surplus (astronomically, maybe irreversibly), giving immense tax handbacks skewed to the rich, crippling education by destroying the many aspects not easily paper/pencil tested; and making governmental bipartisanship a bitter, bitter joke.

UNITED STATES: 34 Million Friends of UNFPA

The Denver Post (U.S.) ran a June 27 column by Diane Carman on goal of reaching $34 million of the 34 Million Friends of UNFPA during co-founder, Lois Abraham’s recent visit to Colorado. Carman wrote: “Abraham noticed a few months ago that every time she tried to board an airplane, she was subjected to exhaustive searches. Her clothing, her carry-on bags—everything was inspected. A few weeks ago at LaGuardia, an airline employee revealed why. ‘Oh, wait,’ she said as she stared at the computer, ‘you're on the 'no-fly’ list. Stay right there while I get a manager.’ Apparently, the tiny, gray-haired lawyer is somebody's idea of a threat.So while politics may be irrelevant in some places, it's thriving in Washington—and at airports all across America.” Read: Denver Post

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