US President George W. Bush withheld 25 million US dollar in funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Friday in a move likely to appeal to opponents of abortion as he seeks reelection, reports the World Bank press review.
But the UN agency said the decision was misguided and that the funding that was denied could have prevented 1,5 million unwanted pregnancies and 588.000 abortions worldwide.
A month before the Nov. 2 election, Bush ordered the transfer of money Congress earmarked for the UN agency for 2004 to a US State Department program designed to combat human trafficking and prostitution. The money transfer alledgely was in response to a State Department finding that the U.N. agencys work supported coercive abortion in China.
The Bush administration has denied over 90 million US dollar to the UN Population Fund since 2002 at the urging of conservative groups and lawmakers who insist it contributes to abortion in China through its association with the Beijing government.
The fund, which works with family planning and reproductive health organizations in more than 140 countries, said none of its activities leads to coercive abortion in China.
Sarah Craven, who heads the UN funds Washington office, said the organization runs a 3 million dollar China project that has helped reduce the abortion rate to 10 percent from 24 percent in areas it serves by educating women about contraceptives. She said the fund has also agreed that no US tax dollars would go directly to the China project.
In addition to preventing abortions and unwanted pregnancies, the UN agency said 25 million US dollar from the United States could have been used to prevent 3.500 maternal deaths and 57.000 infant and child deaths outside China.
The combined funds withheld by the Bush administration this year account for about 11 percent of the Population Funds 300 million US dollar annual budget, Craven said. US Congress has yet to reach agreement on funding the UN Population Fund for fiscal 2005, which began on Friday.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
