Senate Hearing To Ask Why Administration is Blocking U.S. Funding for the UN Population Fund

An analysis of the FY2003 Budget Request from Population Action International

UNFPA web site LATEST MEDIA COVERAGE Letters in favor of UNFPA funding Editorial Board Memo For more information: Sarah Craven, U.S. Committee for UNFPA FACTS: U.S. Contributions to UNFPA 1965-2001 UNFPA and China Potential Impact of Increased Funding on Women and Families Overseas Family Planning Funding 2001: USAID programs

Feb 25 - This Wednesday, February 27 at 2:15 pm, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s International Operations and Terrorism Subcommittee will explore the reasons behind the Bush Administration’s decision to block funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The hearing will be chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

Although Congress appropriated, and the President signed into law, a bill providing up to $34 million for UNFPA, the Administration has held the funds from the UN organization since January. In addition, next year’s contribution for UNFPA is also frozen in President Bush’s fiscal 2003 budget request.

Those who advocate holding back the contribution claim that UNFPA’s country program in China indirectly supports coercive practices in that country. UNFPA backers note that the claims are vague, unsubstantiated and are really about actions of the Chinese government, not UNFPA. Moreover, supporters note that US law already prohibits any US funds from being utilized by UNFPA in China, and that by withholding the $34 million contribution the life and health of women and children are put at risk due to an absence of family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention services.

The witnesses will include:

The Honorable Arthur “Gene” Dewey, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, US Department of State

The Honorable Nicolaas H. Biegman, Former Ambassador of the Netherlands to the UN and to NATO, team leader in the investigating the claims of abuse by UNFPA in China, and co-chair of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.

The Honorable Phyllis E. Oakley, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Adjunct Professor Johns Hopkins University.

Josephine Guy, Director of Governmental Affairs for America 21, a non-governmental organization.

Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute.

When Secretary of State Colin Powell testified before the House Foreign Ops Subcommittee February 13, he mentioned the possibility of a U.S. team traveling to China to investigate. Reports are that such a trip is real possibility, although the details have yet to emerge.

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