For Immediate Release:	July 22, 2002
For More Information:	Emily Felt, National Council of Jewish Women, (202) 296-2588
Sponsor Organization:	National Council of Jewish Women
July 22, 2002, Washington, DC -- NCJW National President Marsha Atkind issued the following statement on behalf of the National Council of Jewish Women:
"We are alarmed that the Administration has decided to withdraw the $34 million allocated last year by Congress for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). At a time when the world is focusing on the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic and the great obstacles in the way of providing treatment and supports for patients and their families, this decision is not only unwise, but cruel. Access to family planning services is an issue that affects people on all continents, across gender, ethnic, and class lines. It is critical to improving women’s and children’s health and survival rates and reducing the number of AIDS cases worldwide. UNFPA is vital to ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable women and families have access to life-saving family planning and reproductive health services. Women and families all over the world are desperate for the reproductive health services that most people in the United States take for granted. UNFPA is on the forefront of providing this basic health care. We strongly urge Congress to rectify an action that undercuts the original intent of Congress to address critical health needs. The lives and health of millions of women and children worldwide should not be sacrificed in the name of politics.” NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms through research, education, advocacy, and community service programs initiated by its network of 90,000 volunteers, supporters and members nationwide.