U.S. Delegation Isolated as Santiatgo Health Conference Reaffirms ICPD Consensus

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 11, 2004—With a shout of acclamation, health policy leaders from Canada to the tip of South America today approved a strong declaration of continued support for the Cairo Consensus of 1994, overwhelmingly rejecting U.S. efforts to weaken the declaration. The U.S. delegation was the only one of the 38 countries present to refuse to join the accord.

By acclamation, the more than 300 participants added language over U.S. objections that reaffirmed and even broadened the assertion by 179 countries at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) that promoting women’s reproductive and sexual rights and services is central to reducing poverty and fostering economic development.

The additional language stressed the need to promote racial and gender equity, adolescents’ independent access to sexual and reproductive health care and information, prevention of unsafe abortion, and poverty alleviation.

“This is a very clear document, a consensus that reaffirms Cairo in every dimension,” said Marisela Padron, Latin America director for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, one of the convenors of the conference. “The procedures were impeccable.”

The U.S. delegation objected to the procedures as well as the language. “There are numerous statements in the declaration to which we cannot subscribe,” Lucy Tamlyn, head of the U.S. delegation, told a hushed chamber in explaining the U.S. position. “There are also significant omissions. Therefore the United States regretfully disassociates from the declaration.”

It was the third recent international gathering of population and health decision-makers to reject Bush administration efforts to recast the Cairo consensus in more conservative ideological terms. Earlier regional gatherings in Europe and Asia also refused to remove references to “reproductive health services” and to insert language endorsing a parental right to make all decisions regarding adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health.

“It was important that the United States be able to express its differences in a transparent manner,” said Ana Cristina Gonzalez, head of the Colombia delegation, “but these sentiments are not shared in the region, as became clear.”

Edwin St. Catherine, head of the Santa Lucia delegation and one of the presiding officers involved in the negotiations over the declaration, said U.S. objections were “substantial and very well researched” but that ideological concerns are “infiltrating foreign policy where they probably shouldn’t.” Supporters of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) were jubilant. “The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean should be congratulated for holding the rights of women and adolescents as non-negotiable,” said Terri Bartlett, vice president of Population Action International, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization. “A sea change is taking place in the world and the United States is isolated and being left behind.”

Held under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the gathering’s declaration and its technical report on ten years of regional progress toward the goals of the ICPD will be forwarded for discussion at a final regional gathering in Puerto Rico in June, and then to the UN General Assembly.

U.S. Witholds Statement of Support at Chile Population Policy Meeting

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 10, 2004 (p.m.) -—Rejecting a parade of speakers backing the Global Consensus of 1994 on population and development issues, the United States tonight withheld any statement of support and instead repeated its opposition to key aspects of the agreement.

Lucy Tamlyn, head of the U.S. delegation, said the delegation had “listened with interest” and applauded the progress other delegations said their countries had made toward achieving the goals of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and its Programme of Action. “But how we achieve those goals also matters,” she said.

Reflecting the Bush administration’s new emphasis on “strengthening families,” Tamlyn reiterated the U.S. position “that parents should be involved in all decisions affecting children and adolescent health, including matters related to sexual and reproductive health.” This runs counter to the Programme of Action’s assertion that young people have an independent right to reproductive and sexual health information and services.

“We agree parents have a role to play in guiding young people,” said Shannon Kowalski of the Youth Coalition, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Toronto, “but adolescents have an undeniable right to make their own decisions about their reproductive and sexual lives. They have the right to information and education and services that are non-judgmental. Not all young people come from safe and trusting family environments.”

Tamlyn endorsed the “ABC approach” to preventing HIV/AIDS, describing it as: “Abstinence, be faithful, and, when necessary, the appropriate and safe use of condoms.” Administration agencies have recently deleted references to condoms from public documents and Web sites and have required that a third of all U.S. Agency for International Development funding for family planning programs be devoted to promoting sexual abstinence among young people.

“Subordinating ‘B’ and ‘C’ to abstinence programs does not address the rights of individuals to use all possible means to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS,” said Mercedes Mas de Xaxas [Xaxas cq], of Population Action International in Spain.

Tamlyn asserted U.S. leadership in funding for international family planning and reproductive health programs worldwide, which some delegates took as a veiled warning that their U.S. assistance might be at stake in contesting the U.S. position. “The threat is implicit,” said Eugenia Romero Contreras, a member of the Mexico delegation and director-general of Gender Equity, a Mexico City organization. “But the United States is part of this continent and what happens here affects them directly. They must think this through.”

U.S. Stands Isolated at Chile Population Policy Meeting

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 10, 2004 (a.m.)--Latin American and Caribbean health policy decision-makers today united in support of the Cairo Consensus against the U.S. government’s most recent attempt to weaken it.

By a 40 to 1 margin, country delegations agreed at a meeting on population issues here to issue a formal declaration regarding the past decade of progress on the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). “The United States was the only delegation that opposed issuing a declaration," said Sergia Galvan, a delegate of the Dominican Republic.

At stake are regional commitments to investment and policy changes in programs of reproductive health care, education and rights for women and adolescents. At earlier gatherings in Asia and Europe, Bush administration delegates failed in efforts to delete references to “reproductive health" and "condoms" from conference documents and to insert language restricting adolescents' access to sexuality education and services. They also sought to redefine “family" in traditional terms.

Although the draft text of the Latin American and Caribbean regional declaration remains to be negotiated in sessions that continue through Thursday, ICPD supporters were confident that the morning action meant victory. “All signs point to the same conclusion here that was reached in the Asia and Europe," said Terri Bartlett, vice president for policy at Population Action International. “Even with the United States participating, the strong and unwavering support of the region is very impressive."

“The United States is putting pressure on governments that are more dependent on them," said Laura Miranda, a physician and program director of Marie Stopes Mexico, a family planning organization. ”We hope that at the end we will have a full reaffirmation of the Programme of Action".

Galvan said the U.S. had objected to a declaration on grounds the Santiago meeting is procedural in nature and should confine itself to recommending concrete actions to promote implementation of the ICPD accord. The objection was overruled by the presiding officers of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), under whose auspices the regional gathering is being held.

US Plays Divisive Role at Chile Health Meeting

Santiago, Chile (March 9, 2004)-- The Bush administration appeared poised to divide and conquer on women’s reproductive rights issues at a gathering here this week of Latin American and Caribbean health policy-making officials.

The March 9-11 meeting is officially procedural, with a focus on concrete steps to accelerate implementation of the Global Consensus of 1994. But some of the 41 country delegations have received different letters from the Bush administration about its goals and plans for the gathering, depending on whether the delegation was considered a supporter or critic of the Consensus. One central issue involves whether to issue a simple report on what is said during the proceedings or to draft some kind of formal declaration. The text of any resolution would be controversial.

At the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, several Latin American countries were among those that expressed “reservations" to the Programme of Action that was the conference final product. At recent international meetings, Bush administration delegates have sought to recast the document in ideological terms, moving to delete references to “reproductive health" and “condoms" and to insert language affirming parental control over adolescents' rights and access to information and services.

Those efforts were rebuffed at gatherings of Asian and European nations, but the predominantly Roman Catholic countries of this region could prove more receptive to Bush administration pressure. At stake here are regional commitments to investment and policy initiatives in women’s reproductive health care, education and rights.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled Wednesday for the meeting, which is under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and involves minister-level officers of ECLAC’s Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development.

Click here for more information on the 10th Anniversary of the ICPD from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

Click here to view the ECLAC Web site

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