For Immediate Release:	June 30, 2004
For More Information:	Kirsten Sherk, Ipas, sherkk@ipas.org, +1 (919) 960-5612
Sponsor Organization:	A Mother's Promise Campaign
Americans, U.S. Organizations Call for Government to Reaffirm
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, June 30, 2004—This week at the 30th session of the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), U.S. organizations released a report calling on their government to join thousands of Americans and their elected officials and reaffirm the 1994 Programme of Action created at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. The Programme of Action, or Cairo Consensus, is a blueprint for nations, working together to help secure for every woman access to basic health care, a clean environment, education, and the right to make the private personal choices about childbearing that are best for her family, and to have the information and means to do so. U.S. organizations are angered by U.S. efforts to pressure Latin American nations to turn their backs on the goals, principles and financial commitments of Cairo, threatening a decade of progress towards addressing the world’s most pressing problems, including HIV/AIDS, poverty and environmental degradation. Furthermore, the U.S. position flies in the face of the views of the American public, which remains committed to the goals of Cairo and will continue to press the U.S. government to live up to its commitments. “The U.S. delegation at ECLAC does not represent the views of U.S. citizens,” said Allie Stickney, vice president of Planned Parenthood® Federation of America. “Their true voice is represented in the report we are releasing today.” Over 35 U.S. organizations with thousands of Americans, their city and state officials, and over 100 members of Congress have called on the United States to reaffirm the agreement. The groups are joined together in a nationwide campaign, A Mother’s Promise the World Must Keep, that demonstrates that Americans value and support the promise a mother makes to her child, and the promise a great nation makes to the world. “I am here with my daughter Virginia representing the true mother’s majority,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, attending the conference. “It is time for all Americans to say enough is enough and draw a line in the sand. We must say yes to women’s health, and no to cutbacks in programs resulting in more back-alley abortions and death.” Co-sponsors of A Mother’s Promise attending the Puerto Rico Meeting include: Catholics for a Free Choice, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Communications Consortium Media Center, Family Care International, Ipas, the International Women’s Health Coalition, the National Wildlife Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Population Action International, and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization. Co-sponsors and Friends of A Mothers Promise the World Must Keep: Advocates for Youth ▪ AIDS Action▪ Alan Guttmacher Institute ▪ Catholics for a Free Choice ▪ Center for Environment and Population ▪ Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)▪ Center for Reproductive Rights ▪ Center for Women’s Global Leadership ▪ Center for Women’s Policy Studies ▪ Communications Consortium Media Center ▪ EngenderHealth▪ Family Care International ▪ Feminist Majority Foundation ▪ International Center for Research on Women ▪ International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ▪ International Women’s Health Coalition ▪ International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region ▪ Ipas ▪ John Snow, Inc. ▪ NARAL Pro-Choice America ▪ National Audubon Society ▪ National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association ▪ National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health ▪ National Organizations Responding to AIDS ▪ National Wildlife Federation ▪ Pacific Institute for Women’s Health ▪ Pathfinder International ▪ Planned Parenthood Federation of America ▪ Population Action International ▪ Population Coalition ▪ Population Connection ▪ The Population Institute ▪ The Population and Sustainability Network ▪ Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice▪ Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. ▪ Sierra Club ▪ United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society ▪ United Nations Foundation ▪ U.S. Committee for UNFPA ▪ Women’s Edge Coalition ▪ Women’s Environment and Development Organization For more information about the Mother’s Promise campaign, visit http://www.amotherspromise.org