For Immediate Release:	July 2, 2004
For More Information:	Kirsten Sherk, Ipas, sherkk@ipas.org, +1 (919) 960-5612
Sponsor Organization:	A Mother's Promise campaign
Strong Latin American and Caribbean Unity Prevails Over Intense U.S. Pressure to Turn Back the Clock on Women's Rights
SAN JUAN, PR, July 2-U.S. organizations attending the biannual meeting of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) applauded the final passage of a resolution to reaffirm the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (in Cairo, Egypt). The resolution passed despite weeks of intense pressure by U.S. government representatives on Latin American countries to roll back the 10-year old global consensus. But when country after country spoke for advancing the 10-year old global consensus to protect and promote the health of women children and the environment, the United States was left with little choice but to join the consensus or to further isolate itself on the global stage. Members of a coalition of U.S. organizations, A Mother's Promise the World Must Keep, a campaign to reaffirm the 1994 agreement (often called the Cairo Consensus), attended the meeting in San Juan. The health, environmental, religious and human rights organizations - representing millions of Americans - called on the U.S. delegation to join the U.S. public and the global community in support of the consensus. On Wednesday, June 29, the campaign released a list of 34 U.S. mayors and four governors who have issued proclamations calling on the federal government to reaffirm the Cairo Consensus, along with a letter signed by more than 100 members of Congress. "U.S. citizens believe in the promise of Cairo," said Alia Khan, director of Planned Parenthood Global Partners® at Planned Parenthood® Federation of America, a leader of the campaign. "And they want our nation to join others in making that promise a reality for women and their families." While U.S. groups welcomed the consensus on the ECLAC resolution to reaffirm, they remained skeptical of U.S. government policies. "This administration has a record of undermining global health, from imposing the global gag rule to cutting off funding for the U.N. Population Fund, to forcing health care organizations to use abstinence-only (some say 'ignorance-only') HIV prevention curricula," Khan continued. "It will be utterly important to watch what they do, not just what they say." "For the last year and a half, in regional negotiations on sexual and reproductive rights in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the U.S. has been completely alone in its opposition to comprehensive reproductive health services and sexuality education for young people," said Angeles Cabria, Senior Program Officer for Latin America at the International Women's Health Coalition. "While the U.S. has joined the consensus today, they continued until the last minute to pressure Central American countries here to pull back from the Cairo agenda." The United States issued an "explanation of position" that reiterated the administration's political agenda to restrict access to reproductive health information and services, and interfere with individuals' personal, private decisions about their own health. # # # For more information about the Mother's Promise campaign, visit http://www.amotherspromise.org