For Immediate Release:	July 16, 2004
For More Information:	Ritu Sharma, Women's EDGE: The Coalition for Women's Economic Development and Global Equality, rsharma@womensedge.org, 202-884-8398
Sponsor Organization:	Women’s Edge Coalition
“The Women’s Edge Coalition calls on the president to put women’s health needs above ideology and restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund.”
Washington, DC—The Women’s Edge Coalition, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations representing millions of American men and women, denounces today’s decision by the Bush administration to again withhold funding for UNFPA, the U.N. Population Fund. This is the third year in a row that the administration has withheld funding. UNFPA provides safe motherhood, family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention services for women and their families in nearly 140 poor countries around the world, in contrast to only about 60 countries that currently receive U.S. population assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development. UNFPA is often the only international provider of reproductive health and family planning care and services in many developing countries. “The president’s action today means that fewer women around the world will have access to lifesaving reproductive health programs and vital family planning services that allow women to stay active economically,” said Ritu Sharma, Executive Director of the Women’s Edge Coalition. “The Women’s Edge Coalition calls on the president to put women’s health needs above ideology and restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund.”