January 23, 2002

The Honorable George W. Bush

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to urge you to release the hold you have placed on United States’ funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and honor the bipartisan agreement on UNFPA funding approved in FY 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations.  

UNFPA is a critical player in efforts to reach international goals for a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world adopted at the 2000 Millennium Summit.  In those goals, the countries of the world committed themselves to reduce, by 50 percent, the number of persons who live on less than $1 a day by the year 2015; to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by the year 2015; and to reduce, by three quarters, the rate of maternal mortality by the year 2015. 

The reproductive health and family planning services provided through UNFPA are essential building blocks to economic prosperity and sustainable development.   This is particularly true in light of the global AIDS pandemic, which is spreading to 6,000 additional young people each day.  Sixty-two percent of the 11.8 million young people living with HIV/AIDS are adolescence girls.  ICRW’s research findings indicate that reductions in availability of family planning and reproductive health services severely undermine access to information and means of sexual protection from HIV infection. 

It is important for the United States to demonstrate leadership in collaborative efforts to achieve the goals set at the 2000 Millennium Summit.  UNFPA is a critical asset to countries seeking to reach these goals because of its high level of technical expertise and worldwide leadership in reproductive health and population issues.  Mr. President, I ask you to join the current bipartisan wisdom on international family planning by upholding the congressional appropriation of $34 million to UNFPA.

Sincerely,

Geeta Rao Gupta

President

International Center for Research on Women