U.S. FUNDING FOR UN POPULATION FUND

The Washington Post reported February 25 on the dispute that has held up $34 million Congress appropriated last year for the United Nations Population Fund and its programs of international family planning. The Bush administration has placed a hold on the funds because critics say UNFPA implicitly condones China's policy of forced abortions and sterilization by supporting projects there. Agency officials say they support only voluntary programs and do not fund abortions anywhere. BBC news reported February 27 that UNFPA was at first baffled by the accusations. UNFPA policy director Stirling Scruggs said, “If we were guilty of any of the things they mentioned, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, developing countries all over the world who all care about human rights would be outraged." In a letter last month to Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) called it "unconscionable" that the Bush administration would allow politics to stand in the way of saving lives, and she spotlighted the dispute at a February 27 hearing of a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee panel. According to a February 28 story by Reuters, Nicolaas Biegman, a former UN ambassador from the Netherlands who led an international delegation to China in October, told the subcommittee, "Our investigation found absolutely no evidence that the UN Population Fund supports coercive family planning practices in China or violates the human rights of Chinese people in any way." Read in: The Washington Post, BBC News, Reuters and Newsday

[NOTE: Read PLANetWIRE’s latest feature State Department Says White House Investigating UN Agency.]

SAVING WOMEN'S LIVES

Afghan women

The Washington Post featured a February 24 story on the 52 Beds Clinic in Kabul: “In a 24-hour period in the maternity ward, 16 babies will be born. Eight girls, eight boys, one set of twins. One stillborn. There are more swollen-bellied women than there are beds, which means they must take turns. They take turns writhing on the metal tables, they take turns waiting to be cleaned up, and they take turns waiting for the lone doctor on duty. There are no epidurals, no Lamaze breathing, no anxious husbands mopping sweaty brows. No surgeons for emergency C-sections. At the moment, there are also no lights, or hot water, but this does not stop the babies from coming.” The Post’s story about the conditions at the 52 Beds clinic reflects a new study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that found Afghan women have poor access to prenatal care and a high rate of maternal death. According to a February 21 story by United Press International, CDC researchers said, “The findings highlight the devastating toll on women's health caused by the Taliban's restrictions on access to health care, decades of war and a serious shortage of functional medical facilities.” The Associated Press reported February 11 that in an effort to improve basic health care, the Afghan Red Crescent Society graduated its first class of women health care volunteers. Read in: The Washington Post

Violence against Women

Time magazine featured a February 18 story on sex slavery under soldiers of the Taliban regime: “In the mud-fortress villages above the Shomali vineyards, more than 600 women vanished in the 1999 Taliban offensive. These abductions are considered such a great dishonor that the victims' families almost never mention them.” Qadria Yasdon Parast, leader of Freedom Messengers, a Kabul women's rights group, said, "If you ask about the missing, they'll say, 'Our daughter's dead,' or that she's off married in Pakistan." Many of the women probably did end up in Pakistan, but were sold to brothels there or kept as virtual slaves inside homes, say officials from relief agencies. None have come back. Even if they could escape, these women would probably decide that their families would no longer welcome them.

In a February 21 report to the UN Economic and Social Council, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that the civil war in Afghanistan had fostered "a culture of violence" against women and girls that is likely to continue during peacetime. The Associated Press reported February 21 that Annan called for special measures "to protect women and girls from forced and under-age marriages and all other forms of violence." Special attention should be directed at promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls, he said, including the right not to be discriminated against because of sex, age, religion, ethnicity, disability or political affiliation. Earlier, on February 19, during an informal conference on women's rights in Spain, Nicole Pery, French Secretary of State for Women's Rights, called on the European Union for an awareness campaign to target violence against women, according to a February 19 story by Agence France Presse. Africa News reported February 11 that the South African government will reconsider its programs to address crime and violence against women and children, particularly sexual offenses. The department plans to submit to the Cabinet a draft action plan for the reduction of rape and the improvement of criminal justice procedures on sexual offenses, justice minister Penuell Maduna said during parliamentary media briefings in Cape Town. Read in: Africa News

In a February 21 story, United Press International reported on a recent study by a human rights advocacy group called the Society for the Advancement of Community, Health, Education and Training tallying media reports of honor killings and other crimes against Pakistani women. It found 44 such accounts over the past year, with reports appearing more frequently in recent months. However, "the magnitude of the problem is much, much, much bigger than what has been reported," said the organization's Executive Vice President Rakhshinda Perveen. "It's very much behind the scenes these things happen." Honor killings ranked sixth among the most common types of violence reported against women in Pakistan, according to the report. Battering is the third most common; the report recorded 130 stories on those. Rape ranked fourth, with 83 cases described in Pakistani press reports.

Reproductive Health Policy

Kenya’s ban on abortion states: "Any person who, with intent to procure miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious things, or uses force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years," but Dr. Solomon Orero of Kisumu Medical and Educational Trust carries out the procedure anyway. The New York Times reported February 17 that Kenya's law provides a loophole that allows Dr. Orero to end a pregnancy if the procedure is aimed at "the preservation of the mother's life" and if it is performed "in good faith and with reasonable care and skill." Dr. Orero later explained the advice he offers younger clinicians: "I tell them that if their conscience does not allow them to do a termination, I respect that, but don't turn the woman away. Don't send her back into the street. At least, link her to someone who can do it safely."  Read in: The New York Times

HIV/AIDS

Nevirapine for HIV-Infected Mothers in South Africa

South Africa’s government's AIDS policy is facing a serious challenge as key South African politicians, including former President Nelson Mandela, medical specialists and church leaders rebel against state restrictions on the distribution of drugs that could curb the spread of the disease, according to a February 22 story by The Los Angeles Times. The Washington Post reported February 20 that Mbhazima Shilowa, a member of the ruling African National Congress and President Thabo Mbeki's handpicked choice to run South Africa's most urban and prosperous province, announced that provincial hospitals in Gauteng province – which includes Johannesburg and the capital city of Pretoria -- will provide the drug Nevirapine to all pregnant women infected with HIV. By publicly bucking the ANC line, Shilowa provided what some called the surest sign yet that South Africa is no longer the euphoric country that toppled white-minority rule eight years ago. "This is huge," said Abbey Makoe, a newspaper columnist here. "No one has ever seen such a well-regarded, high-ranking ANC member go against the ANC in such a public way. The ANC is outwardly a democratic institution, but internally, they are socialist and this is a defining political moment for the country as a whole. The ground has shifted."   Read in: The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Reuters

Powell’s Stance on Condoms

On a February 14 program on MTV, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell strongly advocated condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS, setting himself apart from President Bush's views favoring abstinence education and angering some of the president's closest supporters on the political right. The Washington Post reported February 15 that Powell said, "It is important that the whole international community come together, speak candidly about it, forget about taboos, forget about conservative ideas with respect to what you should tell young people about. It's the lives of young people that are put at risk by unsafe sex. And, therefore, protect yourself." Marsha Martin, Director of the liberal advocacy group AIDS Action, said of Powell, "We want to salute him and say, 'Bravo!' He is a member of the Bush administration, so I would say we are getting perhaps a new message and a welcome message about HIV prevention."   Read in: The Washington Post and New York Times

GLOBAL AGING

The New York Times reported March 1 that while many countries worry about a bulge in the number of restless young people, the United Nations reported that the world's population is in fact steadily getting older everywhere. "The changes that are going on are not paralleled in any century before the 20th century," said Joseph Chamie, an American demographer who directs the United Nations population division. "We will see this trend accelerating in the 21st century." Mr. Chamie introduced figures show aging as pervasive -- not just confined to rich countries -- and likely to have profound implications on economies in all regions. United Nations demographers are riveted on a statistic they call the "potential support ratio": the number of people 15 to 64 who are available as workers to sustain the retirees. By 2050, there may be only four working-age people for every person over 65 worldwide.   Read in: The New York Times

FOREIGN AID

A coalition of 160 groups -- including CARE, Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services -- aims to persuade the White House and Congress to double spending on the foreign poor as a moral action by the world's wealthiest country and a curb against instability that could breed armed conflict and terrorism. The Washington Post reported February 12 that Mary E. McClymont, President of InterAction, the umbrella group launching the five-year campaign, said, "We had higher levels of support during the Cold War. Ten years ago, if you adjust for inflation and population growth, $1 billion more was being spent on these issues.” She added, "It's got to be fixed. It's a matter of turning the rhetoric into reality." McClymont focused her criticism on the $3.8 billion proposed last week by the administration in seven accounts, including basic education, health care, refugee and disaster response, and democracy projects. The administration's entire international affairs proposal is only $16.1 billion, she said. An increase in foreign aid can help the 1.3 billion people who earn, on average, less than $1 a day, like Rose Shanzi’s family as described in a February 19 story by The Washington Post. Read in: The Washington Post: U.S. Urged to Double Overseas Aid and Less Than $1 Means Family of 6 Can Eat

The New York Times reported February 21 that Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill told experts at the International Institute of Economics in Washington that the World Bank had driven poor countries "into a ditch" by lending instead of donating funds to fight poverty. He sharply criticized allies for failing to back a plan to revamp aid policies. In a well-publicized speech last July, President Bush called grants like these "compassionate conservatism at the international level." His argument was that it made more sense to donate money for health, education and sanitation projects than to burden poor countries with debt. The president said he would like to see "up to 50 percent" of the World Bank's $6 billion in annual outlays for the poorest countries provided in grants, compared with about 1 percent now. The Post reported that officials involved in the March development meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, said any overhaul will be much more modest than Bush and O'Neill once envisioned.  Read in: The New York Times

FOOD SECURITY

In a February 19 story by The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), experts studying world hunger said terrorists who strike against the rich may be doing as much or more harm to the poor. University of Minnesota economist Ben Senauer and his university colleague C. Ford Runge have been studying the causes and possible cures of food deprivation among 800 million people worldwide, in preparation for a soon-to-be-published book, "Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime: Globalization and Food Security." "Global economic growth may well be slower over a prolonged period as a consequence of the recent major terrorist attacks than it otherwise might have been," Senauer said. ”If this is so, international terrorism should be branded as anti-poor, since sharing in the gains of robust global growth is the sine que non for making substantial gains against poverty and hunger throughout the world."  Read in: The Star Tribune

TURKEY’S POPULATION POLICY

In predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of a popular pro-Islamic opposition party, criticized the country's birth control policy and alcohol consumption in a bid to increase Islam's profile. The Associated Press reported February 17 that the daily Sabah quoted him as telling members of his Justice and Development party that Turkey's population should increase. Erdogan was attacking recent complaints voiced by the government about Turkey's burgeoning birth rate and its negative effects on the country's economy. Turkey, aspiring for membership in the European Union in the midst of a deep economic crisis, has been trying to improve reproductive health services and has legalized sterilization and abortion to terminate pregnancies in their first 10 weeks. Erdogan accused authorities of committing "treason" by running family planning projects.

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

“Nowhere is the need for the vital work of the United Nations Population Fund, a group dedicated to women's health, more obvious than in Afghanistan,” noted a February 27 editorial by The Hartford Courant (CT). “The Bush administration should release these funds and ignore political pressure from a group of lawmakers, led by Republican Christopher Smith of New Jersey and driven by anti-abortion sentiment, to renege on the commitment. They are circulating disinformation that could cost thousands of women and children their health and possibly their lives.” Read the latest editorial in: Hartford Courant, The Denver Post,

The Daily News’s columnist Michael Kramer wrote in a February 27 column that in a $2 trillion federal budget, $34 million is not a lot of money — less than two thousandths of one percent of the total. However, this is the amount President Bush has held up for the UN Population Fund. “As he considers his options, the President should listen to Secretary of State Powell, who told Congress last year that the UN program ‘provides critical population assistance to developing countries,’” Kramer wrote. On February 27, Women’s Enews ran a commentary by Jill Sheffield, President of Family Care International, who wrote, “The president needs to hear from women who understand the true value of the population fund's work. Women's lives are at stake, and that must be part of the balance the president is weighing in a decision that otherwise seems to be pure politics.”  Read in: The Daily News and Women’s Enews

Read the latest letters in support of U.S. funding for UNFPA by Constance Spahn, Chair of Population Action International’s Board of Directors, in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) and Sun-Sentinel (FL); Ritu Sharma, Executive Director of Women’s Edge, in The Baltimore Sun (MD); and Werner Fornos, President of Population Institute, in Newsday (NY).

In response to the Feb. 17 New York Times piece, “Despite a Ban, Teaching Safe Abortions in Kenya” The Times ran a February 24 letter by Luisa Cabal, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, who wrote, “Despite President Bush's indefensible gag rule on the promotion of abortion law reform, international women's groups and providers around the world are continuing to promote changes to restrictive abortion laws, and to bring international attention to the issues of women's reproductive and sexual rights with creative legal strategies. International mechanisms for the protection of human rights do exist and can promote recognition of abortion as a human right and a crucial component of comprehensive reproductive health care.” Read in: The New York Times

Secretary of State Colin Powell’s comments supporting condom use to prevent HIV-infection generated numerous editorials and opinion pieces. The Washington Post wrote on February 16 that “Mr. Powell's response was appropriately directed to young people who have passed over the abstinence-only message and are engaging in sexual activity. In that circumstance, as former surgeon general C. Everett Koop has said, the best way to avoid sex-related diseases "barring abstinence is the use of a condom." Mr. Powell said no less.” DeWayne Wickham, columnist for USA Today, wrote in a February 19 column that “Powell's MTV remarks were targeted at the worldwide AIDS crisis, but they are just as instructive for people in Baltimore as for those who live in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia or South America. For what he said, Colin Powell deserves to be praised, not panned.” Read in: The Washington Post, USA Today and Sun-Sentinel (FL)

The above analysis was written by Elena M. H. Cabatu and Kathy Bonk at the Communications Consortium Media Center, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005, 202/326-8700.

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