Americans For UNFPA

The United Nations Population Fund tackles the issues of women's healthcare and women's rights. Why doesn't the United States participate?

by Dianne Bernez

October 1, 2006

A pproximately 550,000 women around the world die every year from preventable pregnancy-related causes. Put another way, that's one woman every minute. That's just one of the myriad of urgent issues tackled by the multilateral United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

For more than 30 years, UNFPA has provided women's healthcare and promoted the rights of women around the world. It is the largest international source of such assistance and supports countries in using population data for policies and programs not only to reduce poverty, but also to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

 

Photography by Julie Denesha (left) and Peter "Hopper" Stone

Of the 140 countries and 165 nations that participate in UNFPA, only two do not. One is Somalia. The other is the United States of America. That's a startling finding considering the United States was integral in forming UNFPA in 1969.

“The United States was a previous participant, except during the Republican-controlled Congress of 1999,” says Anika Rahman, president of the non-partisan, non-profit group known as Americans for UNFPA. According to that organization, 70 percent of Americans support the work of UNFPA. Indeed, Congress continues to allocate $34 million annually to UNFPA, but “…President [George W.] Bush is the first U.S. administrator to de-fund [it],” Rahman adds.

The current administration's decision to withhold support for UNFPA may be due to that organization becoming a lighting rod for anti-choice forces in the mid-1980s. Ironically, UNFPA works to prevent abortion and adheres to the United Nations′ stated policy that abortion should not be promoted as a method of family planning. The bulk of UNFPA's funding supports women in sub-Saharan countries in Africa where the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is the highest in the world. Women in that part of the world also suffer the highest rate of maternal mortality. Americans for UNFPA is now doing something to bring attention to UNFPA's work and the critical need for the United States to once again fund the organization.

 

Photography by Viktor Vlaeusky (left), Richard Stanley (center) and Beth O'Donnell

Family of Woman is a photography exhibition depicting the story of women around the world that Americans for UNFPA will bring to Atlanta this fall. Originally unveiled at the U.N. headquarters in 2002, Atlantans will have the opportunity to view the exhibit beginning October 23 and continuing through November 17, 2006, which will be on display at the College of Management of the Georgia Institute of Technology. There is no admission fee.

“Atlanta is the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, and given the prominence of organizations such as CARE and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention located here, it was a natural fit for us to select the city to highlight the types of social issues that UNFPA funds,” Rahman says, in explaining why the exhibit is now on its way to Atlanta. “We want Americans to see the work being done … and [UNFPA] wants to make a difference in women's lives globally.”

In conjunction with the exhibit, UNFPA also will host a symposium, “Global Women's Health and Rights,” on Wednesday, October 25 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. At press time, co-sponsors included Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, UNIFEM USA – Georgia and United Nations Association – Georgia. An Honorary Committee supporting the event includes the following dignitaries: Roy Bahl, dean, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University; Terry C. Blum, Ph.D., director, Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, Georgia Tech; Helene D. Gayle, MPH, MD, president and CEO, CARE; Deborah Richardson, CEO, Atlanta Women's Foundation; and Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D., president, Spelman College.