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U.S. withholds payment to population fund

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington JULY 23. Under pressure from conservatives in Congress and outside, the Bush administration has said it is withholding a $34 million payment to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The funds would instead be diverted to programmes administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The U.S. Government said it had taken the decision as it believed the UNFPA was helping China to enforce a one-child policy and encouraged abortions; and a 1985 domestic law forbade the U.S. from supporting such programmes.

The decision was partly based on a report by a State Department team that visited China in May and subsequent legal analysis done by the Department.

The final decision to withhold funds to the UNFPA was made by the Secretary of State, Colin Powell. "... We wanted to make sure that our money went to programmes that were voluntary, that were educational, that were making available information services and other things to couples so that they could decide on their own when to have children and how many children they wanted to have," the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said.

The U.S. team sent to China found that while there was no evidence the UNFPA knowingly supported or took part in coerced abortion or involuntary sterilisation, some such practices existed in the 32 Chinese counties where the UNFPA is active.

The UNFPA expressed regret over the U.S. decision and the Agency's executive director said in the past, U.S. administrations have insisted that American funds should not be spent in China. "We have honoured this stipulation by putting U.S. money into a separate account. We could have done the same this year...," Thoraya Obaid said in a statement. Stressing that the UNFPA "has not, does not and will not ever condone or support coercive activities of any kind," Ms. Obaid said the "UNFPA does not support or promote abortion anywhere in the world.

The services we promote reduce the incidence of abortion. Abortion rates are actually declining in the 32 counties in China where we operate."

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