[audubon-news] FW: News Release: White House Scraps UN Population Funding
- From: "BIANCHI, John" <JBIANCHI@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'chapter-communicator@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <chapter-communicator@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"'audubon-news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <audubon-news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 10:21:43 -0400
> <<...OLE_Obj...>> N E W S R E L E A S E
> Contact: Cristine Romano
> 202-861-2242
> cromano@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
> WHITE HOUSE SCRAPS FUNDING FOR U.N. PROGRAM TO SLOW POPULATION GROWTH
>
> Rapid Population Growth is Driving Force Behind Environmental Destruction
> Worldwide
>
> Washington, D.C., July 22, 2002 -- The Bush Administration today scrapped
> funding for one of the world's most successful family planning programs,
> the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). As a result, no U.S. money
> will support UNFPA contraception and health education programs in more
> than 140 countries around the world. These programs are vital to slowing
> the speed of population growth - the driving force behind so much
> environmental destruction.
>
> "Demographers project that we will add more people to the world's
> population in the next 50 years than we did in the last 70 years," said
> Bob Perciasepe, Audubon's Senior Vice President for Public Policy. "If
> this happens, much of the natural world we treasure will be pushed past
> the edge."
>
> Congress appropriated $34 million in funds for the UNFPA last year, but a
> loophole in the law allowed the President to spend less than the full
> amount appropriated by Congress. The Administration today used this
> loophole to scrap U.S funding for the UNFPA, arguing that the UNFPA is
> aiding and abetting China's "one-child" policy. In a letter to Senator
> Patrick Leahy, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Administration was
> preparing to take the full $34 million appropriated for the UNFPA's family
> planning programs and move it into family planning programs administered
> by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While UNFPA
> operates in more than 140 countries, USAID operates in fewer than 70
> countries.
>
> "U.S. contributions to the UNFPA help slow population growth and ease
> pressure on the environment," said Perciasepe. "By zeroing out funding
> for the United Nations Population Fund, the Bush Administration severely
> reduced the scope of population programs operating in the world's most
> impoverished countries."
>
> Audubon notes that international family planning funding would need to
> rise from the current level of $480 million a year (FY2003) to $675
> million a year, simply to return to 1995 levels as adjusted for inflation.
> Earlier this month, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a FY 2003
> Foreign Operations Appropriations bill that allocated only $500 million
> for international family planning program -- $175 million short of the
> 1995 levels adjusted for inflation.
>
> For more information on Audubon's population program, see:
> www.audubonpopulation.org.
>
> Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the
> habitat that supports them. Our growing network of community-based
> Audubon Centers, grassroots science programs for bird enthusiasts, and
> advocacy on behalf of ecosystems sustaining important bird populations,
> engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive
> conservation experiences.
>
> # # #
>
>
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