Though the United Nations Population Fund has been in a financial bind since 2002, two ladies have raised over $2 million for the organization. A grassroots effort called 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, founders Lois Abraham and Jane Roberts are dedicating their time to improving the health of women.
In operation since August 2002, Lois from New Mexico and Jane from California, have asked the public to donate $1.00 each to make up for the $34 million that the Bush administration has withheld from the UNFPA since 2002. “Women’s welfare and health should be the top priorities because when the world takes care of women, women take care of the world,” Jane said. “When you think that 500,000 women die from pregnancy related causes every year, something is wrong!”
The UNFPA has been the leading force in population assistance since 1969. Working in nearly 140 countries to combat diseases and promote family planning and maternal health care, the help from 34 Million Friends is sorely needed. “We have never experienced anything like this,” Executive Director of UNFPA Thoraya Obaid said in response to the $2 million contribution. “Lois and Jane have…mobilized funds that we need and are using to save women’s lives."
However, Jane acknowledges that there are still many obstacles to overcome, “First and foremost is a lack of funding, facilities and supplies...In addition, there are long standing traditions and beliefs that make providing health care difficult at times. [In third world countries] the status of women is not equal to that of men. Girls receive less education, food, and health care.”
In 2003 Jane and Lois visited several under-developed countries to witness the struggle first hand. In Mali, Jane encountered a woman in labor on a donkey cart, six miles from the nearest UNFPA clinic! She and UNFPA staff happened along the same dirt road and carried the woman to the clinic in a pick-up truck. “Few women receive pre or post-natal care and the percentage of births to trained health care attendants is low,” Jane explained.
In Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor), Lois claimed at the time of her visit, only four doctors were trained in obstetrics and gynecology in the whole country. Independent since May 2002, Timor-Leste’s infant mortality rate for 2000 was 88 per 1000 live births, according to the World Health Organization’s World Health Report 2004. For the same year the infant mortality rate in the United States was 7 per 1000 live births. “If UNFPA did not operate in East Timor, pregnant women would have no doctors to help with delivery, pre and post natal care or complications that arise during pregnancy.”
This first 2 million dollar installment will be divided between East Timor, Ghana, Rwanda, Eritrea, Mongolia and Bhutan. Specifically it will equip hospitals, train doctors, provide ambulance services, and provide training to the population about contraceptive methods. Half will also be used to combat obstetric fistula. This debilitating condition affects women who have had obstructed labors, and are unable to get a health facility for a Caesarean section. Usually after days in labor the baby dies and the woman is left unable to control her bodily discharge. It is estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 women worldwide suffer from this condition.
Although the U.S. Congress has allocated funds to the UNFPA for the last three years, President Bush has been adamant in his stance in withholding the aid. His administration claims that the UNFPA indirectly assists China in promoting abortion, which UNFPA has denied. Bush is upholding the 1985 Kemp Kasten Amendment enacted by the late President Reagan which prohibits the disbursement of funds to any organization or program, as determined by the President, which supports or participates in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
However, various investigative teams – including one led by the State Department in May 2002 - have found no evidence that the UNFPA knowingly supports abortions although admitting that evidence of coercive elements still existed in Chinese laws and practices. While UNFPA is involved in China’s population programs funding will continue to be suspended.
“[The United States has] repeatedly urged China and the UN Population Fund to restructure the organization’s programs in a way that would allow the United States to provide funding,” State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said in announcing this year’s withdrawn aid.
The administration has been re-routing the funds through the USAID Child Survival and Health Programs Fund, which places special emphasis on maternal and newborn health care. This is unacceptable to Jane Roberts. “US bilateral assistance programs through USAID are very narrowly targeted, reaching less than half the countries that UNFPA reaches.”
Despite the obstacles Lois and Jane want to send a message. “[We] believe that there are really 34 million Americans who…would give one dollar to reach out to the world,” “Everyone benefits,” Lois adds, “More women get the help they desperately need.” The United Nations Foundation has also promised to donate 25 cents for every dollar contributed by the public. To find out more about this cause and to donate visit 34 Million Friends of UNFPA.
In operation since August 2002, Lois from New Mexico and Jane from California, have asked the public to donate $1.00 each to make up for the $34 million that the Bush administration has withheld from the UNFPA since 2002. “Women’s welfare and health should be the top priorities because when the world takes care of women, women take care of the world,” Jane said. “When you think that 500,000 women die from pregnancy related causes every year, something is wrong!”
In 2003 Jane and Lois visited several under-developed countries to witness the struggle first hand. In Mali, Jane encountered a woman in labor on a donkey cart, six miles from the nearest UNFPA clinic! She and UNFPA staff happened along the same dirt road and carried the woman to the clinic in a pick-up truck. “Few women receive pre or post-natal care and the percentage of births to trained health care attendants is low,” Jane explained.
