Statement by Ambassador Sichan Siv,
United States Representative to the Economic and Social
Council, on the US decision regarding UNFPA funding, at the UNFPA Board Meeting, September 24, 2002
Mr. President, Madam Executive
Director,
We welcome the opportunity to speak
today and to explain the United States decision regarding
funding of UNFPA. The United States has long been an active
supporter of the Fund. As you may be aware, we determined
in July that we could not fund UNFPA this year because of
its program in China. That program triggered the Kemp-Kasten
Amendment of our Foreign Assistance Act. Kemp-Kasten
specifies that no U.S. Government funds be used in a program
that “supports or participates in the management of a
program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.”
We carefully considered the facts
before making our decision. Secretary of State Powell sent
an assessment team to China in May. The team spent two
weeks there. It learned that UNFPA, through its 4th
Country Program, provides more than 70% of the funds it
spends in China directly to the Chinese State Family
Planning Commission (SFPC). Based on the
team’s findings, a
review of Chinese laws, U.S. Human Rights Reports, and other
information, the Secretary concluded that the UNFPA China
program supported and participated in the management of a
program of coercive abortion in violation of Kemp-Kasten.
We urge reforms of UNFPA’s China
program. Such reforms could include building a “firewall”
between the Fund and the Government of China, and expanding UNFPA’s use of independent international NGOs. Reforms
should also ensure that UNFPA institutes a monitoring regime
to ensure the program does not support or participate in the
management of a program of coercive abortion.
China agreed, at the
International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), to an
important principle: the right of women to choose the number
of their children. Therefore, China should respect the
right of Chinese women to choose—voluntarily and without
coercion—the number of their children. Social compensation
fees must be eliminated, along with other coercive
practices. China’s state birth planning program should use
only voluntary means. The United States will work with UNFPA
and the Chinese government to develop a program, which
follows these important principles.
We hope these reforms can be achieved
quickly, so that the United States can again fund UNFPA. We
have supported UNFPA from its inception and have a long
record of funding the programs. We want tot be able tot
fund UNFPA again and continue to work closely with its
leadership in supporting its program goals.
Thank you.
|