|
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. The “34 Million Friends” campaign is a grass-roots
movement that was independently initiated by two American women,
Lois Abraham of New Mexico and Jane Roberts of California. Although
they had never met, Lois and Jane were both outraged by the United
States withdrawal of $34 million approved for UNFPA and they decided
to take action. Each woman started her own email campaign, urging
men and women across the United States to donate $1 or more to help
bridge the funding gap. Their goal is to find 34 million friends
to help UNFPA continue its invaluable work as the largest multilateral
provider of family planning and maternal health care.
The United States is the only country ever to deny funding to UNFPA
for non-budgetary reasons. In July 2002, the U.S. Administration
announced its decision to withhold $34 million - that had previously
been appropriated by Congress to UNFPA - based on false claims that
the Fund supports coercive abortion in China. The decision was taken
despite recommendations made by a State Department fact-finding
team to release the funds. The State Department team investigated
UNFPA-supported projects in China and submitted a report in May
stating, “based on what we heard, saw, and read, we find no evidence
that UNFPA has knowingly supported or participated in the management
of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in
the PRC [People’s Republic of China]. Indeed, UNFPA has registered
its strong opposition to such practices.”
The U.S. Administration also withheld congressionally appropriated
funding in 2003 and 2004, for a total of $93 million ($34 million
in 2002 and 2004, and $25 million in 2003).
UNFPA has publicly stated that it has never, and will never, be
involved in coercion in China or any part of the world. The Fund
is a staunch supporter, and promoter, of the human rights-based
approach to family planning.
UNFPA estimates that a shortfall of $34 million would
result in 2 million unwanted pregnancies per year, nearly 800,000
abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths and 77,000 infant and child deaths.
UNFPA is committed to saving women’s lives and the income reduction
will severely limit its ability to protect women’s health during
pregnancy and childbirth.
Funds raised from the “34 Million Friends” campaign will go towards
UNFPA’s core programme budget, to compensate for the loss of support
from the United States. Funds are applied to our main priority area,
which is to help ensure universal access to quality reproductive
health information and care to all couples and individuals by the
year 2015.
Reproductive health services include family planning, care during
pregnancy and birth, prevention and treatment of reproductive tract
infections, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.
Your generous support will help UNFPA to:
-
Promote safe motherhood. Saving women’s lives by making
childbirth safer is a high priority for UNFPA. The Fund has
active programmes in 89 countries to reduce maternal mortality
and prevent long-term illness or disability that result from
pregnancy-related complications, including infertility, anaemia
and obstetric fistulas. UNFPA works to increase women’s access
to family planning services and to care during pregnancy,
childbirth and the post-partum period. Preventing and treating
fistula, a terrible injury of childbearing, is a component
of UNFPA's work to make motherhood safer. Half of the first
million dollars collected by 34 Million Friends was used to
address this disability.
-
Prevent HIV/AIDS. Each day, 14,000 people are newly
infected and add to the epidemic's staggering impact on health
and on the social and economic stability of nations. Prevention
is the centrepiece of UNFPA's fight against the disease and
is being integrated into reproductive health programming around
the world.
-
Support adolescents and youth. More than 1 billion people
are between 15 and 24 years of age. UNFPA works to ensure that
adolescents and young people have access to accurate information,
non-judgmental counselling and comprehensive and affordable
services to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV/AIDS.
-
Secure essential supplies. Without the essential commodities
- from contraceptives to testing kits to equipment for emergency
obstetric care - the right to reproductive health cannot be
fully exercised. UNFPA is the largest multilateral public sector
provider of reproductive health essentials, including condoms
and other contraceptives. The Fund works to provide essential
supplies at a low cost to countries in need.
No. UNFPA’s work is guided by the Programme of Action of the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo,
Egypt. It states that abortion should not be promoted as a method
of family planning. UNFPA fully subscribes to this and does not
provide support for abortion services. It works to prevent abortion
through family planning, and to help countries provide services
for women suffering from the complications of unsafe abortion.
Lois and Jane started their email campaigns at the end of August.
Within the first month, UNFPA received over $50,000 in contributions.
Every Friday, UNFPA posts an update of funds raised on
its website. The total is now well over $2 million.
Yes, but only with your permission. To grant permission, please
print your name on a piece of paper and mail it along with your
donation.
Personal
cheques,
money orders, and cash without a note will be considered
anonymous. If you are donating on-line via PayPal, before you
submit your donation you will be able to indicate your preference
in the form.
Campaign contributors who
wish to be acknowledged are listed on the U.S.
campaign site for 34 Million Friends. If you have any concerns
regarding the list, please send an e-mail to: info@34millionfriends.org.
Of course! UNFPA is thankful for any contribution you wish to make.
Whatever the amount, your support will help us continue to ensure
that every child is a wanted child, every pregnancy and birth is
healthy, every young person can remain HIV-free, every girl and
woman is treated with respect, and every family has the hope of
a strong and stable future.
Yes, we welcome the support of all individuals. Thanks to the Internet,
the emails sent out by Lois and Jane are being forwarded to colleges,
list-serves, club memberships and more. Thousands of men and women
are becoming aware of the campaign and its simple message: the provision
of family planning and reproductive health services to women in
need is a humanitarian issue, not a political one.
A: UNFPA is an international organization, and as such, does not
have tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(03) public charity in the U.S.
However, the U.S. Committee
for UNFPA
does have this tax- exempt status. It was established to provide
information and advocacy in the U.S. about UNFPA's work around
the world and to raise funds in the U.S. to support its efforts
in the areas of reproductive health, population and development.
If you have any questions about the campaign in the United
States,
please contact the U.S. Campaign Coordinators at +1 (720) 564-0537
or send an e-mail to info@34millionfriends.org.
For questions about the campaign outside of the United
States,
please contact Mr. Asger Ryhl at (+ 45 35) 467 033 (Denmark) or
send an
e-mail to asger.ryhl@unfpa.dk.
 Back
to top
|
