Official: U.S. Government Considers Restoring Aid to UN Population Agency

Since 2002, the US government has blocked $34 million in annual funds to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), saying it contributes to coerced abortions in China, a charge that the organization has long denied. But on Thursday, a senior US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government is considering restoring its aid to the fund.

UNFPA, which supports family planning in nearly three dozen countries and works against STDs and violence against women in 142 countries total, has distributed $6 billion since its founding in 1969. Recent annual funding, from governments and private donors, is $396.4 million.

"We are reviewing our ability under law to contribute to the Population Fund," the official said, refusing further comment on what had provoked the government to review its policy.

The news came a day after UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, speaking in San Juan at a conference of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, urged President Bush to restore funding. About 300 delegates from 41 nations convened in Puerto Rico to review population and reproductive issues.

UNFPA has said it could have used the US funding to prevent 2 million unwanted pregnancies and close to 800,000 induced abortions. Private nonprofit groups have criticized the administration for rescinding the aid, saying it was a step backward in terms of population issues.

The UN summit, which began Monday and ends Friday, is looking at progress in development of a plan adopted in 1994 at a Cairo summit to slow world population growth, then at 5.7 billion, now at roughly 6.3 billion. The Cairo summit won consensus for its demand for equality for women and access to modern birth control.

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