RESOURCE SHORTFALL IMPERILS UN POPULATION FUND AS FUND MARKS THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY

Press Release
POP/742

RESOURCE SHORTFALL IMPERILS UN POPULATION FUND AS FUND MARKS THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY

NEW YORK, 26 October (UNFPA) -- Reproductive health programmes supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are facing dangerous cutbacks due to a four-year decline in donor contributions. For 1999, available resources will cover only two thirds of the Fund’s commitments to country programmes -- a $72 million shortfall that could lead to an additional 1.4 million unwanted pregnancies, 570,000 induced abortions and over 670,000 unwanted births.

The crisis is imperilling developing countries’ efforts to provide family planning, reduce maternal deaths and prevent HIV/AIDS, just as the United Nations prepares to celebrate UNFPA’s achievements in 30 years of supporting national programmes. The General Assembly will mark the anniversary tomorrow.

“It is ironic and tragic that a shortage of funds is tying our hands now”, says Dr. Nafis Sadik, UNFPA’s Executive Director. “We have three decades of proof that reproductive health and population programmes are effective, a global consensus that such efforts are essential to social development, and a clear plan of action that will save lives and protect human rights. This is no time for donors to cut back their support.”

UNFPA expects its general income, this year, will be $248 million, $29 million less than in 1998 and $42 million less than in 1997 -- a 14 per cent drop in two years. Several factors led to this decline; most significant in 1999, was the loss of all funding from the United States, which provided $20 million last year.

UNFPA was established in 1969 to support population programmes in developing countries. It is funded by voluntary contributions from donor governments. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) provided the Fund with a new operational framework. Contributions increased considerably in 1995, reaching an all-time high of $312.6 million. UNFPA was, thus, able to expand its programme in response to countries’ increasing reproductive health needs. But, contributions declined slightly in 1996 and 1997, and then fell sharply in 1998 and 1999.

- 2 - Press Release POP/742 26 October 1999

“The decline in resources could not have come at a worse time”, Dr. Sadik notes. “The United Nations recent review of progress in carrying out the Cairo agreement showed that the ICPD approach has taken hold and generated considerable momentum: government policies are changing and national programmes are being redesigned to reflect the ICPD Programme of Action. Just when these programmes are being effectively implemented, the brakes are being put on and resources are being cut. This leads to a stop- and-go process that impedes progress, prevents economies of scale and disrupts the efficient management of programmes and resources.”

Based on ICPD estimates of resources needed for reproductive health and population programmes, UNFPA projects that a $72 million shortfall will have a severe impact: over 1 million people who might have used modern contraceptive methods will use less-effective traditional methods instead; and 1.5 million will continue to use no method of family planning. One likely result will be 1.4 million additional unwanted pregnancies each year. Besides leading to hundreds of thousands of induced abortions and unwanted births, these additional unwanted pregnancies will likely be linked to over 3,300 maternal deaths, more than 43,000 cases of serious illness consequent to delivery, nearly 41,000 infant deaths and about 15,000 child deaths. The shortfall will also impair efforts to combat sexually-transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS and to curtail harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation.

Here are a few examples of how the funding crisis has affected UNFPA-supported activities:

-- Tanzania: Plans to include family life education in the school curricula have been delayed; the census has been postponed to August 2002; and the supply of contraceptives may be disrupted.

-- Burundi: An innovative initiative to improve referrals for emergency obstetric care has been temporarily suspended. Preparatory activities for the 2001 census have been postponed.

-- Morocco: Midway through the four-year country programme, several key activities to strengthen management and technical skills within the health system have been postponed.

-- Algeria: Funds to train midwives and health workers, to upgrade health facilities and to expand reproductive health services following the easing of civil strife have been reduced.

-- India: Plans to provide delivery facilities in inaccessible villages have been postponed; efforts to establish an emergency obstetric care system have been disrupted; and a programme providing subsidized contraceptives to men and women in rural areas has been suspended.

- 3 - Press Release POP/742 26 October 1999

-- Viet Nam: Training of health workers and the dissemination of already developed educational materials have been suspended; condom supplies cover just 50 per cent of the anticipated demand; and provision of HIV/AIDS test kits and equipment for safe blood transfusion has been delayed, despite rising infection rates.

-- Ecuador: Contraceptive procurement for five provinces has been cancelled, affecting some 200,000 women; over 180,000 adolescents will not receive reproductive health education or counselling.

-- Haiti: Support to the main centre for HIV/AIDS prevention, where over 100,000 people a year seek and receive advice and treatment, has been suspended; and adolescent peer education programmes aimed at reducing high rates of teenage pregnancy and HIV infection have been curtailed.

For more information and interviews, please contact: Alex Marshall, tel.: 212-297-5020, marshall@unfpa.org; Corrie Shanahan, tel.: 212-297-5023, shanahan@unfpa.org; or William A. Ryan, tel. 212-297-5279, ryanw@unfpa.org. Fax: 212-557-6416.

* *** *