PRESS BRIEFING BY UN POPULATION FUND

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UN POPULATION FUND

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) declared Dr. Bertrand Piccard, the around-the-world balloonist, its Goodwill Ambassador for Switzerland, at a United Nations Headquarters press briefing today.

Dr. Piccard, a medical doctor, psychiatrist and scientist, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world voyage in 19 days, 21 hours and 4 minutes, when he arrived in Egypt, after a 46,000 kilometre flight, on 1 March 1999.

Dr Piccard, he explained to correspondents that the journey involved a special way of dealing with the planet. The balloon had no engine. It was dependent entirely on travelling "inside" the wind and, therefore, in an intimate relationship with the forces of nature. As he and his co-pilot, Brian Jones, travelled over oceans and deserts, they became aware that life was magical. They decided that the good fortune that allowed them to participate in such a journey should be repaid, and that the best way to do that was to support work to manifest respect among all people.

That led to both his decision to become a goodwill ambassador for the UNFPA, after being recommended by the Swiss-based non-governmental organization, the International Foundation for Population and Development, and his decision to start his own charitable foundation, called Winds of Hope, which aims to award prizes to people who fight against forgotten suffering. The latter decision was also predicated on the observation that the suffering that people in developed countries saw on television lasted much longer than their television- induced awareness of it, and that solidarity between people who could afford to help and those who needed help must be fostered.

The Executive Director of the UNFPA, Dr. Nafis Sadik, explained that, given the current crisis in funding, goodwill ambassadors in donor countries had an important role to play, both as advocates and as fundraisers. Switzerland had increased its funding for international family planning programmes over the last three years, she noted, to some $7.8 million this year. It was also an active member of UNFPA's Executive Board.

She thanked Dr. Piccard for taking on the role, and particularly for his impending Swiss launch of the “Face to Face” campaign -- the three-year United Nations led campaign to raise awareness of the plight of millions of women denied basic human rights.

Christine Magistretti-Naville, Executive Director of the International Foundation for Population and Development, said it had nominated Dr. Piccard to the UNFPA because of his ideas, and because his heart was in the right place.

UNFPA Press Briefing - 2 - 16 November 1999

She hoped he would play a key role in the two-pronged purpose for which the International Foundation was founded six months ago -- to raise awareness in Switzerland and Europe of population and reproductive rights issues, and to develop programmes to promote the rights of women in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

In response to a journalist's question Ms. Magistretti-Naville explained that Switzerland was not doing a good job in protecting and promoting women's rights. While it was available, abortion was still illegal, she said, and recently a proposal to provide maternity protection for women had been voted down. She noted that the imperative to implement the Programme of Action from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development was as urgent in developed countries as it was for developing countries.

Asked about the foundation of the work he would be performing, Dr. Piccard said that he sought to promote understanding of the value of all people, and solidarity between rich and poor countries. He believed that respect for all human beings was critical.

Responding to a series of questions about the legislation under consideration in the United States Congress that could, in part, pay the dues the United States owed the United Nations, Dr. Sadik said she felt the United States Administration was in a difficult position. The alternative to passing the legislation was a Presidential veto, which would result in no United States money being available for family planning programmes at all.

The UNFPA did not support abortion programmes, she noted, as a result of decisions by its Executive Board. In addition, she understood that Presidential discretion was included in the legislation that might allow some groups that advocated choice about abortion to continue to receive funding.

She said there was confusion about the position taken by United States anti-abortionists. One result of the conditions they wished to impose on United States support for international advocacy for choice was that they would limit international access to abortion, even though it was a legally available option for women inside the United States. In addition, they were proposing an international gag on free speech, when free speech was a right in the United States.

She said the impact of the proposed legislation would be seen as positive, overall, in the United Nations, as the payment would represent a good first step. The impact of reductions in funding for family planning programmes would, however, result in perhaps 150,000 additional unwanted pregnancies, some of which would result in abortions. The opponents of abortion failed to realize that reducing family planning funds actually increased the number of abortions, as those funds, which were used to promote education and contraception, helped prevent unwanted pregnancy.

UNFPA Press Briefing - 3 - 16 November 1999

In response to a request that she identify the key population issues for the new millennium, Dr. Sadik said that access to services for all must be the top priority. The interrelationship between water and population had not received adequate attention, she added, and migration and adolescent reproductive health also needed attention. For the United Nations system as a whole, the focus must be on poverty eradication.

* *** *