Press conference on general assembly observance

 

of cairo population programme anniversary

 

(Issued on 14 October 2004.)

A high-level Statement of Support by global leaders for the 1994 Cairo Programme of Action on Population and Development was released this morning during a Headquarters press conference sponsored by the United Nations Foundation to highlight the General Assembly’s celebration tomorrow of the Programme’s tenth anniversary and to call for new efforts over the next 10 years to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Taking part in the event this morning were Thoraya Obeid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Ted Turner, Creator of the United Nations Foundation; and Tim Wirth, the Foundation President.

In opening remarks, Dr. Obeid said the Cairo Programme of Action was a blueprint for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  Its key significance was that it had been the first of the development summit outcomes to link the alleviation of poverty with the empowerment of women.

Mr. Wirth said the Programme was a success story at a time when the world needed one.  Part of the success came from the fact that the Programme had set out clear and achievable targets.  Those had been met because of wide support for the aims set out.  No one knew the success story because of the focus on the world’s trouble spots.  The statement released today was a way for leaders to say that Iraq was important, but it wasn’t the only priority.  It represented a unique and large coalition of prominent global figures saying that gender equality, health, the environment and ending poverty were also priorities.

Mr. Turner read the Statement, which recalled the 1994 commitment of governments and civil society to an action plan that would ensure universal access to reproductive health, information and services, control of sexuality-related diseases and other development concerns, such as the environment, education, human rights and empowerment.  The statement then expressed concern at the amount of work left to be done in the 20-year Programme with more than a billion young people entering adulthood without access to family planning services and with HIV-AIDS still on the rise in areas with weak health care systems.

Also expressing concern at the growing gap between rich and poor, as well as continued violations of human rights, the Statement with 250 signatories called on leaders in every walk of life to reaffirm the Programme’s vision for human development encompassing social justice, economic progress and environmental preservation.  The signatories called on the international community, national governments and private philanthropic organizations to prioritize and fund the Programme.  Finally, they pledged to do their part by signing on to the Global Leaders’ Statement to be aired in major newspapers across the world.

Mr. Wirth said the Statement could also be called a document, in which the 250 signatories had said that, regardless of differences, “We can agree on this”.  Among the signers were 85 Heads of State, including Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and Jacques Chirac of France; 22 former government leaders, including Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter of the United States; 15 development leaders including the founder of Médecins Sans Frontieres; 24 Nobel Laureates, including South African author Nadine Gordimer; 15 business leaders, including Ted Turner and Thulani Gcabashe, the Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, South Africa’s major energy provider; 25 Foundation heads, 16 international institution leaders, 24 world religious leaders, 31 leaders in health and rights, 23 scientists and 19 youth leaders.

A correspondent asked why the General Assembly was holding a celebration of the 10-year Programme milestone instead of a review on progress made.  Did the position of the United States on the UNFPA activities have anything to do with the decision?

Dr. Obeid said the decision was part of the overall United Nations reform process.  It was considered more effective to review progress on the outcomes of summits on a country-by-country and regional basis.  The most efficient use of the General Assembly’s time was to celebrate rather than negotiate point-by-point on matters.  The purpose of the celebration and of the Statement in support of it was to bring people together and unite them around the issues, not divide them.

Still, the signature of the United States President was conspicuously absent, a correspondent pointed out.  Had he been asked to sign?  If so, why hadn’t he?  Mr. Wirth said he had been asked.  Mr. Turner said the President was busy these days.

Did the Foundation have to devote its resources to filling the shortfall created when the United States withdrew funding from the UNFPA over abortion-related issues?  How had the UNFPA managed since that money had been removed?

Dr. Obeid said the first year had been very difficult, but the last two years had been wonderful.  The European countries had increased their contributions and the UNFPA had picked up support.  There had been 92 member countries in 2001.  Now there were 147, with most of the new support coming from the developing countries, who liked the results of the UNFPA’s work.  In addition, a grass roots movement in the United States had risen up and more than 2 million dollars had come to the UNFPA as a result.  Overall, world solidarity for the UNFPA’s work was growing.

Mr. Wirth clarified that the UNFPA was promoting health and family planning activities, not abortion.  And as the 250 signatories of the Statement had made clear, the UNFPA’s work was fundamental to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  To capitalize on the momentum generated by the Statement of Support, and to make sure it was maintained, the Foundation would increase its emphasis on the linkage between sexual health and control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  It would also focus on meeting needs that now were not met, such as delivering family planning services to the 134 million couples that didn’t have it at present.  Partnerships were being forged with others doing related work, such as the Gates Foundation.  Finally, the Foundation would follow the recommendations in the Programme of Action toward the Millennium Goals.

Finally, asked to comment on the positions of the two United States presidential candidates with regard to how they would affect the UNFPA and the Programme of Action on Population and Development, Mr. Wirth said there were clear differences between the candidates on the matter.  The United States had been a leader on the Programme in Cairo.  It had led family-planning related services for 60 years.  The tack now was certainly different.  The purpose of the United Nations was to look into the future and solve the problems found there.  HIV/AIDS was a “future problem”, so was the need for family planning.  Steps needed to be taken to address them.  Rehashing history was not helpful.

Mr. Turner said he and the present administration in Washington had differences of views.  He said it was obvious that “the best way to prevent abortion was to reduce unwanted pregnancy”.  It was also obvious that the use of contraceptive rubbers was effective in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS.  Promoting those activities was obviously productive, but the present administration in Washington was known for its go-it-alone attitude.  A national referendum on the differences between the two candidates was nearing.

Mr. Turner, who led to the establishment of The United Nations Foundation with a 1 billion dollar gift in 1998, was described today by Mr. Wirth as the “entrepreneur of the twentieth century and philanthropist of the twenty-first”.  The Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to support United Nations efforts on the most pressing humanitarian, socio-economic and environmental issues facing humanity.

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