The Endless Repercussions of a New Administration: U.N. Agency Refunded After 8 Years of Shunning by the U.S., Fashion World To Take Notice
After eight years of non-funding by the Bush
Administration, President Obama will refund the U.N. Population (UNFPA). The
UNFPA is an international development agency that promotes reproductive and
sexual health in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Over the past seven years, the U.S. Administration
suspended Congressionally sanctioned funding for UNFPA. That translated to a
loss of $244 million in U.S. funding.
"By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S.
will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce
poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide
family planning assistance to women in 154 countries,” says President Obama.
Between 1990 and 2005, pregnancy and
childbirth related deaths dropped a mere one percent. Every minute a women
loses her life giving life, adding up to 10 million women over a generation, according
to UNFPA. Statistically, 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing
countries, with the bulk in Africa and Asia. Access to voluntary family
planning is one of the ways UNFPA works to prevent unintended pregnancies and
reduce abortions.
"If women are to stop dying in
childbirth and if reproductive health for all is to become a reality, we need
increased political and financial commitment at all levels to implement
strategies that we know will work,” says UNFPA Director Thoraya Obaid.
This move by Obama coincides with his
resistance against the isolationist diplomatic policies of prior years and
relentless rhetorical message of “change.” Many fashion houses are lining up to
help with various reproductive health initiatives in lesser developed parts of
the world.
By Joan R. Magee
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