Volume 2, Number 24

April 16, 1999

UNFPA Announces Delivery of Contraceptives to Fleeing Kosovars

By Austin Ruse

     (NEW YORK - C-FAM)   Days ago the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) announced emergency shipments of "reproductive health services" to Kosovar refugees. These shipments come  only days after a related and controversial debate on the floor of the UN.

     Two weeks ago at the final Cairo+5 prepcom, the Holy See delegation moved that refugees should receive a broad range of health and social services. The document had only made reference to refugee needs for "reproductive health" services, which is understood to include access to abortion.

     Made by Holy See negotiator John Klink, who spent more than ten years working with refugees for Catholic Relief Services, the Holy See proposal called specifically for basic services like "clean water and safe sanitation." The Holy See proposal died without support from the wealthy nations, and without support from UNFPA.

     Veteran pro-life lobbyists were not surprised when UNFPA announced on April 8 they were delivering nothing but "reproductive health" supplies to 350,000 Kosovar refugees. The long list of supplies include an "oral and indictable contraception kit," "sexually transmitted disease kit," "intrauterine devices (IUDs)," "complications from abortions kit," "vacuum extraction equipment," and condoms.

     The kits also contain "emergency contraception," which are pills that prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus thereby causing a chemical abortion. Other "emergency contraception," like the pill RU-486, kill the already fertilized and implanted egg. The controversial notion of "emergency contraception" is one of the items that stalled the Cairo+5 prepcom before it could complete its business.

     Governmental delegations frequently complain that UNFPA focuses too narrowly on reproduction, especially in refugee situations. The complaint is that people in the developing world have more basic needs, like minimal medical treatment and clean water. Critics also charge that UNFPA promotes abortion in refugee camps, which are among the most unsanitary and dangerous places on earth.

     UNFPA's own figures bear out these discrepancies. UNFPA says that in Haiti, for instance, 88% of women have access to contraceptives while only 22% have access to clean water. A UNFPA spokesman said yesterday that he was uncertain if UNFPA would support a more comprehensive list of basic social services when the Cairo+5 final prepcom reconvenes in a few weeks.

     Jeanne Head, chief UN lobbyist for International Right to Life Federation and an obstetric nurse for 30 years, said in response, "It is outrageous that they are not providing basic health services for these people. Basic things, like clean water. UNFPA seems to be obsessed with preventing people from having children, which has to be the last thing on a refugee's mind." 

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