THE Philippines, along with other countries, may no longer receive assistance from United Nations Population Fund after the United States government announced it would no longer fund its work worldwide in the future.
In a statement, the UNFPA said the Philippines, along with other countries like Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, may no longer be receiving any assistance combatting gender-based violence and reducing the scourge of maternal deaths.
The Trump administration’s decision is based on the erroneous claim that UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China.
UNFPA disputed the claim and pointed out that it never supported nor participated in a coercive abortion in China.
“UNFPA refutes this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination. Indeed, United Nations Member States have long described UNFPA’s work in China as a force for good,” the group said.
UNFPA has been working with local governments in ensuring that access to quality reproductive health services, including family planning, will be available especially for the poorest and disadvantaged communities who need these services most.
The United States is one of UNFPA’s founding members to protect and promote the reproductive health and rights of women and girls.
“The support we received over the years from the government and people of the US has saved tens of thousands of mothers from preventable deaths and disabilities, and especially now in the rapidly developing global humanitarian crises,” the UNFPA stated.
“With previous United States contributions, UNFPA was combatting gender-based violence and reducing the scourge of maternal deaths in the world’s most fragile settings, in areas of conflict and natural disasters, including Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, the Philippines, Ukraine and Yemen,” it added.
The UNFPA also said that despite the withheld of the funding, the group will always valued the US as a trusted partner and leader in helping “to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
“We, therefore, look forward to continuing our work with the United States to address these global concerns and to restore our strong partnership to save the lives of women and girls globally, within the framework of the global development goals, thereby leaving no one behind,” UNFPA said.
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