PHA-Exchange> UNESCAP Plan of Action - US alone on the opposite side

[Aviva]

Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 8:16 PM

Please note that the most recent UNESCAP's Plan of Action "as approved aims
to fight poverty throughout the world by focusing on 12 areas, including
family planning, gender equality and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment". The
striking fact is US is the only country reject the plan. But what really
amazed the world is that other countries could hold together and to be so
strong to oppose the US in this matter.

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ALL PARTICIPANTS EXCEPT UNITED STATES REAFFIRM FAMILY PLANNING, HIV/AIDS
PREVENTION LANGUAGE IN BANGKOK CONFERENCE PLAN OF ACTION

 Access this story and related links online:
 http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=15148

  The Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference ended yesterday in
Bangkok, Thailand, with the reaffirmation of a 1994 international family
planning and population agreement by all of the participating countries
except the United States, which continued to oppose language in the
conference's Plan of Action, the Jakarta Post reports (Yuliandini, Jakarta
Post, 12/18).  The Bush administration has said that portions of the Program
of Action adopted at the 1994 International Conference of Population and
Development in Cairo, Egypt -- specifically the phrases "reproductive health
services" and "reproductive rights" -- promote abortion (Dao, New York
Times, 12/18).  The U.S. delegation previously said it would not "reaffirm"
provisions from past agreements on reproductive health and family planning
and instead would only "take note of, acknowledge, or recall" the
commitments agreed to at previous conferences, including the Cairo meeting
(Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 12/17).  Conference attendees
yesterday rejected the U.S. delegation's proposed changes to the draft in
two votes of 31-1 and 32-1, the New York Times reports (New York Times,
12/18).  The action was "virtually unprecedented" for a United Nations
meeting, which generally operate on consensus.  The United States, which
abandoned its "demand for extensive amendements" and called for the vote,
registered the only opposing vote, Agence France-Presse reports (Agence
France-Presse, 12/17).  The plan as approved aims to fight poverty
throughout the world by focusing on 12 areas, including family planning,
gender equality and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the AP/Fort
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports.  The approved 22-page Plan of Action also
calls for "consistent condom use," a phrase the U.S. delegation had asked to
be removed, to help reduce the spread of HIV infection.  The document states
that population policies "must encompass the principle of voluntary and
informed decision making and choices, the preservation and protection of
human rights, including the matters related to reproductive rights and
reproductive health services" (Joshi, AP/Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel,
12/18).

Reaction

The conference outcome "shows that the countries [participating] have acted
independently, looking at their own laws and sovereignty and abiding by
their own priorities," United Nations Population Fund Executive Director
Thoraya Obaid said.  She added, "Even though the U.S. was the only
dissenting voice in the meeting it did join the consensus at the end."
Assistant Secretary of State Eugene Dewey, the U.S. conference delegate,
said, "There should be no inference drawn from the fact that everyone else
seems to be very happy with the language -- and the U.S. is trying to
improve the language in some cases -- that we have a great gulf between us
and the other representatives here who share the objectives that we share"
(Agence France-Presse, 12/17).  The U.S. delegation lodged a reservation
with the Plan of Action, saying it was "deeply disappointed," according to
the South China Morning Post.  "Our proposals were rejected without any
serious attempt to bridge the gulf through normal compromises ... these
matters reach into the heart of the very nature of life itself," it said
(England, South China Morning Post, 12/18).  Terri Bartlett, vice president
of Population Action International, said, "Delegations came here prepared to
strengthen language in the Plan of Action on areas of joint concern -- from
women's rights, HIV/AIDS, migration and most of all, the elimination of
poverty.  Instead, they were met with roadblock after roadblock erected by
the U.S. delegation in its singular determination to export a domestic
political agenda to a region thousands of miles away."  She added, "At the
end of five ... days, the U.S. delegation then expressed its reservation
about the weakness of the document on several key issues while, in reality,
it was U.S. actions that prevented further progress from being made" (PAI
release, 12/17).

NPR's "All Things Considered" yesterday reported on the conclusion of the
conference.  The segment includes comments from Francoise Girard of the
International Women's Health Coalition and Lalaine Viado of the Network of
Asia Pacific Youth (Wilson, "All Things Considered," NPR, 12/17).  The full
segment is available in RealPlayer Audio online.