Statement on the United States Decision to Again Withhold Funding from UNFPA

UNITED NATIONS, New York—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, notes with regret the determination by the United States of America to withhold funds from UNFPA for the third consecutive year.

UNFPA has not yet seen the evidence to justify the serious claims made against its work. UNFPA does not perform, promote or fund abortion, and we accord the highest priority to universal access to voluntary family planning, which helps prevent abortions from occurring. 

UNFPA opposes coercive practices, such as forced sterilization and coerced abortions, and has spoken out against instances of such human rights abuses. UNFPA does not promote changes to the legal status of abortion.

UNFPA regrets the United States was unable to visit its Country Office in the People’s Republic of China prior to this decision. In 2015, UNFPA’s current China Country Programme was approved by UNFPA’s Executive Board, of which the United States is a member. The United States has never indicated what, if anything, has changed in UNFPA’s work in China to suddenly trigger a negative determination under the Kemp-Kasten Amendment.

The UNFPA Office in China supports policy development, focusing on four (4) outcomes: Sexual and Reproductive Health, Adolescents and Youth, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and Population Dynamics. The UNFPA Office in China does not provide or fund any services. 

UNFPA remains keen to maintain an open dialogue with the U.S. Government. UNFPA reiterates its invitation to the United States to visit its Office in China. UNFPA has had the pleasure of welcoming delegations under various U.S. administrations, and none have found UNFPA to be in violation of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment. 

This unfortunate decision will impede UNFPA’s crucial work to protect the health and lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls around the globe, including in humanitarian settings. Therefore, UNFPA hopes that the United States will reconsider its position.

Since its founding 50 years ago, UNFPA strives to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

For more information, please contact:

Jeffrey Bates; bates@unfpa.org or +1 (212) 297-5208