United Nations Population Fund

Population Fund of the United Nations United Nations Population Fund
Organization type	Subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly
Abbreviation	UNFPA
management	Natalia Kanem Panama
Founded	1969
Headquarters	New York City , New York United States
Upper organization	United Nations
www.unfpa.org

The United Nations Population Fund ( English United Nations Population Fund , UNFPA , and 1987 United Nations Fund for Population Activities , hence the still common abbreviation UNFPA ) is the world's largest fund to finance population programs. It was established as a trust fund in 1967 and began its work in 1969. Since 1972 it has been a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly of the United Nations .

One with the aim of world population plan to create against the population growth in developing countries, UNFPA initiated the first World Population Conference in Bucharest 1974. Between 1974 and 1984 took the UNFPA a world fertility study in 60 developing countries ( World Fertility Survey ) and came to the conclusion that women from these Countries wanted to have fewer children if they had access to contraception, education and paid work. According to Sumati Nair , population policy programs had been imposed on 92 developing countries by 1994 (development aid funds or loans from the West were only granted in response to demographic policy conditions; the World Bank and IMF structural adjustment programs served as leverage).

Babatunde Osotimehin was Executive Director of UNFPA from 2011 until his death in June 2017 . His successor has been Natalia Kanem since October 2017 .

Annual "World Population Reports" have been published since 1969 to assess the population-political situation. They serve as a basis for advice and decision-making at the world's population summits . The priorities and funding criteria have changed constantly over the decades. In view of the high birth rates, widespread illiteracy and suppressed women's rights in most developing countries , the program focuses today on the following areas:

• sexual and reproductive health
• Family planning
• education
• Equality of the sexes
• Protection against violence against women and children

For 2016, the fund's revenue was $ 896 million and spending was $ 923 million. The fund is financed by voluntary contributions from member states of the United Nations and private donations, in particular from large foundations such as the Gates and Clinton Foundation .

criticism

The UNFPA is supported by conservative groups, mainly in the US, among others. a. criticized for promoting forced abortions and forced sterilization in countries like China - although the organization rejects this claim, also citing the results of a fact-finding mission set up by the USA itself. As one of the first acts of the Donald Trump administration, the United States therefore withdrew from the UNFPA the US contributions. Until 1994, however, the UNFPA was also heavily criticized by feminists. In 1994, at the World Population Conference in Cairo and as a result of the World Conference on Women in 1995, a reframing (reinterpretation) of population policy programs on reproductive rights was achieved .

Web links

• Official website of the UNFPA (English, French, Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Margrit E. Kaufmann: Culture Policy - Body Policy - Birth. Opladen 2002, p. 232.
2. ^ Margrit E. Kaufmann: Culture Policy - Body Policy - Birth. Opladen 2002, p. 232.
3. ^ Margrit E. Kaufmann: Culture Policy - Body Policy - Birth. Opladen 2002, p. 233.
4. ^ Margrit E. Kaufmann: Culture Policy - Body Policy - Birth. Opladen 2002, p. 233, cf. Footnotes 103 and 104.
5. ↑ UNFPA, Press Release, October 3, 2017: Dr. Natalia Kanem Appointed UNFPA Executive Director
6. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development on the UN World Population Report
7. ↑ Expenditure by Agency | United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination. Retrieved November 22, 2018 . 
8. ↑ David McCoy and Linsey McGoey: Global Health and the Gates Foundation. In: Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance (Eds. Rushton, Williams), Hampshire and New York 2011, pp. 143–163.
9. ↑ Jeremy Youde: The Clinton Foundation and Global Health Governance. In: Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance (Eds. Rushton, Williams), Hampshire and New York 2011, pp. 164-183.
10. ↑ UNFPA Whitewashes Forced Abortion in China - PRI . In: PRI . December 17, 2001 ( pop.org [accessed March 18, 2018]).
11. ↑ UNFPA Statement on US Funding Decision - UNFPA . July 22, 2002 (English, unfpa.org [accessed April 18, 2018]).
12. ↑ DIE WELT: Diplomacy: USA want to cut money for the World Population Fund . In: THE WORLD . April 4, 2017 ( welt.de [accessed March 18, 2018]).
13. ^ Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Mexico City Policy . In: The White House . January 23, 2017 ( whitehouse.gov [accessed March 18, 2018]).
14. ↑ "It remains population control even if the term has been changed to 'reproductive rights'." (Renate Klein [2008]: From Test Tube Women to Bodies without Women. In: Mutterschaft im Patriarchat [2015], p. 164).
15. ↑ Sarah Sexton, Sumati Nair, Preeti Kirbat (2004): A Decade After Cairo: Women's Health in a Free Market Economy. In: MMS Bulletin. No. 94, Medicus Mundi Switzerland, English; Full text .