WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, conferees for the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill agreed to include in their conference report the House-passed UNFPA language - $25 million, minus the amount spent on China - and to continue current law with regard to US AID's population program.

"On the eve of our world population reaching 6 billion, I applaud the conferees for their bi-partisan agreement on report language to fully support the restoration of US funding to the UNFPA, an organization which critically serves mothers and babies. UNFPA aids women, children, and families in approximately 160 countries around the world where health care structures are fragile and in need of support from the global community," Maloney said.

"Last year Congress altogether eliminated US contributions to the UNFPA. Because the US did not contribute to the UNFPA, in one year alone an additional 1,200 women and 22,500 infants died during pregnancy and an additional 870,000 women and men were deprived of effective contraception. Since the UNFPA's inception 30 years ago, the US has been its largest donor," Congresswoman Maloney said in a statement this afternoon.

The UNFPA is the United Nations Population Fund. It is the largest internationally funded source of population assistance to developing countries. Half of all UNFPA funding goes to maternal and child health. UNFPA provides voluntary family planning services, maternal and child health care, and sexually-transmitted disease prevention, including HIV/AIDS. Every country in the United Nations contributes to UNFPA on a voluntary basis.

"UNFPA activities advance the cause of population stabilization across the globe, which reduces pressure on the environment, migration, the spread of disease, and political instability and facilitates social and economic advancements, the promotion of peace, and preservation of the global environment. Today, Congress has made a wise decision for our global community," Maloney concluded.

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