The UNFPA has hailed the Joe Biden administration in the United States for restoring financial and political support to the UN population agency.
In a statement, it said this decision will have an “enormous impact on the work of UNFPA and on the people we serve. It sends a powerful message to women and girls around the world that their rights matter.”
President Joe Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum revoking the January 23, 2017 Presidential Memorandum on the Mexico City Policy that stopped the financial support to UNFPA.
UNFPA welcomed President Biden’s announcement of rescinding the expanded version of the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “global gag rule”, which has resulted in the defunding of reproductive health organisations in developing countries that poor women and their families rely on.
“With the restoration of funding to UNFPA, the United States is upholding the rights of all women to lead healthy and empowered lives, and to live free from violence. We look forward to working with President Biden, Vice President Harris and the American people to deliver a world where sexual and reproductive health and rights are a reality for all,” it said.
Restored funding stands to enable UNFPA to prevent more than 1 million unintended pregnancies and provide lifesaving reproductive health services to over 4 million women and young people each year, including the vital services needed by survivors of gender-based violence.
“The return of U.S. support comes at a critical moment: COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the health and well-being of women and girls globally, and threatens to set back the important progress the world has made in recent years. At this challenging time, the entire international community must rise in solidarity to protect these gains and keep moving forward,” UNFPA said.