US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday told a UN conference that "government has no place in the personal decisions a woman makes about whether to bring a child into the world" (Anthony Deutsch, Associated Press, 9 Feb). But "governments can and must play a critical role in helping women ... lead full and productive lives, and that includes making available voluntary family planning," she said (Agence France-Presse, 9 Feb).
     Clinton's comments came on the second day of the Hague Forum, being held this week in the Hague, Netherlands to assess progress made in the five years since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. At that event, representatives of almost all of the world's countries approved an action plan calling for universal access to reproductive health services by 2015. The plan also emphasized efforts to fightpoverty, raise the status of women and improve their educational opportunities. But UN agencies, many governments and population activists say current efforts are coming up short (UN Wire sources).

US Congress Urged To Provide $25 Million To UNFPA
      Focusing on the US Congress, which cut off US funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) as of 1999, Clinton said: "When 600,000 women still die every year due to pregnancy-related causes, this is no time to cut back on our commitment to family planning." She urged the Congress to approve President Clinton's request for a $25 million contribution to UNFPA in 2000 (Communications Consortium Media Center release, 9 Feb).
     Tacitly acknowledging critics' concerns about "coercive" family planning policies in China, the first lady also praised an agreement reached between China and the UNFPA under which the agency will set up voluntary family-planning programs in 32 regions of China (Deutsch, Associated Press).
     Women's groups at the forum praised the first lady's remarks (Communications Consortium Media Center release, 9 Feb). According to ZENIT, a Rome-based news service covering the Roman Catholic Church: "Bill Clinton's wife did not disappoint expectations; she thrilled the audience by claiming the right of all women anywhere in the world to abortion and family planning."

Hillary Clinton Headed To The UN After 2000?
     ZENIT also reports that "rumors are intensifying within the United Nations Population Fund ... [that Clinton] will replace Nafis Sadik as head of this influential" UN agency. "Those who support Hillary Clinton's candidacy are certain she would guarantee the support of the foundations and companies interested in promoting contraceptive programs" (ZENIT, 9 Feb).

US Committee For The UNFPA Formed
     In other news, it was announced at the forum that a new US Committee for the UNFPA has been formed "to help rally American public support" for the agency and its global mission. With a board made up of leading public figures and former UN and UNFPA officials, the group "will seek to counter what it calls the 'misrepresentations' of those in Congress responsible" for cutting off US funding (Robert Schiffer, Earth Times, 10 Feb).

US Billionaires Teaming Up?
     In Atlanta, Ted Turner, founder of CNN and of the United Nations Foundation, hinted that he and fellow billionaire Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, might team up to work on world health and population projects. "His foundation and the UN Foundation are talking about joint venturing on a project or two," Turner told a reporter after attending a luncheon for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent PregnancyPrevention. Gates made news last Friday when he announced he would donate $3.3 billion to his two foundations. Turner and his wife, actress and activist Jane Fonda, helped launch the Georgia Center (Maria Saporta, Atlanta Constitution). [Editor's Note: The United Nations Foundation is the sole sponsor of UN Wire, which is published independently by National Journal Group, Inc.]

For More Information ...
     For more official details on the Hague forum and the UNFPA, click here. For previous UN Wire coverage of the topic, click on "Recent Issues" at the top of this document and see editions from 8 and 9 February, 4 February and 28 January).
     And keep an eye on UN Wire for continuing, comprehensive, global coverage of news about population and the ICPD process.