UNICEF supports birth control despite Holy See.
The Vatican has failed in its attempt to prevent the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) from spreading the message of family planning in developing countries. Over the strong objections of the Holy See, the 41-member Executive Board of UNICEF has asked the agency to cooperate with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the WHO "to support family planning in the context of sustainable national healthcare systems." A member of the Executive Board said the Vatican held the view that UNICEF had no legitimate right to be involved in family planning. "But the Holy See was in a minority of one," he said, adding that "the whole problem arises from the fact that the Vatican continues to equate birth control and abortion with family planning." A recently concluded board meeting unanimously adopted a resolution requesting UNICEF to "contribute substantively" to the UNFPA-sponsored International Conference on Population and Development (CPF) set to take place in 1994 in Cairo. The board also asked UNICEF Executive Director James Grant to submit a policy paper "on the involvement of UNICEF in family planning, taking into account the health of the child and the mother." The paper is to be presented for the consideration of the board at its regular session next year, with a view to approving it prior to the ICPD. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, J. Klink, a spokesman for the Holy See, told the Executive Board that there were "concerns" over calls for UNICEF to involve itself in family planning activities. He said UNICEF should not be concerned with family planning because there were other agencies entrusted with that mandate. Responding to the support given by Nordic countries to the UNICEF resolution, Klink said that wealthy nations must not impose dictates as to the "appropriate" size of poor families. "The Holy See would not propose that UNICEF halt its current balanced, informational approach to the spacing of births," he said. "Families must be free to decide their size." UNICEF, he pointed out, had clearly stated that it was not involved in abortion or sterilization and did not provide contraceptives. "UNICEF must continue to respect cultural and religious diversity," he said. At a meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in April this year, the Vatican succeeded in striking a reference to family planning from a blueprint for development known as Agenda 21. Paragraph 99 of Agenda 21 had originally referred to the need for "integrated healthcare, including universal access to family planning services and the provision of safe contraceptives." But this paragraph was deleted in the final document adopted at UNCED in Rio de Janeiro in June. Given that family planning is the single most effective means with which to contain population growth, the UNFPA considered the omission a retrograde step in handling the dangers of overpopulation and environmental degradation. In Rio de Janeiro, Werner Fornos, president of the Washington-based Population Institute, criticized the Holy See "for interfering in the lives of people throughout the world because of religious dogmas." Grant told the board meeting last month that UNICEF would work with the UNFPA to spread knowledge and support program activities for successful family planning which he said was integral to safe motherhood. Birte Poulsen of Denmark told the meeting that reduced population growth was a prerequisite for sustainable development, and the UNICEF "must accord family planning issues top priority." And Inger Ann Ravum of Norway said the integration of family planning activities into UNICEF's program was welcome.