Making women's health a priority

McCollum

Editor’s note: The following is the official statement by Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., to the G8 International Parliamentarians' Conference, which met June 22-23 in Rome. Conference organizers included Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) Italy, Action Aid Italy, the Italian Assn. for Women in Development (AIDOS), the European Parliamentary Forum on Population & Development (EPF), and the German Foundation for World Population (DSW).

McCollum serves on the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees and appropriates U.S. funding for development assistance. She is also an “alumna" of this annual conference, having attended it in 2005 in Edinburgh.

With an emphasis on how women’s health issues are faring against the current backdrop of the global economic downturn, the conference addressed topics such as providing additional resources to guarantee women’s health, best practices in sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as enhancing accountability for funding and expenditure. McCollum’s statement emphasizes the return of strong U.S. leadership on international family planning and reproductive health.

This meeting comes at such a critical time: a time filled with great potential to improve the health and quality of life for millions of women and their families in the developing world.

Some of these opportunities are presented by the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the ICPD Programme of Action and the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are so inextricably linked on the ground, but not nearly enough in our policies and funding.

In the United States it is truly a new day on so many important issues.

In the United States it is truly a new day on so many important issues, certainly for family planning, reproductive health, and women's health in general, which have been neglected politically and financially over the last eight years.

We're only about 150 days into the Obama administration, but already we have seen very significant steps forward in renewing U.S. leadership on these issues.

As you know, in one of his first actions upon taking the oath of office, President Obama repealed the Global Gag Rule, which had cut off U.S. assistance to some of the most experienced and capable family planning providers overseas. In making the announcement, President Obama stated: "For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us. I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."

I couldn't agree more.

Repealing the Gag Rule will go a long way in restoring effectiveness to U.S. bilateral development assistance and getting family planning and reproductive health services and supplies to women, men and youths who need them.

In addition, on the multilateral front, the President also has approved a $50 million contribution to UNFPA (U.N. Population Fund), and requested an additional $50 million in 2010.

Senior-level appointments

Of course, as significant as these policy actions are, his appointments to senior-level positions in his administration cannot be under stated in value. In Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton, we have one of the most knowledgeable, passionate and effective leaders on women's issues in the world as our nation's top diplomat.

In Melanne Verveer, we have an Ambassador at-Large for Global Women's Issues, a new position within the U.S. State Dept., which will focus on empowering women around the world by integrating gender issues into U.S. foreign policy priorities.

We have seen the positive impact of this dramatic shift in official U.S. policy.

One more appointment, that of Susan Rice, as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has gone a long way toward repairing some long-damaged relationships for the United States in the global arena.

We have seen the positive impact of this dramatic shift in official U.S. policy and committed leadership at the State Dept. already. Certainly the statement of the U.S. government delegation to the United Nations Commission on Population & Development meeting in New York in late March put to rest any question of where the United States officially stands on family planning and reproductive health.

In that statement, the United States explicitly affirmed that we are firmly committed to reproductive health services and to:

Family planning and reproductive health

Secretary of State Clinton has also underscored before the Congress the administration's support for family planning and reproductive health. At a hearing on Capitol Hill in April, she was questioned aggressively by Republican members of Congress about the administration's position on these issues. Her message was loud and clear.

We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women.

Secretary Clinton stated the Obama administration "thinks that family planning is an important part of women's health, and reproductive health includes access to abortion, that I believe should be safe, legal and rare."

She also reiterated, "We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to reproductive health care."

So, after a long and difficult-eight years, the United States is back. We are back as a leader and as a partner with all who have steadfastly worked on these issues for years, including our fellow donor countries, emerging global leaders, and governments throughout the Global South who are leading their countries at one of the most interconnected yet challenging moments in history.

Increase assistance

All of us must work together to increase assistance for women's health, but also to make it more complimentary and coordinated. Without that collaboration, we will handicap the reach and effectiveness of programs on the ground. Make no mistake: A drastic reduction in the 9 million annual child deaths, 550,000 maternal deaths and 76 million unintended pregnancies every year is within our grasp.

Allowing our financial commitments to slip is not an option any of us can afford.

All of this potential and all of these positive political developments are occurring, however, against the backdrop of great financial difficulty due to the global recession. With the U.S. government facing a staggering budget deficit this year of $1.8 trillion, there are limitations on our ability to provide the funding increases we know are needed to meet women's family planning and reproductive health needs. But allowing our financial commitments to slip is not an option any of us can afford, least of all our friends and allies in the Global South.

The president's budget request for 2010 proposes a 9% ($48 million) increase in funding for international family planning and reproductive health, bringing the total to $593 million. This would come on top of an $82 million or 18% increase in funding in current year funding. If approved, the 2010 request level would be the largest amount of funding for these programs, not accounting for inflation, ever provided by the United States.

But we know that it's not nearly enough.

Global Health Initiative

Fortunately, the administration has signaled its desire to provide more significant funding increases in its future budgets. Last month it announced a new, comprehensive "Global Health Initiative" that calls for dramatic increases in U.S. global health investments and seeks to focus attention on broader global health challenges, including child and maternal health, family planning, and neglected tropical diseases.

This initiative responds to the global health community's calls for a more integrated approach to addressing global health issues.

In part, this initiative responds to the global health community's calls for a more integrated approach to addressing global health issues, particularly maternal, child and reproductive health: MDGs 4 and 5. In the White House statement announcing the Initiative last month, the president said: “I recognize that we will not be successful in our efforts to end deaths from AIDS, malaria and TB unless we do more to improve health systems around the world, focus our efforts on child and maternal health, and ensure that best practices drive the funding for these programs."

Details on the Global Health Initiative are still forthcoming, but officials with the Obama administration have indicated their desire and intent to at least double current funding for non-HIV/AIDS global health priorities, including family planning and reproductive health over the next six years. This is certainly good news.

Let me conclude my remarks by again thanking you for this opportunity to address the United States' reemergence as a leader on women's health issues, including family planning and reproductive health. I look forward to reading the conference declaration and to working with all of you to enhancing global investments in women's health.