August 4, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jason Salzman
303-292-1524
34 Million Friends of UNFPA Raises $2 Million as Contributions Surge, New Music Video Launched
A surge in donations in the days since the Bush Administration withheld $34 million approved by Congress for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has pushed total contributions to 34 Million Friends of UNFPA over the $2 million mark. In addition, a new music video commemorating the 34 Million Friends of UNFPA effort has been released today featuring legendary artist Odetta.
“I never dreamed that so many people would join together to mobilize $2 million. The generosity of the American people is amazing and working together we are sending a message to the world that we care about international cooperation to save women’s lives,” said Jane Roberts, co-founder of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA. This message comes through loud and clear in the powerful new music video featuring Odetta, which was crafted from a poem written by Roberts. See the video online at www.34millionfriends.org.
“Whether it is Odetta contributing her talent to a video, or a woman with a total of $7 in her bank account contributing one of those dollars to 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, Americans are joining to send this message: We care about the health of women everywhere,” said Lois Abraham, the other co-founder. “Everyone benefits. More women get the help they desperately need, and America’s standing in the world, which has taken a battering from our “go-it-alone” rejection of cooperative international efforts, gets a much needed lift. Join us. All of us can spare $1 for our international reputation and the women of the world.”
34 Million Friends of UNFPA was launched by Roberts and Abraham in July 2002, when the Bush Administration first withheld $34 million appropriated for UNFPA. Independently, the women began contacting friends and organizations urging Americans to send at least $1 and to pass the message along to others. Before long, a trickle of envelopes turned into a flood. Over the past two years, a total of $2 million has been collected from Americans in every state.
On July 16, 2004, the Bush Administration announced once again that it would withhold $34 million approved by Congress (another $25 million was withheld in 2003). Since the Administration’s announcement, more than $83,000 in new contributions have been received for 34 Million Friends of UNFPA.
“We have never experienced anything like this,” said Thoraya A. Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA. “Lois and Jane have not only mobilized funds that we need and are using to save women’s lives, but they also have demonstrated that citizens in the United States, as all over the world, understand that family planning and related reproductive health care, safe motherhood and HIV/AIDS prevention are essential requirements for basic human health – and that we must work together to make them universally available.”
Generous support from the United Nations Foundation for administrative costs has enabled contributions from citizens to directly support UNFPA’s programs. The US Committee for UNFPA, a private nonprofit organization that educates Americans and garners support for UNFPA in the United States, accepts tax-deductible contributions for 34 Million Friends of UNFPA.
Funds raised through this grassroots effort have supported safe motherhood, family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention and maternal health efforts in the poorest regions of the world. A substantial share of funding has been allocated to help prevent maternal death and disability, such as obstetric fistula, which often harms very young women. Funds mobilized through 34 Million Friends of UNFPA have:
• helped to train midwives on safe delivery of babies; • equipped health facilities for emergencies encountered in delivery; • provided contraceptive commodities for family planning; • supported HIV/AIDS prevention programs; • and treated women with obstetric fistula, a pregnancy-related disability that renders women incontinent and often ostracized.
UNFPA is the world’s largest multilateral source of population assistance. In more than 30 years of operation, UNFPA has provided more than $6 billion in assistance to developing countries at their request. With an annual budget of approximately $300 million, the $34 million withheld by the Administration means the organization will go without more than 10 percent of its budget. It is estimated that the $34 million in funding from the United States could prevent 2 million unwanted pregnancies, nearly 800,000 abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths and 77,000 child deaths.
Additional Information
For more information about 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, visit www.34millionfriends.org.
For more information about UNFPA, visit www.unfpa.org.
For more information about the US Committee for UNFPA, visit www.uscommittee.org. For more information about the United Nations Foundation, visit www.unfoundation.org.
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