World Population Day
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
July 11, 2012
This
year as we mark World Population Day, leaders from around the globe are
meeting in London for the Family Planning Summit hosted by the
Government of the United Kingdom and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation. They are working to find new ways to support the rights of
women and young people to decide whether, when, and how many children to
have.
Reproductive rights are among the most basic of human
rights. But too often, in too many places, these rights are denied.
Millions of women and young people in developing countries don't have
access to information to plan their family. They don't have health
services and modern methods of contraception. This is not only a
violation of their right to decide the number, timing, and spacing of
their children, it's also a question of equity as women everywhere
should have the same ability to determine this fundamental part of their
lives.
Voluntary family planning programs represent more than
just an investment in health and human rights. Family planning is one of
the most successful development interventions and one of the strongest
and most cost-effective investments available. It reduces poverty, and
it allows governments to invest in infrastructure, schooling, and
healthcare. For over 40 years the U.S. government, through the work of
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been committed
to supporting effective and sustainable family planning programs.
During this current fiscal year the U.S. contributed over $640 million
through USAID for bilateral family planning and reproductive health
programs, and $35 million to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the largest
multilateral provider of life-saving family planning and reproductive
health information and services. The partnership between the U.S.
government and UNFPA is critical to advancing sexual and reproductive
health and reproductive rights for women, men, adolescents and youth
around the world.
We must continue to build on this solid
foundation and advance solidarity within the international community for
the right of women and young people to make decisions about their own
bodies. Our efforts are critical to improving the status of women and
upholding these basic human rights around the world.
