US at the UN: Strong Support for Family Planning

Via RH Reality Check, by Ariana Childs Graham:

This week is the 42nd session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the United Nations headquarters in New York.  It is taking place fifteen years into the Programme of Action (PoA), adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, and government officials, representatives from international organizations, advocates, and program implementers are taking stock of our progress.  The theme for the CPD this year is "The contribution of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development to the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals."  

...The last eight years have been marked by a U.S. presence at the United Nations that was mostly unfavorable to SRHR, often aligning with some of the most conservative governments on SRHR related issues.  The new Administration, however, has demonstrated a renewed commitment to upholding many of the goals expressed in the ICPD Program of Action.  Margaret Pollock, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, Department of State and head of the U.S. delegation, delivered the much anticipated U.S. statement to the Commission on March 31. The statement expressed the commitment of the United States government to "ensuring safe and voluntary family planning," delivering "comprehensive and accurate information on sexuality," linking "HIV/AIDS and voluntary family planning programs," and to moving towards ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.