§ Lord Eltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the statement by Baroness Amos on 16 July 2001 (HL Deb, col. 1341) that "the Government disagree with China's one child policy", whether they will now suspend funding of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities if it supports coercive enforcement of population control in China. [HL2978]
§ Baroness AmosAs we have made clear on many occasions, UK assistance for reproductive health programmes is provided in line with the principles of free and informed choice set out at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994 and reaffirmed at the Cairo plus 5 meeting in New York in 1999. This specifically rules out any kind of coercion in matters relating to childbearing and reproduction.
The United Nations population fund's (UNFPA) programme in China is designed to demonstrate that people can be provided with modern services and make their own choices about family size without coercion. This is the focus and purpose of UNFPA's work in China.