§ Lord Eltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, following the decision of the United States Government announced on 22 July to withdraw funding from the United Nations Population Fund on the grounds that "UN Population Fund monies go to Chinese agencies that carry out coercive programs", they will now withdraw British funding from the United Nations Population Fund. [HL5607]
§ Baroness AmosUNFPA funds in China are used to implement its programme which is aimed at demonstrating to the Chinese authorities that there is a viable alternative to the current administrative family planning approach. Birth targets and quotas have been removed in the counties where UNFPA is operating. The US delegation which visited China in May found no evidence of UNFPA involvement in coercive abortion or sterilisation in China, and recommended that the US Government should continue to fund UNFPA. Following a visit to China in April this year, a cross-party group of MPs came to similar conclusions. It is disappointing that the US Government have decided to ignore their own delegation's recommendations.