CNN: U.S. aid cuts to U.N. agency will hurt vulnerable women and children, critics say
“The Trump administration will withhold funds from the United Nations agency focused on reproductive and maternal health care for a third consecutive year, though critics and lawmakers say the decision will hurt vulnerable women and children, undermine U.S. interests, and is not based on evidence. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo authorized the move to cut $32.5 million in funding to the agency for its core operations addressing maternal death, female genital mutilation, child marriage, and gender-based violence, and meeting family planning needs. Pompeo’s decision also denies the U.N. Population Fund, known as UNFPA, any U.S. funding for emergency humanitarian operations in places such as Venezuela and Syria — support that has amounted to as much as $36 million in previous administrations. … [A] State Department spokesperson said that the funding for UNFPA would be transferred to the U.S. Agency for International Development ‘to support family planning, maternal, and reproductive health activities’…” (Gaouette, 7/15).