U.S cuts funding to UNFPA based on misrepresentation – UN chief

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has expressed deep regret at the decision by the U.S. to cut financial support for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

Guterres, in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, said that the announcement by the U.S. was based on a misinterpretation of the UN agency’s work.

The Secretary-General “believes that the decision is based on an inaccurate perception of the nature and importance of the work of UNFPA”.

Guterres said that the cuts “could have devastating effects” on the health of vulnerable women and girls and their families.

The UN population agency has said its aim is to deliver a world “where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled”.

In 2016, the UN agency saved the lives of more than 2,340 women from dying during pregnancy and childbirth, and helped to ensure more than 1,250 fistula surgeries, he said.

Guterres, who was previously the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that he saw first-hand the life-saving character of UNFPA, which is active in more than 150 countries and territories.

The UN chief appealed to donors to increase their support for UNFPA to allow it to continue its critical work during this difficult period.

The funding cut was announced in a memo from the U.S. Department of State on March 30.

The U.S. memo stated that the UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China.

However, the UNFPA refuted the claim, calling it “erroneous”.

“UNFPA refutes this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination,” the agency said.

UNFPA called the U.S. “a trusted partner” and said that support received from the country over the years “have saved tens of thousands of mothers from preventable death and disabilities”.