Mkalukungone Mwamba
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 29, 2022
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Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa linaloshughulikia afya ya uzazi na jinsia (UNFPA) limetangaza kuwa Serikali ya Marekani imeamua kukata ufadhili wake wa baadaye kwa shirika hilo. Hatua hii itasitisha msaada muhimu kwa mamilioni ya watu walioko katika mazingira ya migogoro, na kwa wakunga wanaookoa maisha ya akina mama wakati wa kujifungua.
Marekani imetumia Marekebisho ya Kemp-Kasten kuhalalisha uamuzi huo, ikidai kuwa UNFPA inahusishwa na utoaji wa mimba wa kulazimishwa na upasuaji wa uzazi wa hiari nchini China—madai ambayo yamekanushwa mara kadhaa na tathmini huru, ikiwemo zile zilizofanywa na Serikali ya Marekani yenyewe. Hakuna ushahidi kuwa UNFPA inatekeleza shughuli hizo.
Kwa wastani, Marekani ilikuwa miongoni mwa wafadhili wakubwa wa UNFPA, ikitoa kiasi cha dola milioni 180 kila mwaka.
Mbali na uamuzi huu wa kukata ufadhili wa baadaye, UNFPA pia tayari imepokea barua za kusitishwa kwa zaidi ya ruzuku 40 za kibinadamu, zenye thamani ya dola milioni 335. Ruzuku hizi zilikuwa zinagharamia huduma muhimu za afya ya uzazi, ulinzi dhidi ya ukatili, matibabu kwa waathirika wa ubakaji, na huduma nyingine za kuokoa maisha katika zaidi ya nchi na maeneo 20 yenye migogoro.
Kupunguzwa kwa ufadhili huu kutakuwa na athari kubwa kwa wanawake na wasichana duniani kote. Kwa mfano, nchini Afghanistan, zaidi ya wanawake milioni 9 hawatapata tena huduma za afya ya uzazi. Katika maeneo ya Palestina yaliyovamiwa, huduma za vituo vya wakunga vya kuhamahama, maeneo salama kwa wanawake na wasichana, na usambazaji wa dawa na vifaa vya uzazi vitasitishwa.
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UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has learned that the United States Government will deny future funding to the organization, cutting essential support for millions of people living in humanitarian crises and for midwives preventing mothers from dying in childbirth.
The US is using the Kemp-Kasten Amendment to justify the funding cuts – a decision based on unfounded claims about UNFPA’s work in China that have long been disproved. The amendment states that no US funds may be made available to any organization that supports or participates in the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization. Multiple evaluations by the US Government itself and others have found no evidence that UNFPA engages in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China.
The US had become one of UNFPA’s most critical partners, providing $180 million in funding on average a year.
The denial of future funding comes in addition to termination notices that UNFPA has already received for more than 40 humanitarian grants. The grants, totaling some $335 million, provided critical maternal healthcare, protection from violence, treatment for rape and other life-saving care in more than 20 countries and territories in crisis.
These cuts in funding will have a devastating impact on women and girls around the world. In Afghanistan, for instance, more than 9 million women will not receive maternal health and wider services. In the occupied Palestinian territory, the setup of crucial mobile obstetric units and safe spaces for women and girls, as well as supplies of medicines and post-partum kits, will be halted.
Marekani imetumia Marekebisho ya Kemp-Kasten kuhalalisha uamuzi huo, ikidai kuwa UNFPA inahusishwa na utoaji wa mimba wa kulazimishwa na upasuaji wa uzazi wa hiari nchini China—madai ambayo yamekanushwa mara kadhaa na tathmini huru, ikiwemo zile zilizofanywa na Serikali ya Marekani yenyewe. Hakuna ushahidi kuwa UNFPA inatekeleza shughuli hizo.
Kwa wastani, Marekani ilikuwa miongoni mwa wafadhili wakubwa wa UNFPA, ikitoa kiasi cha dola milioni 180 kila mwaka.
Mbali na uamuzi huu wa kukata ufadhili wa baadaye, UNFPA pia tayari imepokea barua za kusitishwa kwa zaidi ya ruzuku 40 za kibinadamu, zenye thamani ya dola milioni 335. Ruzuku hizi zilikuwa zinagharamia huduma muhimu za afya ya uzazi, ulinzi dhidi ya ukatili, matibabu kwa waathirika wa ubakaji, na huduma nyingine za kuokoa maisha katika zaidi ya nchi na maeneo 20 yenye migogoro.
Kupunguzwa kwa ufadhili huu kutakuwa na athari kubwa kwa wanawake na wasichana duniani kote. Kwa mfano, nchini Afghanistan, zaidi ya wanawake milioni 9 hawatapata tena huduma za afya ya uzazi. Katika maeneo ya Palestina yaliyovamiwa, huduma za vituo vya wakunga vya kuhamahama, maeneo salama kwa wanawake na wasichana, na usambazaji wa dawa na vifaa vya uzazi vitasitishwa.
================
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has learned that the United States Government will deny future funding to the organization, cutting essential support for millions of people living in humanitarian crises and for midwives preventing mothers from dying in childbirth.
The US is using the Kemp-Kasten Amendment to justify the funding cuts – a decision based on unfounded claims about UNFPA’s work in China that have long been disproved. The amendment states that no US funds may be made available to any organization that supports or participates in the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization. Multiple evaluations by the US Government itself and others have found no evidence that UNFPA engages in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China.
The US had become one of UNFPA’s most critical partners, providing $180 million in funding on average a year.
The denial of future funding comes in addition to termination notices that UNFPA has already received for more than 40 humanitarian grants. The grants, totaling some $335 million, provided critical maternal healthcare, protection from violence, treatment for rape and other life-saving care in more than 20 countries and territories in crisis.
These cuts in funding will have a devastating impact on women and girls around the world. In Afghanistan, for instance, more than 9 million women will not receive maternal health and wider services. In the occupied Palestinian territory, the setup of crucial mobile obstetric units and safe spaces for women and girls, as well as supplies of medicines and post-partum kits, will be halted.
