Foundation Presidents Commend Secretary Clinton on Speech

The United Nations Foundation joined six of the country’s leading foundations in a joint statement applauding Friday’s announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States is fully committed to ensuring that all women worldwide have access to safe and effective reproductive health care.

The declaration came as part of a major speech Secretary Clinton made Friday marking 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). At this historic meeting, 179 countries, including the United States, vowed to achieve universal access to reproductive health care by 2014. The Foundation presidents praised Secretary Clinton’s announcement and the United States’ renewed commitment as a step that “would save lives, improve global health outcomes, and spur progress toward the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.”

In a related joint column, UN Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth and Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards echoed this sentiment, agreeing that the status quo is unacceptable. They state that Secretary Clinton’s “promise of support for women like this one would go a long way to making good on our commitment to promote the health of women and their families by ensuring that they have increased access to the family planning they need.”

Millions of lives have been improved and saved through effective and affordable reproductive health programs, which have proven to prevent the deaths of women and children, reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, grow economies, and preserve natural resources.

Though successful programs exist, far more progress needs to be made. To achieve the ICPD’s goals in the next five years, a sustained, long-term commitment is needed by both the public and private sectors.

Visit www.icpd2015.org to view the speech and for more information.

###About the Joint Statement:
The joint statement was signed by Paul Brest, President, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund; Carol S. Larson, President, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Jeff Raikes, Chief Executive Officer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Vicki Sant, President, The Summit Foundation; Luis A. Ubiñas, President, Ford Foundation; and Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation. The full body of the statement is attached.

About the United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation, a public charity was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities.  We build and implement public/private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and work to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach.  Through our campaigns and partnerships, we connect people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems.  The campaigns we conduct reduce child mortality, empower women and girls, create a new energy future, secure peace and human rights, and promote technology innovation to improve health outcomes.  For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.