NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      UNITED NATIONS (CWNews.com) - Three major United Nations organizations announced last week that they had formed a new Coordinating Committee on Health (CCH) which will include a strong focus on population control measures, including abortion and contraception.

      The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) invited the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to become a full partner in the three-agency CCH. The newly-formed committee then announced its agenda which included "adolescent health" and "safe motherhood" with references in relating the topic to "reproductive health" which includes abortion and contraception. UNFPA director Dr. Nafis Sadik said CCH placed reproductive health as "an essential component of any minimum package of health services."

      The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, which actively monitors and lobbies at the UN, reported that UNICEF already supports population control policies as evidenced by its 1998 annual report. The "Progress of Nations" report alleges that "at least 10% of girls aged 15 to 19 have an unmet need for family planning services," according to data obtained from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm for the US Planned Parenthood Federation.