Support UNFPA Funding Act
Bill: H.R.3938 | Sponsor: Rep. Houlahan, Chrissy (D-PA)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Support UNFPA Funding Act
This bill authorizes annual contributions to support the core functions and programs of the United Nations Population Fund for the five fiscal years following the bill's enactment.

To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population Fund, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Support UNFPA Funding Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the 
        United Nations reproductive health agency.
            (2) UNFPA was founded with the leadership of the United 
        States 50 years ago and works in more than 150 countries to end 
        preventable maternal deaths, the unmet need for contraception, 
        and gender-based violence and other harmful practices, 
        including female genital mutilation and child marriage.
            (3) UNFPA also ensures access to health care and essential 
        supplies for women and families impacted by emergencies.
            (4) All UNFPA programming is guided by principles adopted 
        by 179 governments, including the United States, at the 1994 
        International Conference for Population and Development. The 
        principles include that ``reproductive health care programs 
        should provide the widest range of services without any form of 
        coercion. All couples and individuals have the basic right to 
        decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their 
        children and to have the information, education and means to do 
        so.''.
            (5) UNFPA is currently working to address the needs of the 
        following:
                    (A) The 810 women and adolescent girls who die each 
                day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and 
                childbirth, 99 percent of which deaths occur in 
                developing countries and more than half of which occur 
                in fragile and humanitarian settings.
                    (B) The more than 218,000,000 women of reproductive 
                age in low- and middle-income countries who want to 
                avoid pregnancy and are not using a modern 
                contraceptive method.
                    (C) The estimated 1 in 3 women who experience 
                gender-based violence.
                    (D) The estimated 200,000,000 women who have 
                survived some form of female genital mutilation.
                    (E) The estimated 15,000,000 girls who are forcibly 
                married before the age of 18 each year.
            (6) In recent years, the United States has been the third-
        largest overall donor to UNFPA, and its second-largest donor 
        for humanitarian response.
            (7) UNFPA, which works in three times as many countries as 
        the United States Agency for International Development, extends 
        the impact of United States foreign assistance by reaching 
        people in politically unstable regions. UNFPA also plays a 
        pivotal role in meeting protection and health care needs in 
        countries experiencing humanitarian emergencies like Syria, 
        Yemen, and Iraq.
            (8) Voluntary family planning is central to gender equality 
        and women's empowerment, and it is a key factor in reducing 
        poverty.
            (9) UNFPA is responding to the needs of women and girls 
        affected by the COVID-19 outbreak by focusing on countries that 
        have weak public health and social support systems to limit 
        potential increases in unmet need for family planning, gender 
        based violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriage.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States as follows:
            (1) Improving the status of women around the world is a 
        critical component of the United States foreign policy and 
        development strategies.
            (2) The right of every person to determine freely whether, 
        when, and with whom to have children, and to attain the highest 
        standard of sexual and reproductive health, is a basic human 
        right.
            (3) Access to voluntary contraception and reproductive 
        health care is necessary to improving the status of women and 
        ensuring this basic human right.
            (4) UNFPA is a key partner in improving the status of women 
        and expanding access to voluntary family planning and 
        reproductive health care services throughout the world.
            (5) UNFPA helps ensure that family planning and 
        reproductive health programs are voluntary and centered on 
        protecting human rights.
            (6) Financial support for UNFPA is a crucial part of the 
        United States commitment to global health, development, and 
        human rights, and the Government of the United States is 
        committed to providing core, development, and humanitarian 
        funding to UNFPA.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated an annual contribution for 
each of the five fiscal years beginning after the date of the enactment 
of this Act to support the core functions and programs of the United 
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which may include the following:
            (1) Ending preventable maternal deaths.
            (2) Ending the unmet need for contraceptives and promoting 
        a human-rights-based approach to family planning.
            (3) Ending gender-based violence.
            (4) Ending other harmful practices, such as child marriage 
        and female genital mutilation.
            (5) Supporting United States national security and 
        humanitarian efforts by operating in areas where medical 
        infrastructure or services have been destroyed or limited by 
        natural disasters, armed conflict, or other humanitarian 
        emergencies.
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