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UNICEF to be Freed From Abortion Ideologues?
Abortion zealot Bellamy replaced by new head who says reproductive health issues are not “relevant to the missions of UNICEF”
NEW YORK, January 20, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan announced the appointment of a Bush Administration veteran to replace Carol Bellamy as the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Beginning May 1, former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will replace Bellamy who has been credited with leading the once world-renowned organization into international disrepute.
Bellamy, a Clinton Administration pick for the UNICEF post, has been slammed for years by pro-lifers for turning UNICEF into an abortion-promoting organization. U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) has said that Bellamy is so pro-abortion that, while a Senator in New York’s state senate, she voted against a bill would have required doctors to give children who survived botched abortions the same kind of care ordinarily given to other newborns. When Bellamy was appointed director of UNICEF in 1995, Smith commented: “Carol Bellamy is a highly inappropriate choice to run an agency that is supposed to promote the health and welfare of children throughout the world.”
The shift of focus initiated by Bellamy ten years ago caused the Vatican to withdraw funding from the organization in 1997 and has even been recognized as inappropriate by secular sources.
Only last month, Richard Horton, editor of the British medical journal, The Lancet, criticized UNICEF. Horton charged the UN agency has given priority to so-called children’s rights, over its primary mandate - to save the lives of children through improved health initiatives. “It is widely, if regrettably, accepted that UNICEF has lost its way during Carol Bellamy’s long term of office,” wrote Horton, adding, “she has failed to address the essential health needs of children."
Veneman, at least from her comments at the press conference introducing her in her new capacity, seems a breath of fresh air. Her comments indicate a back to basics approach of concentrating on “issues that no child – no human being – should have to confront: malnutrition and hunger, illiteracy and disease, especially the scourge of HIV/AIDS, exploitation and suffering, wars and natural disasters.”
When asked specifically about the reproductive health (read abortion) agenda which has become a hallmark of UNICEF under Bellamy, Veneman responded, “I don’t come with any agenda with regard to those or any other social issues. I come with an agenda of helping children, particularly in the areas of education and health and to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition. I don’t believe that these issues are relevant to the missions of UNICEF."
Another sign of hope to pro-life leaders, the incoming UNICEF chief quoted Mother Teresa in her remarks. “The humanitarian, Mother Teresa, once said, ‘If you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one. Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you,’” she said.
Jim Hughes, Vice President of International Right to Life Federation responded to Veneman’s appointment saying, “We are filled with cautious optimism.” In comments to LifeSiteNews.com, Hughes added, “ We won’t be running out to donate to UNICEF until the it re-establishes trust as an organization that looks out for children, all children regardless of age, size or dependency – that includes unborn children.”
That caution is well founded as Carol Bellamy still has a few months to do further damage to the organization. During the press conference Annan said, “Carol still has more than three months in the job,” he said. “And I’m sure she’ll be a director till the last day.”
For more on UNICEF from LifeSiteNews.com see:
lifesite.net/waronfamily/unicef/
Abortion zealot Bellamy replaced by new head who says reproductive health issues are not “relevant to the missions of UNICEF”
NEW YORK, January 20, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan announced the appointment of a Bush Administration veteran to replace Carol Bellamy as the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Beginning May 1, former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will replace Bellamy who has been credited with leading the once world-renowned organization into international disrepute.
Bellamy, a Clinton Administration pick for the UNICEF post, has been slammed for years by pro-lifers for turning UNICEF into an abortion-promoting organization. U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) has said that Bellamy is so pro-abortion that, while a Senator in New York’s state senate, she voted against a bill would have required doctors to give children who survived botched abortions the same kind of care ordinarily given to other newborns. When Bellamy was appointed director of UNICEF in 1995, Smith commented: “Carol Bellamy is a highly inappropriate choice to run an agency that is supposed to promote the health and welfare of children throughout the world.”
The shift of focus initiated by Bellamy ten years ago caused the Vatican to withdraw funding from the organization in 1997 and has even been recognized as inappropriate by secular sources.
Only last month, Richard Horton, editor of the British medical journal, The Lancet, criticized UNICEF. Horton charged the UN agency has given priority to so-called children’s rights, over its primary mandate - to save the lives of children through improved health initiatives. “It is widely, if regrettably, accepted that UNICEF has lost its way during Carol Bellamy’s long term of office,” wrote Horton, adding, “she has failed to address the essential health needs of children."
Veneman, at least from her comments at the press conference introducing her in her new capacity, seems a breath of fresh air. Her comments indicate a back to basics approach of concentrating on “issues that no child – no human being – should have to confront: malnutrition and hunger, illiteracy and disease, especially the scourge of HIV/AIDS, exploitation and suffering, wars and natural disasters.”
When asked specifically about the reproductive health (read abortion) agenda which has become a hallmark of UNICEF under Bellamy, Veneman responded, “I don’t come with any agenda with regard to those or any other social issues. I come with an agenda of helping children, particularly in the areas of education and health and to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition. I don’t believe that these issues are relevant to the missions of UNICEF."
Another sign of hope to pro-life leaders, the incoming UNICEF chief quoted Mother Teresa in her remarks. “The humanitarian, Mother Teresa, once said, ‘If you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one. Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you,’” she said.
Jim Hughes, Vice President of International Right to Life Federation responded to Veneman’s appointment saying, “We are filled with cautious optimism.” In comments to LifeSiteNews.com, Hughes added, “ We won’t be running out to donate to UNICEF until the it re-establishes trust as an organization that looks out for children, all children regardless of age, size or dependency – that includes unborn children.”
That caution is well founded as Carol Bellamy still has a few months to do further damage to the organization. During the press conference Annan said, “Carol still has more than three months in the job,” he said. “And I’m sure she’ll be a director till the last day.”
For more on UNICEF from LifeSiteNews.com see:
lifesite.net/waronfamily/unicef/
