[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E83]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FAREWELL CELEBRATION HONORING DR. NAFIS SADIK

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2001

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize 
the world's champion for international family planning and women's 
empowerment and one of the world's most powerful women, Dr. Nafis 
Sadik.
  I am continually amazed by Dr. Sadik's accomplishments. She began her 
career at the United Nations as the head of UNFPA's Program Branch 
under the leadership of Rafael Salas. Dr. Salas used to regularly send 
Nafis to attend high-level U.N. meetings where she was the only woman 
in the room.
  Not only that, but she was a woman representing the Population Fund, 
not high on the U.N.'s most favored agency list, and even worse, she 
was advocating for women. And, as you would guess, she was usually 
ignored. However these men didn't know whom they were dealing with. Dr. 
Sadik was undaunted by her male colleagues and regularly spoke with a 
clear voice and a courageous voice until she was heard.
  Now, she is in her 13th year as the head of UNFPA. The first woman to 
ever be appointed to head a United Nations agency.
  Dr. Sadik's passion and commitment to international family planning 
doesn't come from reciting a UNFPA manual, but learning first hand what 
access to family planning means for women and families around the 
world.
  As the director of the women's and children's wards of Pakistani 
hospitals, she helped shape the country's family planning programs. She 
saw and heard first hand women who didn't want more children, but 
didn't have the access to the resources or the power to make the 
decisions they needed to plan their families.
  It's this experience that resonates in Dr. Sadik's words and commands 
our attention. I owe a great deal to Dr. Sadik. It was her words and 
leadership that helped my colleagues and I restore the U.S. 
contribution to UNFPA in 1999.
  I met Dr. Sadik at the Hague International Forum Conference on 
population and women's reproductive health. We were just beginning our 
fight in Congress to restore UNFPA funding.
  We had a daunting task before us--restore $25 million for UNFPA 
during a tough budget fight in a Congress that equates family planning 
with abortion. But using Dr. Sadik's words that, ``population is not 
someone else'' problem; it's a global issue that needs to engage every 
country in the world,'' we won the fight and restored the U.S. 
contribution to UNFPA.
  This past year we achieved another success in Congress, when UNFPA 
was included in the budget at $25 million. But, we still have a long 
way to go. My colleagues and I are still working to restore all U.S. 
funding for international family planning programs back to its 1995 
levels. It's far below where we were in the 1980's, but it will be a 
20% increase over last year.
  This past year, we had more than 120 Members that understand the link 
between family planning and women's health. With Dr. Sadik at the helm 
of UNFPA, Congress got the message that family planning is vital to the 
fight to save women's lives.
  Be assured that we will continue Dr. Sadik's fight for women around 
the world and will work with Thoraya Obaid to keep her legacy moving 
forward.
  Dr. Sadik, thank you for your courage, your leadership, and your 
commitment to the women of this world. You are an inspiration to us all 
and we will miss your dearly.

                          ____________________