Overseas development challenges in 2005: a pivotal year for European support for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

2004 WAS A YEAR OF MIXED blessings for the sexual and reproductive health world. It was the tenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and a series of national and regional civil society meetings took place, as well as a highly successful Global Roundtable (30 August--3 September, London), attended by more than 600 NGO activists. All these events were organized to review progress on the Cairo agenda and propose actions that would enable fulfillment of Cairo's grand vision.

In Europe, 2004 was a year of great change. The European Union expanded to 25 member states, there were elections to the European Parliament and a new European Commission was--eventually--empanelled. These changes have already had major implications for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). It was also a year when George W. Bush was reelected president of the United States, ushering in the likelihood of four more years of US government obstructionism in sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Important changes and events also loom in the year ahead, and Europe will play a pivotal role on the global stage. Luxembourg and then the United Kingdom will take on the rotating, six-month long presidency of the European Union. During this time the EU will decide on the future form of its development assistance and whether resources will continue to be made specifically available for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

During the UK presidency, the EU will also play an important part at the UN's five-year review of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) in New York. It is widely hoped that the EU will insist that sexual and reproductive health is recognized as a key component within the MDGS in the global strategy to combat global poverty. In fact, an international NGO campaign has been initiated to support this move.

Finally, in July the UK government will chair the next meeting of the G8--the conclave of the wealthiest industrialized countries. The UK has already announced that it wants to see HIV/AIDS as the leading issue for this meeting. NGOS working on sexual and reproductive health will do their utmost to ensure that G8 members recognize and acknowledge the need to link HIV/AIDS to sexual and reproductive health in all policies, funding actions and services.

EUROPE AS A COUNTERBALANCE TO US POLICIES

From the moment in January 2001 when George W. Bush re-imposed the "global gag rule," cutting off US funding to foreign NGOS working on abortion issues, European governments, whether individually or through the European Commission, stepped up their support for reproductive health and rights. When UNFPA and IPPF lost their US government funding, it was the Europeans who first moved in and provided funding to fill the so-called "decency gap." The European Commission, led by the Danish Development Commissioner, Poul Nielson, was central to making this happen. Europe also played a key role in combating US efforts to roll back parts of the Cairo consensus during the several regional review meetings that occurred over the year.

It was therefore no coincidence that the European Commission provided the financial support for the series of national and regional NGO meetings, as well as the London "Global Roundtable" to discuss what has been achieved and what still needs to be done on the ICPD Programme of Action. Yet even as this support was being provided, changes were taking place in Europe that have potentially serious implications for Europe's aid for sexual and reproductive health and rights in the years ahead.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE

In May 2004, ten new member states joined the European Union. A number of these, such as Poland and Malta, have strong religious traditions that are unfavorable to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Furthermore, most of the new Member States have not had a tradition of providing aid for international development and have not seen it as a foreign policy priority.

Following the expansion of the EU, elections took place in July 2004 for the European Parliament. Christian Democrats strengthened their position and the number of antichoice MEPS increased. They used their power to appoint members to key committees including Anna Zaborska, an antichoice MEP, who was elected chair of the Women's Rights Committee. (See profile, p. 21.)

Finally, the entire European Commission, which initiates Community policy and represents the general interest of the Union, was replaced. The new president of the Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso (former prime minister of Portugal) is not regarded as particularly progressive, particularly on social and cultural issues.

All these developments cause concern to supporters of sexual and reproductive health and rights, yet there is also cause for optimism. Progressive forces in the EU are very much aware of the challenges ahead and have already shown that they are prepared to vigorously defend reproductive rights. There was a strong debate before Anna Zaborska was elected chair of the Women's Rights Committee, and a proposed Commissioner, Rocco Buttiglione, (see profile, p. 30 was forced to withdraw after he revealed deeply conservative views on homosexuality and the role of women in the family. Closely linked to the Vatican, Buttiglione was also fiercely antiabortion. Sexual and reproductive health NGOS worked closely with MEPS to ensure the defeat of his nomination.

Poul Nielson has been replaced by the Belgian, Louis Michel, as commissioner for Development Cooperation. It is too soon to see how strong he will be in supporting the sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda, but his previous record is positive on the issue, and he was quick to condemn the US administration when it reinstated the gag rule in 2001.

THE CHALLENGES FOR 2005

A key concern will be how the European Union will provide development aid in the future. Under the current European Commission proposals (EU Financial Perspectives, 2007-2003), all separate budget lines for issues such as sexual and reproductive health will disappear, to be replaced by a global budget for external aid. This would give the Commission more flexibility in its funding programs, but would also mean that budget lines earmarked for specific sectors would disappear. This could be bad news for the sexual and reproductive health field, and comes at a time when the long-term effects of the gag rule are becoming more visible. The proposals will be discussed by the European Parliament and member states before being enacted, so there is time for policy dialogue and advocacy efforts to protect sexual and reproductive health and rights.

A second challenge is the proposed European Constitution. The draft Constitution provides a framework for the European Union's work and is currently with member states to ratify, through their parliaments or through referenda. Whilst the draft states that the EU institutions will maintain open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society, it also states that the EU will maintain a similar dialogue with churches. The implications for sexual and reproductive health and rights are clear, particularly in some of the new member states.

A third concern is the growing divergence between sexual and reproductive health programs on the one hand and HIV/AIDS programs on the other, whether funded by the European Commission or individual member states through their bilateral aid programs. This is not a uniquely European problem but it is of particular importance in Europe, given the number of major donors in this region. A parliamentary hearing in the UK in Apri1 2004 highlighted the fact that although a great deal of funding is being given to these two, donors are developing programs and policies that widen the gaps between the two, putting more resources into HIV/AIDS treatment and care and reducing funding for prevention and linked services.

The final challenge and opportunity is that of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS). Since 2000 the donor community has focused its aid on combating global poverty, and many governments have done this by structuring their assistance according to the eight MDGS. Equally, the MDG framework has been adopted by many developing countries as the framework for their medium term development strategies. The obvious advantage of the MDG framework is that it provides a clear and coherent approach to national resource allocation and donor support. However, it can also result in the marginalization or outright elimination of programs that are not specifically included amongst the MDGS. There is a very real danger that sexual and reproductive health programs could be so affected because the core Cairo goal of universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is absent from the Millennium Development Goals.

The absence of any mention of sexual and reproductive health or even reproductive health by the UN Secretary General in his annual report to the General Assembly in 2004 on the MDGS is among several indications that SRHR is not high on the MDG agenda. Many SRHR activists believe it is essential for Europe to show courage and leadership at the MDG review meeting in New York in September so that universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is included, either as a clear goal within the eight MDGS or as a ninth. IPPF and its member associations in Europe will strongly urge the EU delegation (led by the UK) to ensure adequate attention to SRHR at the MDG Summit.

Conservative Catholic Influence in Europe: An Investigative Series

Rocco Buttiglione, Ph.D.

The former nominee to the European Commission, Dr. Rocco Buttiglione, has used the notoriety he gained in his failed attempt to become a European Commissioner to launch a new "theo-con" organization, that will, according to Buttiglione, be a "network of ... all the people who have supported me" and will concentrate on "political and cultural initiatives." During a meeting in Milan to launch his new theological-conservative group, Buttiglione cited a new inquisition and "creeping totalitarianism" against Christian values in Europe. Buttiglione also offered himself up a "Catholic witch" to burn.

The background to Dr. Buttiglione's outburst reveals not a new inquisition, but a measured response to somebody who views were incompatible with the position for which he had been nominated.

In August 2004, Dr. Rocco Buttiglione was proposed as vice president of the European Commission and Commissioner-designate for Freedom, Security and Justice by the president of the European Commission, Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso. Following parliamentary outrage and a concerted campaign by prochoice and gay rights advocates, Buttiglione withdrew his name from consideration, but not before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs voted to oppose his nomination--the first time that a parliamentary committee rejected a nominee to the Commission--and Barroso had been forced to postpone the vote in the European Parliament so as to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

Many had expressed surprise and concern at the choice. Buttiglione, a conservative Catholic who has been described as one of "Pope John Paul II's closest friends and counselors" and "the intellectual alter ego of Pope John Paul II," has a long track record of supporting very conservative positions on HIV/AIDS, women's rights, immigrants' rights, homosexual rights and reproductive rights.

Buttiglione has long been a senior member of the ultra-conservative Catholic sect Communion and Liberation, led by Fr. Don Giussani. It was founded in the early 1970s as a conservative reaction to student unrest in Italy in 1968. Members have been called "Stalinists of God," the "Pope's Rambos" and "Wojtlya's Monks" because of their "fervent devotion to papal authority" and the group has gained tremendous influence under John Paul II. One account noted that "many of their main characteristics reflect those of Mao's Red Guards--the fanaticism, the blind obedience, the sloganeering, the personality cult around the Pope, manipulation of the media, anti-intellectualism, denunciations, the formulation of rigid ideology, a younger generation mobilized in the struggle against their elders." (Gordon Urquhart, The Pope's Armada: Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious and Powerful New Sects in the Church, Prometheus Books, 1999)

Selected Statements

* In 2001, in his first week as European Affairs minister, he called for a ban on artificial insemination and started a campaign to outlaw abortion in Italy, issues over which he had no authority.

* Dr. Buttiglione holds what he describes as "well known, traditional views" about women and marriage. During his hearing at the European Parliament (EP), he said, "The family exists in order to allow women to have children and to have the protection of a male who takes care of them. This is the traditional vision of marriage that I defend."

* During his EP hearing, Dr. Buttiglione described homosexuality as a "sin." Attacking the 2001 Gay Pride march in Milan, he said, "All are free to call me a bigot and intolerant, but I very freely define homosexual behavior as an indicator of moral disorder."

* At the Convention that worked on the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, he submitted an amendment calling for exclusion of sexual orientation as a ground for discrimination--thereby permitting the conditions to exist for discrimination against gay people. (David Gow, "MEPS reject anti-gay commission candidate," Guardian (UK), October 12, 2004)

* Dr. Buttiglione supports camps for asylum seekers and quotas for immigration into Europe. He has said that the "level of criminality" of each national group should be taken into account when fixing those quotas. He thinks that certain groups have a high level of criminality and others, "those who are Catholic and Christian," have a very low level. (Thomas Ferenczi, "With Rocco Buttiglione, a person close to the Vatican enters the commission," Le Monde, October 5, 2004)

* In 1989, at a conference on HIV/AIDS at the Vatican, he said that AIDS is "divine punishment for homosexuality and drug use." (William D. Montalbano, "AIDS conference hears papal appeal for unity," Los Angeles Times, November 16, 1989)

The above is taken from a factsheet prepared by Catholics for a Free Choice, one in the "Conservative Catholic Influence in Europe" series. It is available from www.Catholics ForChoice.org.

STEVEN W. SINDING is the Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.