Last week, Secretary of State Clinton gave a major policy speech on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), one of the foundational events of the international reproductive rights movement.  The conference resulted in the Cairo Programme of Action, in which delegate countries pledged to reach certain goals on universal education, reduction of infant and child mortality, reduction of maternal mortality, and access to reproductive and sexual health services by 2015. 

The United States was one of the leading supporters of the Programme of Action under the Clinton administration in the 1990s.  However, under the administration of George W. Bush, the United States reneged on its support, pulling funding from UNFPA, instituting the Global Gag Rule and stagnating funding for international family planning services. 

This is all set to change under the Obama administration.  Secretary Clinton's speech laid out the administration's plan to make reproductive health and women's empowerment a central part of its foreign assistance.  This policy includes increased funding for UNFPA as well as an additional $648 million in foreign assistance to reproductive health and family planning programs around the world.  Equally important, Clinton announced that the United States will now be taking an integrated approach to reproductive health through its Global Health Initiative.  This program pledges $63 billion over six years to address interrelated health issues together - particularly reproductive health issues such as maternal and child health, family planning and HIV prevention and treatment.  This is a welcome approach, particularly since the United States' international programming on HIV/AIDS has been criticized for diverting resources from other health programs.  The integration of services will allow resources to be better used to address a range of health issues, and will facilitate women's access to the services they need.  This is an important step forward in achieving the goals of the ICPD Programme of Action.