U.N. Population Fund

Re “Bush Proposes Major Boost in Development Aid,” March 15:

President Bush is to be lauded for wanting to increase development aid to poor countries by $5 billion. However, development without population stabilization and sustainable use of resources is meaningless. He is to be castigated for using his “ax of evil” in chopping off our country’s contribution to the United Nations Population Fund, which offers family planning and reproductive health care, battles transmission of HIV and monitors violence against women and children, particularly in refugee camps in areas of conflict. This move was brainlessly political and is not helping our reputation among our allies or in the world’s poorest countries.

Jane Roberts

Redlands