The head of the U.N. Population Fund warned on Monday that a U.S. decision to withhold 34 million U.S. dollars from her agency's budget would cost the lives of tens of thousands of poor women and children. The George W. Bush administration decided to scrap this year's payment to the U.N. agency, known by the acronym UNFPA, after accusing it of indirectly helping China force women to have abortions under Beijing's one-child policy.

But UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid insisted her agency did not support or promote abortion anywhere in the world and predicted the loss of 34 million U.S. dollars would be "devastating for women and families in the poorest countries."

Used by the UNFPA for reproductive health and family planning programs, she said, that sum would have prevented 2 million unwanted pregnancies, nearly 800,000 induced abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths, nearly 60,000 cases of serious maternal illness and more than 77,000 infant and child deaths.

"UNFPA is pro-life," Obaid told reporters, insisting the agency was working with the Chinese government "to move their policies and practices away from coercion, toward a voluntary approach that respects human rights and dignity and that is in line with international agreements."

"The services we promote reduce the incidence of abortion. Abortion rates are actually declining in the 32 counties in China where we operate," she said.

Obaid said the U.S. decision ran counter to the findings of a U.S. fact-finding mission sent to China to investigate allegations by anti-abortion activists that the UNFPA promoted abortion.

The mission recommended that the full 34 million be released to the UNFPA after finding "no evidence that UNFPA has supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China."

The State Department said Secretary of State Colin Powell had diverted the money to other family planning and reproductive health programs conducted by the U.S. government.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the world body had "made it clear that it does not go around encouraging abortions."

"Rather, it gives good advice to women on reproductive health and does good work around the world including in China," Annan said, according to chief U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard.

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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) supports developing countries, at their request, to improve access to and the quality of reproductive health care, particularly family planning, safe motherhood, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. Priorities include protecting young people, responding to emergencies, and ensuring an adequate supply of condoms and other essentials.

The Fund also promotes women's rights, and supports data collection and analysis to help countries achieve sustainable development.

About a quarter of all population assistance from donor nations to developing countries is channelled through UNFPA, which works with many government, NGO and UN partners.