PERU's President Alberto Fujimori has arrived for the last few days of the UN World Conference on Women to back the lobby against the Vatican's opposition to contraception.
Mr Fujimori made the trip to Beijing despite opposition from his largely Catholic population for his more liberal views on family planning and women's health.
'It's a delicate issue in my country and the Catholic hierarchy has support among the public,' he said.
But family planning was important and he hoped the conference would help the people of Latin America.
He is currently working to break the stronghold the Vatican has over the 250 million Catholics there. His presence has been welcomed by many at the conference, where the Vatican appears to be losing a battle over reproductive health rights.
The language in Platform for Action, the document now being debated at the conference, will not be binding on governments, but Mr Fujimori hopes it will be influential in his part of the world and he says leaders should give it their support.
'As the head of state in a developing country, I think I must show solidarity for the work of the women at the conference,' he said.