Geneva Consensus Declaration
{{short description|Anti-abortion declaration}}
The Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family is an anti-abortion international document created in 2020 and signed at that time by about 30 governments. The declaration "defends the unborn and reiterates the vital importance of the family." There are 40 signatories {{asof|2025|lc=y}}.https://www.theiwh.org/the-gcd/
It was initially cosponsored in 2020 by Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Uganda, and the United States.{{Cite web |last= |date=December 2, 2020 |title=Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family |url=https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n20/344/30/pdf/n2034430.pdf |website=United Nations General Assembly}} Brazil eventually withdrew from the document and Guatemala was added as a cosponsor.{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family |url=https://www.theiwh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GCD-Updated-2024_7122024.pdf}}{{Cite web |date=January 17, 2023 |title=Brazil's withdrawal from the Geneva Consensus - Joint Note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women, and the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship |url=https://www.gov.br/mre/en/contact-us/press-area/press-releases/brazils-withdrawal-from-the-geneva-consensus-joint-note-from-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-the-ministry-of-health-the-ministry-of-women-and-the-ministry-of-human-rights-and-citizenship}}{{Cite web |date=October 14, 2021 |title=Guatemala Joins the Geneva Consensus. 35 Countries Have Already Signed It |url=https://politicalnetworkforvalues.org/en/2021/10/guatemala-joins-the-geneva-consensus-35-countries-have-already-signed-it/}} Representatives from 34 countries signed the document on October 22, 2020. Burundi and Chad are among the most recent signatories.{{Cite news |last=Correnti |first=Lisa |date=September 12, 2024 |title=Burundi and Chad Join the Geneva Consensus Declaration |url=https://c-fam.org/friday_fax/burundi-and-chad-join-the-geneva-consensus-declaration/ |work=Center for Family and Human Rights}}
Document and history
Initiated by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the document is not related to the United Nations' Geneva Consensus Foundation or to other Geneva-based institutions and was not signed in Geneva due to COVID-19 restrictions.{{Cite web |last1=Southern |first1=Nathan Paul |last2=Kennedy |first2=Lindsey |date=20 January 2021 |title=Trump's Legacy Is a Global Alliance Against Women's Rights |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/20/trump-anti-abortion-global-alliance-legacy/ |access-date=26 January 2021 |work=Foreign Policy}} Described as "Pompeo's project", the declaration was submitted by U.S. ambassador Kelly Craft to the UN General Assembly under agenda item 131 for December 2020.{{cn|date=February 2021}} While reaffirming the vital role women play in families and pregnancy, it also supports women’s rights and participation in political affairs and prioritizes “equal access to quality education, economic resources, and political participation as well as equal opportunities with men and boys for employment, leadership and decision-making at all levels.” Protection for the inherent value of every human life, the family unit, “complete physical, mental and social well-being,” and holistic, specialized healthcare key components of the document.
A commitment to prevent access to abortion, where that is the position of a nation's law, is central to the declaration. The persons signing the statement "[r]eaffirm [inter alia] that there is no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of States to finance or facilitate abortion, consistent with the long-standing international consensus that each nation has the sovereign right to implement programs and activities consistent with their laws and policies ... ." Rather, the Declaration specifies the United Nations should therefore respect national laws and policies on abortion.{{Cite web|url=http://usun.usmission.gov/geneva-consensus-declaration-on-promoting-womens-health-and-strengthening-the-family/|title=Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family|date=December 2, 2020|website=United States Mission to the United Nations}}
Withdrawals
On January 28, 2021, U.S. president Joe Biden removed the United States from the declaration.{{cite web|last=Biden|first=Joseph R|author-link=Joe Biden|date=January 28, 2021|title=Memorandum on Protecting Women's Health at Home and Abroad|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/28/memorandum-on-protecting-womens-health-at-home-and-abroad/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120122121/https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/28/memorandum-on-protecting-womens-health-at-home-and-abroad/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2025-01-20|website=Internet Archive - The White House}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55844717 |title=Biden reverses global abortion "gag rule" and expands Obamacare|date=January 28, 2021|website=BBC News}} President Biden continued to encourage other states, such as Burkina Faso and Benin, to withdraw as well.{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2023 |title=Grothman & Subcommittee Republicans Urge Biden Administration to Rejoin Geneva Consensus Declaration |url=https://oversight.house.gov/release/grothman-subcommittee-republicans-urge-biden-administration-to-rejoin-geneva-consensus-declaration%EF%BF%BC/ |website=Committee on Oversight and Accountability}} These nations permit abortion only in certain circumstances. These decisions prompted U.S. lawmakers to express concern for the new administration's preservations of families and individual well-being. On January 24, 2025, Marco Rubio announced the United States' intention under the second presidency of Donald Trump to rejoin the Geneva Consensus Declaration.{{Cite web |title=United States Renewed Membership in the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family |url=https://www.state.gov/united-states-renewed-membership-in-the-geneva-consensus-declaration-on-promoting-womens-health-and-strengthening-the-family/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=United States Department of State |language=en}} On January 27, Dorothy Fink, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced that the U.S. had rejoined the declaration.
The declaration was signed by Iván Duque of Colombia, but was withdrawn by Gustavo Petro shortly after taking office as president.{{Cite web |last=Vacía |first=La Silla |title=Petro se retira del "Consenso de Ginebra", que lucha contra el aborto |url=http://www.lasillavacia.com/la-silla-vacia/envivo/petro-se-retira-del-consenso-de-ginebra-que-lucha-contra-el-aborto |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=www.lasillavacia.com |language=es}} On January 17, 2023, Brazil president Lula da Silva removed Brazil from the declaration.{{cite web|last=Silva |first=Lula |author-link=Lula da Silva |date=January 17, 2023|title=Desligamento do Brasil do Consenso de Genebra – Nota Conjunta do Ministério das Relações Exteriores, do Ministério da Saúde, do Ministério das Mulheres e do Ministério dos Direitos Humanos e da Cidadania|url=https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/canais_atendimento/imprensa/notas-a-imprensa/desligamento-do-brasil-do-consenso-de-genebra |website=Ministério das Relações Exteriores}}
Original signatories
The declaration was signed by unspecified "ministers and high representatives of Governments" from the Bahrain, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, The Gambia, Georgia, Haiti, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Nauru, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Zambia.{{Cite web|url=https://undocs.org/en/A/75/626|title=A/75/626 - E - A/75/626 -Desktop|website=undocs.org}} As the signatories were unspecified, there is no evidence that the signatories were empowered to bind any country.{{Cite web|url=https://undocs.org/en/A/75/626|title=A/75/626 - E - A/75/626 -Desktop|website=undocs.org}}
Criticism
Many have noted the document's position as a statement primarily against the right to an abortion. Egyptian NGO Nazra for Feminist Studies described the declaration as "an international attack on women, gender, and sexuality", and Amnesty International USA said the signatories were "willingly endangering people's health and lives".{{Cite web|date=22 October 2020|title=New Declaration Tramples on Every Person's Right to Choose|url=https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/geneva-consensus-declaration-tramples-on-every-persons-right-to-choose/|access-date=26 January 2021|work=Amnesty International USA}} Critics have accused the signatories of being motivated by a desire to undermine established international institutions, though the document's stated purpose emphasizes the preservation of national sovereignty in deciding a state's own public health policies. The push for sovereign rights comes amidst increased global pressure to support an international right to abortion.
Many note that most of the signatories come from illiberal, authoritarian, or autocratic governments.{{Cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=October 22, 2020 |title=US signs anti-abortion declaration with group of largely authoritarian governments |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/22/us-trump-administration-signs-anti-abortion-declaration |newspaper=The Guardian}} Additionally, the signatory governments predominantly subscribe to more religious viewpoints.{{Cite news |author=Berger |first=M |date=22 October 2020 |title=U.S. signs international declaration challenging right to abortion and upholding 'role of the family' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/22/trump-geneva-consensus-abortion-family/ |access-date=26 January 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://undocs.org/en/A/75/626 Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family as filed with the United Nations]
Category:Human rights instruments