FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Institute for Women’s Health congratulates the United States and thanks Hungary and Brazil for growing and sustaining the coalition, now 42 nations representing about 2 billion people
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 12, 2026). The Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD) began in 2020 as an act of coordination among six nations, co-sponsored by Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Uganda, and the United States. Launched under President Trump’s first Administration, the signing ceremony was jointly held by U.S. Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II. It marked the start of a historic coalition that today numbers 42 nations representing about 2 billion people.
U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the same two departments that launched the Declaration in 2020, announced today in a joint statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. that the Secretariat returns to the United States and will be housed in the Office of Global Affairs at HHS. The joint statement is available at state.gov.
Statement from Valerie Huber, Founder, President, and CEO of The Institute for Women’s Health:
“When this began, there were six of us. President Trump made the Geneva Consensus Declaration possible, and I was given the honor of negotiating its founding on his behalf. Today it stands at 42 nations.”
“Congratulations to the United States on assuming the Secretariat. State and HHS launched this together in 2020. They carry it together now. This coalition has grown into one of the most consequential expressions of shared values among nations, values lived out in national law, in health systems, in classrooms, and in families, and defended together as a coalition. With 42 nations behind it, this coalition is positioned to do more than defend those values. It is positioned to accelerate their advance.”
“Thank you to Brazil, which took up the Secretariat in 2021, and to Hungary, which carried it from 2022. They sustained this coalition through a difficult time, when the pressure to abandon it was real and constant. The GCD stands as strong as it does today in significant part because they held the line. And so did the signatory nations themselves, in their own capitals, in their own laws, and in their own delegations. The GCD belongs to all of them.”
“The GCD affirms what should never have been controversial: that there is no international right to abortion, that every woman deserves the highest attainable standard of health, and that the family is the fundamental unit of society.”
“The Institute for Women’s Health has steadily supported the growth of this coalition, working with nations around the world to welcome new signatories, and helping governments translate the Declaration’s principles into research-based policy and practice. We look forward to continuing that work, and to marking the sixth anniversary of the Geneva Consensus Declaration in September.”
IWH will host and U.S. Members of Congress will co-chair the Sixth Annual Geneva Consensus Declaration Commemoration in September 2026, on Capitol Hill, bringing together Members of Congress and more than 40 nations representing every region of the world.
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About The Institute for Women’s Health
The Institute for Women’s Health is a Washington, D.C.-based organization advancing the optimal health of women and girls worldwide through Protego, a research-based policy, health, education, and diplomacy model. IWH has supported the growth of the Geneva Consensus Declaration membership since 2021.
Valerie Huber is Founder, President, and CEO of The Institute for Women’s Health and served as U.S. Special Representative for Global Women’s Health during the first Trump Administration.
MEDIA INQUIRIES: IWH Media Team | press@theiwh.org | (202) 627-6720 | www.theiwh.org
