A historic launch of a new pro-life, pro-family partnership between 32 countries was celebrated this morning in Washington DC with senior government officials from every region of the world.
The ceremony hosted virtually by the U.S. and presided over by U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Human Health and Services Secretary Alex M. Azar included the virtual signing of a landmark document called the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family.
This unprecedented Consensus commits cosigning countries to work cooperatively to advance the following four pillars:
The cosponsoring governments that led this important initiative were Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Uganda, and the U.S., with other supporting countries that also signed on representing every region of the world.
Below we have listed the co-signing countries and highlighted for you key excerpts from some of the powerful government statements that were given. You can watch the proceedings of the event here.
Surely the launch of this coalition today marks a turning point in international global policies, and we commend the 32 countries that have committed to protect life and family in future UN negotiations.
We would strongly encourage citizens of all the countries who have not yet joined, to urge their governments join the Geneva Consensus Declaration as well.
Bahrain, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Djbouti, Egypt, Eswatini, The Gambia, Haiti, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Nauru, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, United States and Zambia
U.S. Human Health and Services Secretary Alex M. Azar:
“The Geneva consensus declaration is an historic document stating clearly where we as nations stand on women’s health, the family, honoring life, and defending national sovereignty. The declaration is much more than a statement of beliefs. It is a critical and useful tool to defend these principles across all United Nations bodies and at every multilateral setting, using language previously agreed to by Member States of those bodies.”
“With increasing frequency, some rich nations and UN agencies beholden to them are wrongly asserting abortion as a universal human right. These efforts pressure countries to institute progressive abortion laws or risk losing global funding or standing in international fora. Tragically women around the world, unnecessarily suffer health challenges, all too often, deadly health challenges, while too many wealthy nations and international institutions put a myopic focus on a radical agenda that is offensive to many cultures and derails agreement on women’s health priorities.”
“Today we put down a clear marker. No longer can UN agencies reinterpret and misinterpret agreed upon language without accountability. Member States set the policy for the UN to pursue–not the other way around. Without apology, we affirm that governments have the sovereign right to make their own laws to protect innocent life and write their regulations on abortion.”
“Our coalition will hold multilateral organizations accountable. We will denounce these organizations when they overstep their mandates by promoting positions that can never gain consensus. We will unequivocally declare that there is no international right to abortion. We will proudly put women’s health first at every stage of life.”
“Today we commit to work together until we accomplish each of our shared goals–for women and girls, for families, for life in all stages of development, and the sovereignty of each of our nations.”
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo:
“In front of world leaders at the 2019 United Nations General Assembly, President Trump said, ‘We in America believe that every child born and unborn is a sacred gift from God.’ During our administration U.S. taxpayer dollars will never go to foreign non-governmental organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.”
“At its very core, the declaration protects women’s health, defends the unborn and reiterates the vital importance of the family as the foundation of society. The declaration restates that there is no international right to an abortion.”
“Together, we represent every major religion of the world. It’s a group of countries that respects life, and the U.S. is proud to stand with each and every one of them. By signing this declaration today, we’re doing more than just signing on, agreeing on the importance of these issues, we are making a commitment to work together at the United Nations and in other international settings to achieve tangible results.”
