The United States will take the lead in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an international agreement aimed at promoting women's health, strengthening families, and affirming the protection of human life. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on August 12, 2026, that the U.S. will serve as the secretariat for the declaration, which will be managed by the Office of Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Rubio and Kennedy acknowledged Hungary for its management of the declaration after the U.S. withdrew from it under former President Joe Biden. The Geneva Consensus Declaration was originally adopted in 2020 during the Trump administration and was signed by representatives from 34 countries. It explicitly opposes the treatment of abortion as a method of family planning, stating that abortion policy should be determined at the national or local level.
The declaration emphasizes women's roles in families and society while affirming their rights to education, economic resources, political participation, and healthcare. The U.S. was an original cosponsor of the declaration, which currently has 39 signatories, including recent additions Burundi and Chad. Critics have raised concerns about the nature of some signatory governments, which include authoritarian regimes such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia.