Special report: Population Connection at CPD58

Population Connection, alongside health ministers, ambassadors, and other civil society experts with consultative status, attended the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD58) in April in New York City.

CPD’s primary role is to monitor, review, and assess the implementation of the Programme of Action that came out of the landmark 1994 International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, Egypt. Commonly known as the Cairo Consensus, the Programme of Action puts women’s empowerment and reproductive health and rights at the center of development efforts.

Population Connection began participating in UN conferences and other events in 2024 to try to encourage policymakers to recognize the vital links between population, social justice, and the environment, and to adopt holistic, empowering solutions.

At this year’s session, we delivered two oral statements and a written statement. We also hosted an official virtual side event featuring our friends at Population Media Center and Women for Conservation.

The US delegation issued a shocking and shameful statement on the final day of the event:

“The United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and will no longer reaffirm the SDGs as a matter of course.”

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a vision for peace and prosperity for people and the planet — they include ending hunger and poverty, improving health and gender equality, and protecting nature. The fact that the world’s richest and most powerful country publicly denounced these morally essential and indisputably beneficial goals is deeply alarming, and reflects the Trump administration’s outright hostility toward human rights and the environment.

At CPD58, the US chose to align itself with countries like Russia, Iran, Belarus, Burundi, and Nigeria, rejecting and undermining hard-fought commitments to the rights of women. As a result, the conference’s concluding session failed to produce a consensus — a sad and frustrating outcome.

Population Connection will continue our fight for human rights and the environment — stay tuned for more reports on our UN involvement.

European aid cuts follow US ones, dealing further blow to world’s poorest

Amid struggling economies and growing nationalism, many European countries are slashing their aid budgets and redirecting funding toward defense and domestic priorities.

In February, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to reduce the UK’s foreign aid budget from 0.5% of the country’s gross national income (GNI) to 0.3% by 2027 — its lowest level in 25 years.

Germany, the largest donor in the EU, which spent 0.67% of its GNI on official development assistance (ODA) in 2024, is also planning to cut its aid budget under the next coalition government, according to a document leaked in March. The German government had already reduced its foreign aid in both 2024 and 2023.

Also earlier this year, the French government approved a spending bill that cuts ODA by 37%, its largest reduction in a decade, while the Netherlands announced it would decrease ODA from its 2024 level of 0.62% of GNI to 0.44% in 2029.

These losses are not as extreme as the US ones — even though the US spent only 0.22% of its GNI on overseas aid in 2024, this still represented by far the biggest total amount, at over $60 billion. Nevertheless, further aid reductions compound an already devastating situation, with millions of the most vulnerable people being cut off from life-saving support as well as essential health and education programs. This blow to developing countries threatens peace and security at a global scale by exacerbating poverty, conflict, and mass displacement.

Protective states key to helping Americans access abortion care

Data revealed by the Guttmacher Institute in April shows that amid ongoing abortion bans in many states, in 2024, there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions in US states that don’t have total bans — a small increase of less than 1% from 2023.

Approximately 155,000 people traveled to a different state for an abortion, representing 15% of all abortions in states without total bans. While this is a slight decline from 16% in 2023, it is still close to double the number of people who crossed state lines for abortion care in 2020.

The share of abortions in states without total bans provided via online-only clinics rose to 14% in 2024, up from 10% in 2023. Guttmacher notes that the national figure is likely higher, as the 14% does not include people in states with total bans receiving telehealth services under shield law protections.

The states with the highest number of abortions provided to out-of-state residents were the same four as in 2023 (all bordered by states with full bans): Illinois, North Carolina, Kansas, and New Mexico. These and other states with protective laws will play an increasingly important role in helping people access abortion care as policymakers in hostile states double down on their efforts to curtail reproductive rights.

China and US biggest plastic polluters

A study published in April reveals the world has made little progress on plastic waste management. In 2022, 268 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic waste were generated globally, with China accounting for the largest share (30%), followed by the US (15%). Of those 268 Mt, only 38 Mt were recycled.

That same year, the US had the highest plastics consumption per capita of any country.

The study notes that based on current trends, global demand for plastics is projected to double by 2050, which has severe implications for the environment and human health.

Olivia Nater, onater@popconnect.org