US betrayal at key UN conference: Population Connection's report

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

This was the shocking and shameful statement by the United States delegation at the 58th Session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Population and Development (CPD58).

Population Connection, alongside health ministers, ambassadors, and civil society experts, participated in this major international conference at the UN Headquarters in New York from April 7-11. Read our report below.

What is the Commission on Population and Development?

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, CPD58, 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. This year’s conference theme was timely: “Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.”

Shameful hypocrisy: How the US sabotaged CPD58

“How unfortunate, then, that the Commission’s best efforts could not translate into an action-oriented outcome this year. Because let us be clear, millions of lives are on the line.”

–Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, during her closing remarks

We’re not starting this report chronologically from Day 1 because what happened on Day 5 demands to be front and center. It wasn’t just a disappointment. It was a betrayal of the conference’s very theme — and more.

Once again, the session failed to produce a consensus outcome document, and once again, it was due to a handful of regressive countries — this time joined by the United States. On the final day, the US aligned itself with — no surprise — countries like Russia, Iran, Belarus, Burundi, and Nigeria, undermining hard-fought commitments to the rights of women and girls and walking back on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Just like CPD56 in 2023, where 22 countries objected to references to comprehensive sex education, this year’s resistance followed the same shameful pattern. Several nations, emboldened by the US, objected outright to language on sexual and reproductive health and rights, claiming such terms were unacceptable for inclusion in UN documents. They also wanted the “role of the family” to be clearly stated.

There was no consensus. Again. But this time, most countries made it clear that they were deeply disappointed. Countries like Japan, France, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa, and the United Kingdom showed leadership, reaffirming their commitment to the ICPD Programme of Action and to protecting the human rights at the heart of sustainable development.

As the UK representative so powerfully put it:

“We stand at a crossroads where previously agreed principles are being questioned, and hard-won rights are being chipped away.”

And from Tunisia:

“We are not prepared to accept the erosion of agreed language that reflects hard-won international consensus, particularly in areas that are central to sustainable development, human rights, and gender equality. Attempts to walk back on the ICPD Programme of Action or reinterpret its foundations are unacceptable.”

And South Africa stepped up, delivering a cross-regional statement on behalf of 36 countries:

“We cannot allow the actions of a few to jeopardize our shared aspirations and the futures of many.”

Connecting population and the SDGs: Our oral statements

We were among a few civil society organizations invited to make an oral statement during a panel discussion on how the ICPD Programme of Action can accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how it intersects with other United Nations forums.

In our statement, we voiced deep concern over the insufficient recognition of the crucial links between population dynamics and sustainable development. This lack of integration has led to siloed policy decisions and stalled progress toward what the French delegation rightly called the “indispensable” SDGs.

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

That this statement came from a country claiming to support families, promote women’s health, and protect children “at all stages of life” is not just ironic — it’s outright dangerous. To reject the very frameworks designed to achieve these goals, while touting support for them, is hypocrisy at its worst. It’s frustrating. And it’s putting lives at risk.

“Ignoring the links across health, climate change, and inequality does not make them disappear.”

– UK delegation

“Population issues are inseparable from women’s health, including pregnancy and childbirth, and must be addressed from the perspective of protecting [sexual and reproductive health and rights].”

– Japan delegation

“Reproductive sexual rights and the right to abortion are what determine access to development for women and girls. It’s a question of public health, and it’s very urgent.”

– France delegation (which received resounding applause)

This same US administration has already slashed funding to critical health and development programs — cuts that disproportionately harm young girls and women in low-income regions. The consequences are devastating, as laid out in our second, main oral statement, delivered to the full plenary, especially in places already experiencing the highest burdens:

Health inequities, misinformation, and missed goals

Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, stated a sobering truth shared by many at CPD58: Most of the Sustainable Development Goals are off-track for 2030, particularly due to chronically low investment in health. He said:

“In wealthy countries, most health spending comes from domestic public sources. By contrast, in poorer countries, a majority of current health expenditures are paid out-of-pocket or through external aid.”

This imbalance is worsening. As Dr. Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health, warned:

“Health is increasingly undermined by misinformation, political pushback, and unprecedented aid cuts.”

We echo her warning loud and clear. As misinformation spreads and donor countries pull back their commitments, the world’s most vulnerable are left paying the price.

To the Trump administration — and others following in its footsteps — our plea is simple: Stop the misinformation, end the political resistance, and reverse the aid cuts. Lives literally depend on it.

A maternal death every two minutes — and aid cuts threaten more

The first day of CPD58 coincided with World Health Day. On this day, the World Health Organization (WHO), together with UNFPA, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the Population Division of UN DESA, released a sobering report on maternal mortality trends.

While global maternal deaths have decreased by 40% between 2000 and 2023, they remain unacceptably high: A woman still dies every two minutes due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth.

Dr. Werner Obermeyer, the Director of WHO, stressed the urgent need to explicitly connect sexual and reproductive health to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed this call, advocating for greater investment in modern contraception and family planning.

Dr. Allotey pinpointed the real issue:

“A critical part of avoiding maternal deaths is the prevention of unintended pregnancies.”

And it’s not just about access to services — it’s about agency. Women and girls need the power to make choices about their bodies and futures.

As we said in our oral statement, the consequences of US aid cuts are already being felt. According to the Guttmacher Institute, every single day without US funding means 130,390 women lose access to contraception. Over the course of a year, this could result in 17.1 million additional unintended pregnancies and 34,000 preventable pregnancy-related deaths, most of which will occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

Many countries in that region remain committed to the ICPD Programme of Action but are indeed deeply concerned about the growing funding gap that threatens years of progress. According to Florence Hagan, Acting Executive Director of the National Population Council of Ghana:

“Ghana is working to cushion the impact through domestic resource mobilization, but global solidarity remains essential.”

A conference of contrasts: Urgency and optimism

Despite the final-day disappointment, CPD58 offered many bright spots. The opening was filled with energy and hope, as Katja Lasseur, Chair of CPD58, celebrated the involvement of:

• Over 120 Member States and observers
• Nearly 50 NGOs
• More than 30 official side events, including our own

We attended sessions on pressing issues like pronatalism and menstrual health and held meaningful conversations with delegations from Zambia, Namibia, Ireland, and other like-minded governments and NGOs.

Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, set the tone early:

“We must act—and our actions must not be postponed.”

She followed with an urgent reminder of what’s at stake:

“We will not rest until everyone can make their own choices about whether and when to have children. Until no woman dies while pregnant or giving birth. Until every girl can stay in school and out of marriage.”

Although consensus was blocked once again — by the United States and others — Dr. Kanem offered a message of resilience:

“The march forward for equal rights will continue until every woman and girl everywhere lives free and equal in dignity and rights.”

At Population Connection, we’re proud to be part of that march. And we’re not stopping.

As poet Warsan Shire so perfectly captured (as quoted by Dr. Kanem), the pain of inequality and injustice is felt across every border:

i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.

As US international cooperation and support wanes, countless people and places are hurting. We reject and denounce the current US position as heartily as the Trump administration rejects and denounces the SDGs. The difference is that we’ve got the whole world on our side.