Huber, who served as U.S. special representative for global women’s health during Trump’s first administration, helped establish the Geneva Consensus Declaration in 2020 alongside Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda.

Huber grew the coalition out of her experience working with developing countries that wanted to improve health outcomes, arguing these countries faced pressure to adopt policies on social issues in exchange for foreign aid. 

Huber approached countries that were applying said pressure and proposed a compromise: nations could work together on improving women’s health while allowing individual governments to determine their own policies. When that approach failed to gain support, she turned to countries facing the pressure directly.

Leaders in developing countries, she said, were effectively being asked to choose between accepting assistance their populations needed and maintaining policies consistent with their own values.

The result was the Geneva Consensus Declaration, a nonbinding political declaration built around four principles: promoting women’s health, protecting human life, recognizing the family as foundational to society, and affirming the sovereign right of nations to determine their own laws and policies.

The declaration does not require its signatories to change their laws. But Huber argues its value lies in creating a collective diplomatic position that can challenge claims of international consensus on issues such as abortion.

For Huber, the GCD’s significance extends beyond multilateral negotiations at the United Nations and other international organizations. She argues that its ultimate test is whether countries can use the coalition to develop policies they own rather than policies imposed from abroad.

“If something is forced on a country, they may do it under duress,” Huber said. “But if they don’t take ownership for it, it’s going to end the moment that pressure leaves.”

The Biden administration withdrew the U.S. from the declaration shortly after taking office, leaving Hungary to take up the mantle of leadership. The Biden administration said it was “concerned that the Geneva Consensus Declaration undermines UN multilateral efforts to advance gender equality.”

Others, such as nongovernmental organization Doctors Without Borders, criticized the declaration for distorting “the meaning of international agreements on health and human rights in support of this position to rationalize restrictions on patient-centered sexual and reproductive health services.” 

The GCD is explicit about its position on abortion. “In no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning,” it says. It also maintains that abortion policy should be determined at the national or local level through each country’s legislative process. 

Huber, meanwhile, argued that during the Biden administration, U.S. foreign policy and assistance had become ideological even in areas that traditionally would not have been viewed as partisan or culturally contentious.

Critics have also noted that some signatories include highly restrictive governments, such as Iraq, South Sudan, and Saudi Arabia.

Huber acknowledged that tension but rejected the idea that membership in the coalition constitutes an endorsement of every policy of every member government.

“There is always a tension between sovereignty and human rights,” she said. “And the GCD is designed to address both.”

The question of sovereignty has become increasingly central to the Trump administration’s broader foreign policy agenda, including its efforts to restructure foreign assistance and reconsider the U.S. relationship with international organizations.

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For Huber, that is ultimately the promise of the Geneva Consensus Declaration. Its durability, she argues, should not depend on one American president or political party.

“It can’t end when President Trump turns off the lights in the Oval Office,” she said. “It needs to be built to endure.”