In late October 2020, less than two weeks before former President Donald Trump was voted out of office, his administration hosted a virtual ceremony at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. Two members of Trump’s Cabinet were present — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar — and they were joined online by ministers from Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, and Uganda.
Like so much that year, the ceremony was a poor substitute for something that should have happened in person, if not for a raging pandemic. It was originally meant to take place months earlier alongside the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, but the summit had been postponed. That explained why they were gathered for a virtual event in Washington, D.C., to sign something called the “Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family,” or GCD. Azar and Pompeo sat on stage, awkwardly distanced from each other and wearing protective masks — Pompeo’s mask was striped red, white, and blue and spackled with silver stars.
First to take the podium was not a Cabinet secretary, but Valerie Huber, the U.S. special representative for global women's health — a new position created for her in the Trump administration. The GCD was Huber’s signature project, and this was its long-awaited debut.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
