It is April 2025, and the global health equivalent of a high-stakes family reunion took place in New York. The 58th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD58) rolls into town with a theme that’s basically a warm hug in policy-speak: “Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.” Sounds lovely, right?

But instead of progress, what we got was a week of tense side-eyes, passive-aggressive posturing, and, spoiler alert (although no surprise to us) no final agreement. Nada. Zilch. Not even a polite group text to say, “We tried.” Just vibes and unresolved issues.

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Unsurprisingly, The Saboteurs Arrived Early

Let us not pretend we did not see the drama coming. A tiny but vocal squad of states showed up like it was 1825 instead of 2025. Their mission? Derail any mention of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), undermine decades of international consensus, and throw a wrench into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Apparently, some folks think bodily autonomy is a “controversial topic” in the 21st century.

Meanwhile, the majority of countries, let us call them The Global Grown-Ups, spent the week fending off this policy sabotage like it was a game of international dodgeball. They showed up with data, decency, and decades of global agreements in hand. They held the line, but the outcome? No official resolution. Translation: It was like planning a rescue mission, only for someone to light the map on fire because they “did not like the direction”, so now we are all stuck in the wilderness arguing about the definition of north.

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This Was Not Just Bureaucratic Bickering

This was a full-on attempt to erase language around gender and SRHR from global commitments, language that has been negotiated, agreed upon, and enshrined for over three decades. The ICPD Programme of Action? Ignored like an unread group chat. The lived experiences of millions of women and girls? Treated like an optional footnote.

Imagine being in a room meant to champion health and well-being, and watching it get taken over by folks more interested in controlling bodies than saving lives…

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Healthy Lives for All… But Not Too Healthy, Apparently

We are, let us not forget, in the middle of global health crises. From the legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic and maternal mortality to adolescent access to healthcare, the world needed real solutions… and fast. But instead of coming together to, we don’t know, ensure people don’t die unnecessarily, the session got stuck in a never-ending loop of “let’s debate whether women and girls should have rights.”

At this point, the word “consensus” at the UN is starting to feel like that one friend who always promises to show up and never does.

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The Resistance Is Loud (And Fabulous)

But do not despair, dear reader. While the official outcome fizzled out like a damp firework, the resistance was anything but quiet. Civil society, young people, feminist organisations, and a majority of governments came in swinging loud, proud, and not about to let decades of progress get torched by a handful of regressive regimes.

They showed up, they pushed forward, and they made sure the final notes of CPD58 were not written in silence, but in defiance.

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So… What Now?

CPD58 felt like a CSW69 hangover. If CPD58 taught us anything, it is that, as with many other processes, multilateralism might be messy, but silence is worse. We need more people to stop pretending that human rights are up for negotiation.

The fight continues, the rights-centric movement is beating, and the message is loud and clear.

You can ghost the resolution but you will hear from us again.

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