This publication is aimed to guide national and regional NCD advocates to engage with regional and global advocacy, to explore the benefits associated, and opportunities and mechanisms for doing so with focus on relevant multilateral organisations and their governance and decision-making spaces/bodies/processes.
Over the last two decades, global action to combat NCDs has been accelerated by a series of political commitments, such as the 2011 and 2018 United Nations (UN) Political Declarations on NCD Prevention and Control, the World Health Organization (WHO) Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020 (and its expansion to 2030 to align with the 2030 Agenda), and the NCD Global Monitoring Framework.” NCDs also were included as a target in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted at the 70th United Nations General Assembly in 2015 and prioritizes health as a key factor in promoting and ensuring sustainable social, economic, and environmental development.
The global agenda to address NCDs is pushed forward every year by several UN and WHO governing bodies, as well as other decision-making and discussion fora of relevant multilateral organizations, allowing for varying degrees of civil society participation in these spaces. This publication will serve as an advocacy guide for national and regional NCD advocates interested in engaging in regional and global advocacy, as well as exploring the benefits of doing so and the opportunities and mechanisms for doing so. It will concentrate on relevant multilateral organizations, their governance, and decision-making spaces/bodies/processes, specifically the United Nations and the World Health Organization. This advocacy guide will also show, through case studies and interviews with key NCD civil society advocates, what lessons have been learned, examples, and opportunities for engagement in such fora, and how they can be leveraged.