Building momentum to advance NCD Care and UHC towards the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Care

Representatives of RTCCD Vietnam had a great time learning and sharing about non-communicable diseases (NCD) care and universal health coverage (UHC) at a conference happening from July 11 to July 13 in New York City. They provided locally informed inputs in preparation for the upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on UHC.

The workshop was organized by NCDA under the initiative of NCD Advocacy Institute Accelerator Programme, an NCD Alliance multi-year programme that supports established national NCD alliances to conduct locally driven advocacy campaigns to accelerate NCD action.

The workshop focused on preparation for the second UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Universal Health Coverage taking place in September 2023. The event will provide participants with an opportunity to accelerate policy development and implementation, enabling the progressive achievement of UHC. This meeting also gives advocacy groups a chance to engage people living with NCDs in the conversation to keep UHC people-centered. The UN conference represents a global milestone for civil society actors as they call for the need to invest in and to accelerate prevention and control of NCDs action.

Ten NCD alliances from Cameroon, Mexico, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana, Kenya, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India participated in the workshop. The organizations discussed the current state of NCD Care and Universal Health Coverage in their respective countries, shared experiences and best practices regarding NCDs and UHC, as well as strategized to coordinate efforts over the next months.

Workshop Objectives

The workshop focused on working towards the following objectives:

• To increase the NCD alliances’ knowledge of UN bodies and fora as central global engagement and advocacy platforms;
• To outline the global NCD policy landscape including key processes and milestones in the lead-up to the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on UHC (including the 2023 UHC Political Declaration development process);
• To understand civil society entry points for NCD advocacy at all levels.
• To strengthen relationships between the alliances and their respective UN country missions by facilitating bilateral meetings focused on discussing national NCD situations and sharing advocacy priorities for the HLM;
• To foster knowledge exchange and experience-sharing between advocates regarding national contexts, to advance advocacy and coalition-building efforts, and to encourage strategic coordination for effective collective advocacy, linking national and global levels in the lead-up to the HLM.

The workshop consisted of 8 sessions held in an interactive format with presentations by trainers, alliances, and invited guests, combined with guided discussions and other group exercises.

DAY 1 (Tue, July 11, 2023)

Session 1: NCDs in the global agenda: progress, milestones, key opportunities

The session’s agenda:

• To provide a snapshot of the global NCD policy landscape, sharing key processes and milestones in the lead-up to the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on UHC and the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs;
• To increase alliances’ knowledge and understanding of the global NCD agendas, incentivizing greater national advocacy and identifying opportunities for civil society;
• To explore how to coordinate and maximize linkages between national-level advocacy and global advocacy to enable strong, collective advocacy in the lead-up to the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs;
• To increase knowledge of global and regional discussions and opportunities to advocate for NCDs.

Mrs. Cristna Parsons Perez, NCDA Capacity Development Director, discussed the global progress and milestones in addressing NCDs

Group discussions and report back: Reflections on progress at the national level and its alignment with regional and global agendas

Session 2: Navigating UN structure and processes

The session’s agenda:

• To increase participants’ knowledge and understanding of the global governance of NCDs,
  particularly through and within the UN infrastructure and relevant bodies, mechanisms, and processes;
• To explore and discuss entry points and concrete opportunities for civil society advocacy at national, regional, and global levels in the current landscape;
• To increase alliances’ capacity to navigate UN processes through engaging with country missions and other high-level political targets, linking national and global level advocacy together.

Mrs. Marijke Kremin, NCDA Policy & Advocacy Manager, introduced the Global Governance of NCDs and discussed UN advocacy efforts including High-Level Meetings and recommendations for civil society engagement

Guided group discussions: Experience within UN mechanisms and processes, lessons learned, recommendations

NCD Malaysia General Secretary Mrs. Mandy Thoo talked about NCD Malaysia’s experience with the Sustainable Development Goals voluntary national review (SDG VNR) process

Session 3: Preparations for the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage

The session’s agenda:

• To take stock of the current UHC advocacy landscape and progress made since the 2019 HLM;
• To outline current advocacy towards the 2023 HLM, including NCDA key advocacy priorities, the drafted political declaration, and the ongoing negotiations aiming to link national strategy goals to the global NCD Alliance advocacy strategy;
• To provide an overview of the tools and resources that can be used for advocacy in preparation for the UHC HLM and GW4A;
• To plan and discuss how the alliances can follow up on commitments made around the UHC HLM at the national level.

Two NCDA representatives, Policy & Advocacy Manager Marijke Kremin and Senior Capacity Development Officer Linda Senk Markova, discussed deep diving into the 2023 UNHLM on UHC, advocacy priorities, and engagement opportunities.

Group discussions:

• Expected outcomes and impact of the HLM on UHC at the national level
• Advocacy efforts planning towards specific target audiences

Preparation for meetings with the permanent country missions to the UN

• Experience sharing from a national NCD Alliance
• Preparation time

DAY 2 (Wed, July 12, 2023)

Session 4: Building partnerships for effectve UHC Advocacy

The session’s agenda:

• To introduce the advocates to the work of CSEM for UHC2030, with specific reference to the engagement around the HLM at the upcoming UHC2030, including available resources and tools to be used by national advocates;
• To explore possible entry points for NCD civil society to get involved with CSEM for
  UHC2030;
• To learn about country consultations that took place in 2021 and 2022 through the
  direct experience of Malawi NCD Alliance.

Mrs. Amy Boldosser-Boesch is Senior Director and Practice Area Lead for Health Policy, Advocacy & Engagement and Integrated Health Care at Management Sciences for Health. Boldosser-Boesch presented about the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (CSEM), discussed opportunities for national civil society, and talked about engagement up to date in the lead-up to the High-Level Meeting on UHC.

Guided plenary discussion: The importance of building coalitions for advancing UHC advocacy

Session 5: Prioritising NCD financing to deliver adequate UHC health services

The session’s agenda:

• To provide an overview of the current global landscape on NCD financing, financing
  mechanisms and processes to leverage in the lead-up to the HLM UHC and beyond;
• To discuss the civil society’s role in making the case for further and adequate investment to NCDs care at the national level to achieve UHC;
• To explore possible entry points for civil society to make the case for NCD financing
  solutions relevant to the national context.

To begin the session, NCDA Policy & Advocacy Manager Mrs. Marijke Kremin discussed the global landscape of financing for NCDs and UHC and talked about related processes, updates, opportunities

Mr. Roy Small, Policy Specialist on Health and NCDs of UNDP, talked about UNDP work and engagement with national stakeholders in developing investment cases and recommendations to civil society

Guided panel discussions with national alliances: Two Ghana NCDA and Kenya NCDA representatives guided the discussion highlighting national advocacy efforts on NCD financing, engagement with national stakeholders, and foreseen opportunities at the national level.

Session 6: Strengthening prevention in the UHC health benefits packages

The session’s agenda:

• To identify best practices to incorporate and frame prevention priorities in
  national advocacy for UHC;
• To explore ways to strengthen buy-in from national stakeholders and make the case for addressing NCD risk factors in the context of UHC.

Mrs. Jessica Amegee Quach, Capacity Development Officer of NCDA, to start the session with talking about Prevention within the UHC agenda

Mr. Maik Dünnbier, Health Specialist and Director of Strategy and Advocacy at Movendi International, discussed Movendi’s advocacy efforts to advance health promotion and NCD prevention, presented plans for engagement around the UN High-Level Political Forum and the Meeting on UHC, and shared recommendations for civil society

Guided plenary discussions, including a brief highlight from Mrs.Tran Thi Thu Ha, Director of RTCCD, Vietnam NCDA: Exploration of health promotion or prevention interventions gaining traction in countries, advocacy efforts towards UHC featuring health promotion and NCD prevention.

Session 7: Mental health in the UHC Agenda

The session’s agenda:

• To get a better understanding of the mental health agenda and its importance for advancing UHC;
• To introduce the advocates to the work of United for Global Mental Health, with specific
  reference to the engagement around the HLM on UHC2030 and around the broader
  2030 agenda including available resources and tools to be used by
  national advocates;
• To explore opportunities and encourage the alliances to engage with mental health organizations and advocates.

The session have a present of the Director of Policy, Advocacy and Financing at United for Global Mental Health, Mr. James Sale presented the United For Global Mental Health programme. He discussed its plans of work and engagement around the HLM on UHC

Guided group discussions and report back: Exploration of how mental health is featured/prioritised in different countries, discussion of NCD Alliances’ engagement with mental health groups at the national level, and of opportunities to strengthen these linkages

DAY 3 (Thur, July 13, 2023)

Session 8: Engage people living with NCDs to keep UHC people-centered

• To get a better understanding of advocating for the engagement as part of advocacy towards UHC;
• To provide an overview of the WHO Framework for Meaningful Engagement of People Living with NCDs and Mental Health and Neurological Conditions, and explore how it can be leveraged by advocates;
• To learn how different NCD alliances are advocating for meaningful involvement and how they are engaging people living with NCDs.

Panel discussion with NCD Alliances’ representatives: Significance of the WHO framework for the meaningful engagement, lessons learned from national and regional advocacy efforts.

Guided group discussions: Promoting and leveraging the WHO framework and NCDA Global Charter at the national level

Final Discussion

Advocates shared their experiences, discussed outcomes, and built follow-up engagement plans during a one-hour debrief meeting with respective countries’ permanent missions to the UN.