Case studies of 38 national and regional civil society projects that advance the NCD agenda in their countries or regions have been collected in the NCD Civil Society Atlas, which was launched at the NCD Alliance Global Forum on 11 December.

Organised in four categories – access, accountability, advocacy and awareness – the case studies highlight the work and impact of national and regional NCDs alliances. The Atlas (full name National and Regional NCD Alliances in Action: An Atlas of Civil Society Initiatives) aims to share good practice among NCD alliances and to help make the case for the critical role played by civil society in the NCD response.

The publication also demonstrates how NCD alliances, especially those from low-income countries, are now embarking on an expansion phase by forging diverse partnerships.

The Atlas advances the principles of the 2015 Sharjah Declaration on NCDs. It declared civil society's commitment to engage in advocacy and accountability to further the fight against NCDs.

The top initiative in each of the four categories was recognised at the Forum’s closing ceremony with a Sharjah Award for Excellence in NCD Civil Society Action. Each winner received a US$5,000 grant from the NCD Alliance to support its coalition-building efforts.

The awardees are:

1. Advocacy: Healthy Latin American Coalition (CLAS) for its initiative, Rapid Regional Response to Strengthen and Defend National NCD Policies in Latin America;
2. Accountability: The East African NCD Alliance (EANCDA), for its initiative, Benchmarking to Track and Advance Regional NCD Action;
3. Awareness raising: Tanzanian NCD Alliance, for its initiative, Creating a Journalists’ Forum to Raise Awareness on NCDs;
4. Access: Healthy Caribbean Coalition, for its initiative, Building Civil Society Capacity to Improve Access to Cancer Services for Underserved Populations.