The Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs draws from the power of the lived experience. It provides a compass for NCD advocacy efforts and functions as a living document that captures the priorities of people living with NCDs.
It is intended to guide and support efforts of key stakeholders to improve NCD prevention and control.The Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs serves to strengthen the NCD response at national, regional, and global levels by amplifying the voices of those most affected by NCDs. It is a reference to be used by civil society organisations, NCD alliances, and people living with NCDs to present to decision makers urging them to take action, to meet agreed upon global NCD targets, and to put people first.
It can also be used strategically according to each setting and the advocacy opportunities that present themselves in specific contexts.
The Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs calls for action in four key areas:
These areas are closely interrelated and achieving progress on one will necessitate progress on all others.
In 2018, the United Nations will hold a High-Level Meeting on NCDs (HLM) where world leaders will discuss national progress against global targets. This meeting, to be attended by political leaders and decision-makers from across the world, will take stock of progress on NCDs at global and national levels, commend successes, and redouble efforts.
It is imperative that people living with NCDs are actively represented in the 2018 HLM process and beyond.
The Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs is the result of a grassroots, participatory consultation process. In total, it draws from the input of 1,893 people from 76 countries.
Through this initiative, 72 in-person community conversations were held in 16 countries around the world, involving 935 people living with NCDs, to better understand needs, challenges, and priority “asks”. In addition, 958 people living with NCDs responded to an online survey exploring challenges and recommendations.
The Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs was built from consultation results. In October 2017, a group of 34 people living with NCDs from 22 countries convened at a workshop in Geneva to help finalise the text, which was launched at the Global NCD Alliance Forum in Sharjah, UAE in December 2017.