At a little over a decade old, the noncommunicable disease (NCD) movement is young, and until recently, there has been a noticeable absence of people living with NCDs in the NCD discourse globally.

Learning from other global health responses such as HIV, tuberculosis, disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that involving communities is essential to drive progress. These responses have amplified the voices of people with lived experiences, enabling communities and civil society to demand their fundamental rights to health and participation. 

These movements have laid a clear path for NCDs. Showing us that when policies, programmes, and services are co-designed with communities, they are more likely to be relevant, appropriate, scalable and sustainable. By ensuring that they are focused on people, not diseases, they can effectively respond to the needs and realities of those they are meant to serve and leave no-one behind.

In recent years, the NCD community around the world has increasingly mobilised in calling for people living with NCDs to be involved in decision-making processes that affect them.

"The involvement of different levels of society in decision-making and ensuring a healthcare system that is resilient and able to support communities...is not a preserve of government, but really it’s achievable though collaboration between all stakeholders that are concerned with human development at home and globally."

Global Charter consultation participant

Global Charter Consultation

Drawing on these experiences, the process to build the Global Charter was launched in early 2021.

Key activities included:

  • A series of four virtual regional multi-stakeholder dialogues in the African, Latin America & Caribbean, South-east Asia & Western Pacific and Eastern Mediterranean regions on the theme of putting people first. These were attended by a wide list of multi-sector actors from the government, civil society groups, private sector, and people living with NCDs. These meetings facilitated a dialogue between the stakeholders and highlighted regional priorities for people-centred approaches to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), good practice, and achieving social impact.
  • A series of four virtual regional Our Views, Our Voices civil society-only meetings in the African, Latin America & Caribbean, South-East Asia & Western Pacific and Eastern Mediterranean regions.. These meetings gathered insights on strategies and barriers to meaningful involvement of people living with NCDs  tracking progress on meaningful involvement and advocacy opportunities for civil society. They provided a safe space for civil society and people living with NCDs to discuss their experiences, challenges and opportunities for promoting a people-centred NCD response.  
  • A grant programme to support in-country consultations on meaningful involvement of people living with NCDs, particularly with hard to reach communities. NCD alliances around the world conducted key informant interviews and focus group discussions with around 450 people.
  • A multi-stakeholder survey, receiving around 250 responses collected from civil society (including community-based organisations and civil society), private sector, government, multilateral/bilateral, academia and research, and philanthropic organisations.
  • A final opportunity to receive public comments and expressions of early interest for organisational endorsements on the near final version of the Global Charter.

 

Meeting Reports