On 26-28 June 2019, 22 people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and national/regional NCD alliance representatives from 11 countries came together in Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the Our Views, Our Voices 2019 Train the Trainer workshop organised by the NCD Alliance.

With the aim of equipping people living with NCDs with skills to become effective NCD spokespersons and advocates as well as confident trainers, the workshop followed a peer-led approach that enables people to share their lived experiences to amplify the Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs in countries and communities, and build a powerful narrative for action on NCDs.

The aim of the three-day interactive workshop was to familiarise participants with the NCD global policy landscape, the key elements of sharing personal stories to drive change, and mechanisms to promote meaningful involvement of people with NCDs. Group activities and personal reflections aimed to hone participants’ communication, advocacy, and training and facilitation skills to harness the power of their lived experiences to build an impactful public narrative on NCDs and mobilise their communities to call for change.

The Train-the-Trainer workshop was followed by training sessions in countries with wider groups of people living with NCDs, which were planned and delivered by the trainers who attended the Geneva workshop, with the support of their national/regional NCD alliances.

The NCD Alliance is grateful to all the workshop participants for injecting their passion and creativity into the training sessions and generously sharing their personal experiences.