The NCD Alliance is convening the first-ever Global NCD Alliance Forum from 13 to 15 November 2015 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in partnership with local host organisation, Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP).
Patron of the Forum is Her Highness, Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, and Founder of Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP).
The Forum brings together representatives from over 40 national and regional NCD alliance from across the world for the first time to share good practices and build a sense of community. The Forum aims to provide a platform for strengthening advocacy, stimulating collaboration, identifying network-wide priorities and coordinating advocacy planning at national, regional and global levels. It is designed to be interactive and to provide a safe space for knowledge exchange and networking.
“Our meeting takes place not long after the United Nations’ historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said José Luis Castro, Chair of the NCD Alliance (NCDA) and Executive Director of The Union. “At this watershed moment, we are fortified by the global affirmation that NCDs are a human development priority and fundamental right. The critical priority now shifts from global policy-making to country-level implementation. Governments and civil society are now charged with backing up commitment with policies, programmes and resources.”
In the lead-up to the Forum, NCDA commissioned an independent situational analysis of national and regional NCD alliances to inform the Forum’s programme and proceedings. The situational analysis also aimed to provide insight on the course of the global NCD civil society movement, in particular action at the national and regional levels. The resulting report Achieving 25 x 25 through civil society coalitions: a situational analysis of national and regional NCD Alliances will be launched and distributed at the Forum itself. It provides a wealth of data and analysis on how alliances have been formed, what activities alliances focus on, key challenges and capacity needs, as well as opportunities for strengthening cooperation between national, regional and global levels.
Approximately 200 delegates have been invited to attend the Forum, including national and regional NCD Alliance representatives, global health experts and recognised NCD champions, patient advocates, international NGOs, government representatives, NCD Alliance Steering Group members and supporters.
With the theme of “NCD Advocacy and Accountability in the Post-2015 Era”, the three-day programme will focus on three key areas:
- Advocacy and accountability – translating global commitments to national and regional action on NCDs
- Organisational development – ensuring national and regional NCD alliances are well-equipped to drive change
- Collaboration for success – twinning between alliances and partnerships across other stakeholders to maximise impact.
Learn more about the NCD Alliance