A proposal for a WHO-UNDP Global Joint Programme to support country action to develop ambitious ... providing technical
Adding value by working together Together WHO and UNDP provide a unique force to help countries build solutions for NCDs beyond the health sector. WHO has a track record in providing technical assistance to the health sector in mapping the NCD epidemic, setting national targets for NCDs, developing multisectoral NCD policies and plans, reducing risk factors, and enabling health systems to respond. UNDP specializes in governance and has the ability to foster coordination beyond the health sector and act on the social determinants of health. UNDP is also the custodian of the UN Resident Coordinator system, which will promote in-country interagency collaboration. Mobilizing the UN Country Team is essential to harness the comparative advantage of different agencies to support national NCD responses.
Why now? The Global Joint Programme is responding to: The needs expressed by governments during Joint Programme Missions to Barbados, Belarus, India, Kenya, and Tonga; Requests expressed by Member States to the Task Force during the 2015 World Health Assembly; The scope and purpose of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on NCD which is to facilitate and enhance coordination of activities, multistakeholder engagement and action across sectors at the local, national, regional and global levels, in order to contribute to the implementation of the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013–2020; Commitments that governments made in the 2014 UN Outcome Document on NCDs; and Commitments which world leaders will make at the UN General Assembly in September 2015 to develop national responses to the SDGs and targets as soon as possible, including the NCD-related targets. These commitments are being made recognizing that health gains for NCDs can be achieved much
more readily by influencing public policies in sectors like trade, taxation, education, agriculture, urban development, food and pharmaceutical production, rather than by making changes in health policy alone.
Implementation and administrative arrangements - commitment to country ownership
Catalyzing Multisectoral Action for NCDs.
The Global Joint Programme will support the placement of a National Programme Officer (NPO) in each participating country. The main function of the NPO will be to accelerate capacity building in three areas. The NPO may be placed in the government to ensure national ownership.
A proposal for a WHO-UNDP Global Joint Programme to support country action to develop ambitious national multi-stakeholder responses to the NCD-related targets in the SDGs
Implementation of all components will be undertaken through national implementation modality with technical guidance provided by the agencies at national, regional and global levels. The participating agencies commit to provision of technical support (coordination of reporting, management of the Global Joint Programme, development of technical tools and guidance).
Overall Objective The Global UNDP/WHO Joint Programme on NCDs will focus on supporting countries to develop ambitious national multisectoral NCD responses to achieve the NCD-related targets in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The work of the Joint Programme will be guided by a Joint Management Group, to which countries will report on activities and results. The Global Joint Programme will mobilize UN Country Teams to strengthen or establish resident UN Thematic Groups on NCDs, which will include tripartite arrangements for representatives from government, UN agencies, and donors, to monitor progress made.
The Global Joint Programme will strengthen multisectoral partnerships at the national and subnational level to: 1. Develop national investment cases to highlight the need to mobilize financial resources for national NCD responses to achieve NCDrelated targets included the SDGs;
Estimated budget per country
3. Strengthen governance and regulatory frameworks to strengthening community action, civil society networks, social movements as well as collaboration between civil society, government, development partners, and the private sector to implement national NCD responses; and
Why multisectoral action?
US$ 320,000 (US$ 50,000 for technical assistance for each of the three components and US$ 170,000 to employ a national programme officer for two years).
Engaging beyond the health sector: developing ambitious national responses to the NCDrelated targets included in the SDGs will require action across all government departments, as well as the engagement of civil society and the private sector.
For further information Please contact the Secretariat of the UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs (
[email protected]) for further information including full project documentation.
Delivering commitments: critical for delivering the national commitments set out in the 2011 UN Political Declaration on NCDs and the 2014 UN Outcome Document on NCDs, for example: Implementing health-in-all-policies, wholeof-government and whole-of-society approaches for addressing NCDs; Setting national targets for NCDs; Developing and strengthening national multisectoral policies and plans and incorporating NCDs into the national development agenda and plans; August 2015
WHO and UNDP are both members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases that was established in 2013 by the Secretary General and placed under the leadership of WHO to coordinate the activities of the UN System to support the realization of the commitments made by Heads of State and Government in the 2011 Political Declaration on NCDs. The Task Force’s terms of reference were adopted by ECOSOC in July 2014. Joint activities included in the work plan of the Task Force are additive to various, more comprehensive efforts conducted by the UN agencies to prevent and control NCDs. These joint activities offer important opportunities to address cross-cutting issues and to advance capacity and learning in countries. http://www.who.int/nmh/ncd-task-force/en/
2. Develop the capacity, mechanisms and mandates of national and relevant local authorities to encourage ambitious national responses to achieve the NCD-related targets included the SDGs;
Raising awareness about the national public health burden caused by NCDs and the relationship between NCDs, poverty and social and economic development.
Bridging the governance gap: strong governance and regulatory frameworks in country are a prerequisite for: Mobilizing adequate, predictable and sustained resources to implement national NCD responses from domestic public resources, domestic and international private business and finance, and international development cooperation, including voluntary innovative financing mechanisms; Protecting the development of national NCD policies from undue influence by any real, perceived or potential conflict of interest, including the fundamental conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health; Ensuring mutual accountability of different spheres of policy-making that have a bearing on NCDs.
Three components The Global Joint Programme will provide technical assistance to governments in selected developing countries in:
Component 2. Enhancing national coordination beyond the health sector Outputs
1. Making the national investment case for addressing NCDs
NCDs pose a substantial burden on countries’ economies. Quantifying the costs of the management of NCDs and interventions to prevent and control NCDs, their returns and the costs of inaction remain a priority request from governments. The Global Joint Programme will assist governments to develop, articulate and apply the finance case for both prevention and treatment of NCDs across sectors.
2. Enhancing national coordination beyond the health sector
Many countries are still to shape effective national multisectoral NCD mechanisms to develop national NCD responses. National governance and regulatory frameworks to strengthen multistakeholder partnerships that will contribute to the implementation of national NCD responses are largely absent in developing countries. This Global Joint Programme will support governments to strengthen or establish such mechanisms and frameworks. The Programme will enhance capacity, clarify mandates and protect NCD policies from undue influence.
3. Strengthening municipal engagement on NCDs
Unmanaged rapid urbanization is one of the underlying drivers for the NCD epidemic, alongside poverty, population ageing, and the globalization of marketing and trade in the absence of regulatory, statutory and policy frameworks. Rapid urbanization exacerbates exposure to NCD risk factors. The Global Joint Programme will provide technical assistance to municipal governments to enable them to map urban NCDs epidemics, and develop effective and equitable policies and plans to reduce NCD risk factors.
Functioning sustainable national multisectoral mechanisms for the key NCDs risk factors put in place, with terms of reference, operational rules and procedures and a code of conduct that incorporates conflict of interest management. National governance and regulatory frameworks put in place to step up multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, civil society and the private sector for NCDs, while safeguarding public health from conflicts of interest. NCDs and the FCTC integrated into existing health and broader development programmes and frameworks.
Outputs A costed and validated multisectoral plan on NCD prevention and control outlining roles and responsibilities of different departments and sectors in place and being implemented in at least one city or municipality in each participating country.
Component 1. Making the national investment case for addressing NCDs
Participating countries will have a tailored, compelling and clear case outlining the economic benefits of developing a national NCD response to the NCD-related targets in the SDGs, utilizing context-specific policy options.1
Countries will have an agreed way forward for applying the results of the investment case to policies that impact on NCDs. Experience of undertaking these investment cases will be captured for wider dissemination.
Undertake an NCD stakeholder assessment. Analyse ways of integrating the prevention and control of NCDs, including the FCTC into existing development programmes (national development plan, sector development plans, UNDAF, PRSP etc.). Design and – where necessary – establish or strengthen national multisectoral NCD mechanisms (drafting TORs, rules of procedure, codes of conduct etc.) for reducing tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.3 Work with government and development partners to identify sustainable funding for multisectoral mechanisms to reduce NCD risk factors.
Component 3. Strengthening municipal engagement on NCDs
Outputs and activities
Outputs
Activities
Activities
Activities Understand the local NCD burden, main risk factors, wider determinants and multisectoral policies, with a focus on equity. Identify key bottlenecks to implementing multisectoral policies and programmes to prevent NCDs. Identify potential solutions for scaling up effective and equitable multisectoral action to reduce NCD risk factors.
Work with national counterparts to define a method of analysis for a national investment/business case that focuses on both the prevention and management of NCDs.
Develop prioritized local actions plans, as well as resources, partners and technical needs for implementation and follow up.
Undertake a national NCD investment/ business case, as well as a political economy assessment2 with recommendations for the design of a national NCD response. Identify financing options for NCDs through existing mechanisms, as well as innovative approaches such as tobacco taxation. Work with the government to apply the national NCD investment/business case to multisectoral NCD policy making, especially in the area of tobacco control, harmful use of alcohol, diet and physical activity.
The investment case methodology was developed and piloted by WHO following the preliminary recommendation emerging from the Working Group of the WHO Global NCD Coordination Mechanism on the financing of national NCD responses in the post-2015 era. The Working Group concluded that significant additional investments are required to attain the NCD-related targets in the SDGs and recommended that national investment cases be drawn up. 1
An analysis of how diverse institutions in a society shape the likelihood of programmatic success, with a focus on focus on power and resources, how they are distributed and contested in different country and sector contexts, and the resulting implications for development outcomes. 2
3
Taking into account that each risk factor is likely to require different strategies and approaches.
