“2019 will see the first stocktaking of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by Heads of State. Though great progress has been made, it has been uneven and too many people are still being left behind. The time is now to act”
These were the opening remarks made by WHO Deputy Director-General, Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, at the opening of a technical briefing about the “Global Action Plan for Health and Well-being for All,” on 20 May 2019 during the 72nd World Health Assembly.
More than 300 delegates attended to learn and contribute to the development of the Global Action Plan. The Plan is a historic commitment made by 12 multilateral global health organizations to align efforts and more effectively support countries achieve the health-related SDG targets. Partner organizations are Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), the Global Financing Facility (GFF), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNAIDS, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Unitaid, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN Women, the World Bank Group, World Food Programme (WFP) and WHO.
Speakers at the event included the Ministers of Health from Colombia, Germany, Ghana, Norway, Rwanda and a senior government official from Nepal, as well as representatives from the Global Action Plan (GAP) signatory agencies: UNAIDS, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Financing Facility, the World Bank Group and the Co-Chair of the Civil Society Organization Advisory Group on the GAP.
Partnerships with purpose
Peter Singer, Special Adviser to the WHO Director-General, emphasized that country priorities and needs are at the centre of the Plan. The signatory agencies will work together to tackle key barriers, build on existing successful collaborations and align their support around countries’ national plans and strategies to achieve the health-related SDG goals.
In doing so, the agencies aligned their efforts on seven cross-cutting “accelerator” areas, namely: 1) sustainable financing; 2). primary health care; 3). community and civil society engagement; 4). determinants of health; 5). research and development, innovation and access; 6). data and digital health; 7). innovative programming in fragile and vulnerable states and for disease outbreak response.
Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, described the Plan as a “partnership with purpose,” bringing together agencies with complementary strengths to jointly provide support to countries such as mobilizing more resources for health and ensuring that spending is commensurate with achieving the SDG health-related targets.
Shannon Hader, UNAIDS, Deputy Executive Director, noted that the organization’s substantial experience in forging multisectoral partnerships will help ensure that human rights and gender are integrated into the Plan to leave no one behind.
With 10 years left to achieve the SDGs, the signatory agencies will establish a common accountability approach to assess and track progress.
Country-focused support
The Ministers present commended the signatory agencies’ efforts to align their support to improve coordination, reduce fragmentation and deliver impact in countries.
Ghana, Nepal and Rwanda suggested various areas where the signatory agencies could offer their support to meet the health-related targets. For instance, the Minister of Health, Ghana, Honourable (Hon.) Kwaku Agyemang-Manu proposed health financing, primary health care and digital health to leave no one behind. In Nepal, Dr Pushpa Chaudhary, Secretary at the Ministry of Health recommended health workforce strengthening and improving data in the context of primary health care.
The Ministers from Colombia, Germany, Norway and Rwanda underscored the importance and benefits of the Global Action Plan. Rwanda’s Minister of State in Charge of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Hon. Dr Patrick Ndimubanzi encouraged the signatory agencies to draw on the experiences from countries to improve coordination. Similarly, Colombia’s Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Juan Pablo Uribe emphasized the need for the health-related SDGs to be made a reality for communities. The Minister of Health Norway, Hon. Bent Høie, saw the Plan’s value-add in how countries and agencies can work together better to address gaps through intersectoral action. The Minister of Health, Germany, Hon. Jens Spahn urged the signatory agencies to ensure that collaboration leads to greater impact at the country level.
With the clock ticking to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the signatory agencies are finalizing the Global Action Plan. Over the past months, several country consultations were held to identify key priorities and needs at the national level. An online public discussion was announced for mid-June to obtain stakeholder feedback to inform the development of the Plan, which will be presented at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019.
Recording of the briefing
A recording of the technical briefing is available here.