On October 16, 2018, the eleven heads of the world's leading health and development organizations signed a landmark commitment to find new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals14. Coordinated by the World Health Organization, the initiative unites the work of 11 organizations, with others set to join in the next phase.
The organizations that have already signed up to the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All are - Gavi the Vaccine Alliance. the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Financing Facility, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, Unitaid, UNWomen, the World Bank and WHO. The World Food Programme has committed to join the plan in the coming months15.
The group has agreed to develop new ways of working together to maximize resources and measure progress in a more transparent and engaging way. The first phase of the plan's development is organized under three strategic approaches - Align, Accelerate and Account.
Align - The organizations have committed to coordinate programmatic, financial and operational processes to increase collective efficiency through:
- collaborating and harmonizing processes such as for financing and procurement
- strengthening provision of essential global public goods for health
- streamlining programmatic and operational policies to seize efficiencies and synergies in our work
- aligning investment case approaches
- enhancing access through supply chain management
- harmonizing operational policies
Accelerate - They have agreed to develop common approaches and coordinate action in areas of work for which they identified seven overlapping areas where more innovative, synergistic efforts can significantly accelerate progress in global health:
- Sustainable financing
- Frontline health systems
- Community and civil society engagement
- Determinants of health
- R&D, innovation and access
- Data and digital health
- Innovative programming in fragile and vulnerable states and for disease outbreak response
Account - To improve transparency and accountability to countries and development partners, the health organizations are breaking new ground by setting common milestones for nearly 50 health-related targets across 14 Sustainable Development Goals. These milestones will provide a critical checkpoint and common reference to determine where the world stands in 2023 and whether it is on track to reach the 2030 goals.
The Global Action Plan will also enhance collective action and leverage funds to address gender inequalities that act as barriers to accessing health, and to improve comprehensive quality health care for women and girls, including sexual and reproductive health services.
Footnotes
14 http://www.who.int/sdg/global-action-plan
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