Systematic, transparent, accountable collaboration can help countries sustain health SDGs
Despite remarkable progress made in some areas of global health in the last few decades, the world is not on track to achieve most of the health-related SDG targets by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic is setting progress back even further.
What is the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All?
The objective of the Global Action Plan (GAP) is to enhance collaboration among 12 agencies that play significant roles in health, development and humanitarian responses in order to help countries accelerate progress on the health-related SDG targets.
The GAP consists of a series of commitments and proposed actions by the 12 agencies to strengthen their collaboration with countries and each other under seven “accelerator themes” and gender equality. It also includes commitments by the agencies to harmonize their internal strategies, policies and approaches and to ensure mutual accountability.
The GAP describes how the 12 signatory agencies will adopt new ways of working, building on existing successful collaborations, and jointly align their support around national plans and strategies that are country owned and led.
Although referred to as a “global” plan, the added value of the GAP lies in coordinated support, action and progress in countries.
The GAP was launched at the UN General Assembly in September 2019. The 12 signatory agencies to the GAP are Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance, Global Financing Facility, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, Unitaid, UN Women, World Bank Group, World Food Program and World Health Organization.
Together, these agencies work to address all targets in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 and many other health-related SDG targets. They play important roles in health financing, normative and policy guidance, market shaping, technical cooperation and humanitarian responses. The agencies collectively channel around one third of total development assistance for health.
How was the GAP conceived?
The GAP was developed in response to a request made by the Heads of Government of Germany, Ghana and Norway - and later the United Nations Secretary-General - requesting that the Director-General of WHO and heads of other multilateral agencies streamline their collaboration and develop a Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All.
In response, 11 multilateral health, development and humanitarian agencies engaged in global health committed themselves in October 2018 to closer collaboration and alignment to help accelerate progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to developing a Global Action Plan. The World Food Programme joined as a signatory to the GAP prior to its launch in 2019.
GAP signatory agencies committed to engage with countries and provide support in a more coordinated way.
The agencies made four specific, core commitments under the GAP:
1) To engage with countries better to identify priorities and plan and implement together
2) To accelerate progress in countries through joint action under specific accelerator themes and on gender equality and the delivery of global public goods
3) To align in support of countries by harmonizing operational and financial strategies, policies and approaches
4) To account, by reviewing progress and learning together to enhance shared accountability.
What are the seven accelerator themes in the GAP and why are they important?
The seven accelerator themes in the GAP are
1) Primary health care
2) Sustainable health financing 3) Community and civil society engagement
4) Determinants of health
5) Innovative programming in fragile and vulnerable settings and for disease outbreak responses
6) Research and development, innovation and access
7) Data and digital health.
The accelerator themes are closely linked. For example, strong primary health care is fundamental to achieving SDG 3, while sustainable financing ensures efficient generation, allocation and use of resources for health, and increased multisectoral action to address the determinants of health can drive progress towards multiple health-related SDG targets.
