Uniting to Combat NTDs regularly holds webinars for our partner network, designed to keep partners informed, share useful resources, and allow space for collaboration and feedback. Here you can find slides, remarks, and questions from the webinar held on 26 September 2024.
04 October 2024
Download the slides from the meeting
Remarks from Dr Isatou Touray, Interim Executive Director, Uniting to Combat NTDs
"Greetings to all the partners joining our webinar today. It is a real pleasure and honour to be with you. Currently, I am at UNGA with my colleague, Ruth. I am truly honoured to serve as the Interim Executive Director Uniting to Combat NTDs and to have the opportunity to work alongside such an impactful and diverse group of partners.
Since stepping into this role, I have been deeply impressed by the remarkable progress made in the fight against neglected tropical diseases. The achievements we have seen are a testament to the dedication, hard work, and collaboration of everyone involved in this partnership. Each of you, from governments and NGOs, to the private sector, implementing partners, donors and research institutions, has played a vital role in driving us closer to a world free of NTDs.
In my time with Uniting, I am committed to ensuring that we stay on course to achieve the ambitious targets laid out in the WHO NTD roadmap. We know what's possible when we are strong - when we have strong collaboration, mobilised resources, and clear strategies. I look forward to working closely with all of you to secure the political will and financing necessary to eliminate these diseases once and for all. Thank you again for the warm welcome and I am excited for what we can achieve together in the months ahead. Let us be united, and unite to end NTDs all over the world. Thank you."
Remarks from Dr Moeti, Regional Director for WHO AFRO, delivered by Dr Akpaka Kalu, Director Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases at the Regional Office
"I'm sitting in for Dr Moeti, who has struggled to be part of to be part of this meeting today whilst at UNGA but she appreciates the partnership with Uniting to Combat NTDs. She wants me to once more extend her appreciation for the award she was given by Uniting and as a recognition of the work we all are doing together to end NTDs in the African region.
WHO is proud to be a partner of Uniting to Combat NTDs since its founding in 2012, following the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases. Since then, the important role Uniting has played in advocating for sustainable financing required to achieve the targets of the 2030 Global Roadmap for elimination of NTDs, especially in the African region, cannot be overemphasised. Uniting has been at the forefront of negotiations during the first and second phases of funding for Reaching the Last Mile, and supported us during negotiations for bilateral grants from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Qatar Fund for Development, all in support of the work of ESPEN, which Uniting is also a supporter of. Just last year, at the 73rd Regional Committee for Africa, we jointly convened the successful side event on 'Unlocking Financing for NTDs in Africa', introducing Ministers of Health to our global funding mechanisms from which they could tap into to fund their programmes. Again, we note advocacy efforts and partnerships such as this one led by Uniting have been crucial in driving political will, funding, and awareness for NTD elimination. So AFRO and ESPEN, we remain committed to the elimination of NTDs and we continue to work with Uniting on advocacy for sustainable financing to ensure that we meet our elimination goals.
In the last three years, for instance, 11 countries in Africa eliminated at least one of NTD as a public health problem. Therefore, as we celebrate the overall progress and achievements in eliminating these diseases, we acknowledge that we are not on track to achieving the 2025 elimination milestones. We know we need to work harder. We need to work differently to accelerate progress to achieve the 2030 roadmap targets for elimination on behalf of the community. Therefore, I call for continued collaboration between all partners and stakeholders in the neglected tropical diseases space. I call on all of us to work together to sustain our advocacy to ensure that NTDs elimination remains a global priority, especially for those communities most affected.
We'll continue our partnership, united efforts, and dedication. We can end the neglect and eliminate these diseases, ensuring healthier lives for millions. On behalf of Dr Moeti, I would like to thank you for these regular webinars and to say once more that we are committed to working with you and other partners to see our continent free of neglected tropical diseases. Thank you very much."
Q&A from the meeting
Are all of the Uniting team based in the UK or is the team spread across various geographic locations?
The team is spread out across various locations including The Gambia, UK, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Belgium, and USA.
Is there an update on the Uniting to Combat NTDs Consultative forum?
Many thanks to those that submitted self nominations or 3rd party nominations for the Uniting Consultative Forum - the interest in the Forum and the willingness to be nominated is much appreciated. We will be moving forward with the process to confirm nominations with the Uniting Governance Committee in the next coming weeks. Thank you for your patience.
What will be Uniting's top priorities for next year?
The development of Uniting’s 2025 workplan is currently underway, in close collaboration with our Board and key donors. Once the planning phase is complete, we will share our priority activities and provide a comprehensive overview of our 2025 workplan during a dedicated partner webinar later this year. This session will offer partners the opportunity to understand the future direction of our work and engage with strategies and activities that will guide our collective efforts in the year ahead.
Next year is 2025, the mid-term of the WHO NTD roadmap. Is there any activity to to evaluate the mid-term evaluation of how far we are from reaching 2030 targets?
Response from Dr Elizabeth Juma, WHO - the WHO Global NTD Programme has been producing this progress annually, and there is a 2023 report which shows that we are not on track to to meet the the half-way milestone.
In early 2025, as well as this annual report, we hope there will be a report based on the work commissioned by the Director of the Global NTD Programme for us to cost the NTD roadmap so that we can determine what action we need to take, in addition to looking at concrete challenges and what we would need to do to achieve these roadmap targets.
Latin America is very absent in the NTD actions. Can you think of any activity in this part of the world?
Brazil has Chair of the G20 this year and they will also be hosting COP next year so this is one of the things we are looking into. If that's something any partners would be interested in engaging in, please get in touch.
