To support civil society efforts to promote resilience and recovery, in 2021 NCD Alliance launched a second phase Solidarity Fund on NCDs and COVID-19. It aimed to encourage organisational sustainability, ensure a coordinated and unified NCD civil society response to COVID-19, protect and involve people living with NCDs and engage communities, supporting advocacy and communications efforts to prioritise NCD action as part of shaping the pandemic’s legacy for building back better and fairer.
The second phase of the Solidarity Fund on NCDs and COVID-19 totalled US$335,000 and supported 19 competitively selected national and regional NCD alliances from all WHO regions, with over half of them being from low- and middle-income countries. It was possible thanks to the generous financial contributions of NCDA’s supporters: Access Accelerated, AstraZeneca, Ecobank Foundation, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and Viatris.
The Solidarity Fund was effective in strengthening civil society organisations, advocacy and communications efforts during COVID-19, increasing the understanding and dissemination of the needs of people living with NCDs, and promoting strategic initiatives supporting resilience and recovery to build back better and fairer from the pandemic. To help assess the achievements of the Solidarity Fund in 2021, NCDA documented the activities and initiatives of the 19 alliances and conducted a survey of progress towards attaining the Solidarity Fund’s objectives in December 2021. A summary of the key results is presented in the achievements report, with a description of the different Solidarity Fund recipients and also conclusions and lessons learned.
