Mr. Tim Vora, Executive Director of HACC and Secretariat of the Cambodian NCD Alliance, was invited by the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) to join a 2-day consultative meeting on advancing regional action in South and Southeast Asia towards the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and beyond. The meeting was held from April 21–22, 2025, in the meeting room of the NCSM, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with representatives from CSOs in the SEARO and WPRO regions.
The meeting aimed to strengthen collaboration and build alliances across countries for the prevention and control of NCDs. It also sought to identify and prioritize key areas for advocacy with stakeholders at the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting in New York in September 2025.
Key outputs included:
Opening remarks by Dr. Saunhari Somasumdaram, Co-chairperson of NCD Malaysia and board member of the Global NCD Alliance. She warmly welcomed all participants to Malaysia and emphasized the objective of the meeting: to strengthen collaboration and build country-to-country alliances in SEARO and WPRO to advocate for NCD prevention and control in the region.
Presentation by Ms. Linda, Capacity Development Manager of the Global NCD Alliance, on the global NCD Alliance network and its role in the 2025 UNHLM. She highlighted the five priorities in the “Call to Lead”: accelerating implementation, breaking down silos, mobilizing investment, delivering accountability, and engaging communities.
Discussion on mechanisms and networks in South and Southeast Asia through which CSOs can engage and collaborate to improve NCD outcomes.
Country presentations, where each country shared their interventions related to NCDs.
Insights from Professor Elil Renganathan, former WHO Director-General Representative, on evaluation and organizational learning within WHO practices.
Prioritization of key interventions: Participants were given cards to vote on and prioritize key areas to be included in a regional declaration.
Success stories from the Philippines, India, and Bangladesh were shared.
Emphasis on monitoring: CSOs were encouraged to closely monitor declarations made by national leaders and work collaboratively to ensure goals are met.
Development of the zero draft: A preliminary draft of the regional declaration is being developed and will be shared with member states for review and feedback before the official endorsement at the UNHLM in September 2025.
Communication follow-up: A WhatsApp group will be created for participants to maintain ongoing communication and mutual support.
Next steps: The zero draft will be distributed to participants once released by the organizers for further input.
