Happy New Year from ACTION!

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season. As we leave 2021 behind and usher in another new year, I want to wish you a very happy, healthy, and peaceful 2022.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing disparities within and between countries, I hope that the global health community can fully harness this renewed attention around health equity to move a step closer to achieving it.
 
In this special New Year’s newsletter, I am honored to share with you some of the key highlights of the contributions ACTION partners made towards global health goals during this challenging time. We at ACTION continued our deep advocacy to increase resources, advance accountability, and move the needle forward on health equity. We closed out the year with an energizing Nutrition for Growth Summit and the announcement of the IDA20 replenishment, wrapping up many months of tireless advocacy work by partners. Looking ahead to 2022, we’re eager to see these commitments come to fruition, and also prepare to engage around the GFF and CEPI replenishments. 

The last two years have been challenging for all of us in global health, but I am hopeful that 2022 will be a better year and I am looking forward to doing my part in making it so. Thank you for your continued support of the ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership.
 
In solidarity,
Vineeta

Vineeta Gupta, MD, JD, LL.M
Director, ACTION Secretariat

2021 Year in Review:

Despite the many challenges faced by the global health community this past year, ACTION partners advocated tirelessly and made their voices heard to influence the global health agenda and mobilize resources for nutrition, COVID-19 vaccines and resources, RMNCH, TB treatment and prevention research and development, and so much more. Please read below for some of the partnership’s top achievements from 2021.

Key Moment: World Bank Engagement and the IDA20 Replenishment:   

In 2021, the World Bank pushed forward the IDA20 replenishment, opening an opportunity for advocacy on human capital and health. ACTION partners participated in intensive advocacy throughout the year, meeting with World Bank leadership at various levels, IDA deputies, Executive Directors, and country governments to ensure that human capital was elevated to a special theme in IDA20 and that the IDA20 replenishment policy and financing framework outlines ambitious and smart policy commitments that prioritize health.

At the final IDA20 Deputies Replenishment meeting, the global community garnered a historic $93 billion for IDA20 in Tokyo, Japan. This strategic advocacy campaign included the following events and initiatives:  

  • World Bank Engagement: Early in 2021, Secretariat staff met with Mercy Niwe, Stakeholder Lead, External and Corporate Relations and Naysan Sahba, Manager, Civil Society Engagement at the World Bank to discuss some key priorities for civil society.  Several ACTION partners joined a follow up meeting with the Bank’s VP of South Asia that included other civil society members from the region. This meeting focused mainly on the Bank’s COVID-19 response and ways in which civil society can engage in the World Bank projects and vaccines roll-out.  
  • WB Advocacy Week  (June): ACTION partners engaged in close to 15 meetings with World Bank leadership, regional VPs, country directors, executive directors, and issue/technical teams during our Virtual World Bank Advocacy Week. ACTION partners met with Mamta Murthi, VP of Human Development to discuss concerns over the slow rollout of vaccine resources and country readiness. Our partners, Chris Dendys from Results Canada and Solange from ASAPSU, made opening remarks at the IDA Forum where they elevated human capital and pushed for priorities that are critical for the IDA20 replenishment, including the targets set in the Africa Human Capital Plan.    
  • World Bank Annual Meetings  (October): During the 2021 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group,  ACTION partners engaged in key discussions. Joanne Carter, Executive Director, RESULTS, was invited to the IDA20 Forum to give the Human Capital Theme opening remarks. Rosemary Mburu of WACI Health co-moderated the CSO Roundtable with World Bank Group Executive Directors.   
  • IDA20 Advocacy and Recommendations: ACTION led civil society in a campaign to influence the IDA20 negotiations through the ICAN Multi-Lateral Financing Working Group. The partnership sent a letter to top leadership at the World Bank ahead of the IDA20 Deputy meetings with specific key recommendations on: refined language for policy commitments; additional Results Measurement System indicators; increased investments for the Crisis Response Window; creating a CSO window to increase engagement and advance accountability. We sent various letters with priorities and recommendations, some of which were implemented, including: the inclusion of Human Capital as a special theme in IDA20 and crisis preparedness as a cross-cutting issue; the strengthening of policy commitments under the Human Capital Special theme that focuses on ‘Investing in children’s early years’ as well as the policy commitment under the Gender and Development Special Theme that focuses on ‘Investing in women’s empowerment’; and the fulfillment of an ambitious commitment which culminated in a historic replenishment agreement of $93 billion announced in the final meeting in Japan.  
  • ACTION LG Meeting with World Bank Leadership: Throughout the year, the ACTION  Leadership Group engaged with Akihiko Nishio, World Bank Vice President of Development Finance (DFi,) and Samuel Maimbo, Director of the IDA20 Replenishment. We discussed the importance of strong human capital commitments that focus on PHC given that the COVID-19 pandemic is a symptom of a multidimensional crisis with a network of causes and underlying social injustice.   
  • The Crisis in Afghanistan: ACTION engaged with World Bank leadership to express concern that highly effective NGO-delivered health services funded by the Bank were suspended, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. In a letter addressed to World Bank leadership, we urged the Bank to find a creative solution to continue financing these essential and life-saving health services, especially given the significant support among donors and other partners for the Bank to take rapid action.   

  
Key Moment: Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit

 The 2021 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit mobilized more than US$27 billion to tackle malnutrition and hunger across the globe. ACTION partners advocated for ambitious, measurable commitments to nutrition at the N4G Summit. Partners strategically leveraged their networks and engaged in advocacy campaigns to in order to make headway. In ACTION markets, we saw significant financial pledges, including US$2.8 billion from Japan, at least €2.5 billion from the European Commission, and up to US$11 billion from the U.S. Canada continued to show their commitment to the health of women and girls with a top-up pledge of CA$195 million, a portion of which is part of their CA$520 million pledge at the launch of the Nutrition for Growth Year of Action in December 2020.

We also saw commitments in ACTION markets experiencing a high burden of malnutrition. Kenya pledged a series of impact commitments related to tackling child wasting, Côte d’Ivoire pledged to maintain their financial contribution of 15% towards nutrition, and Tanzania committed to mobilize TZS 642.3 billion (US$279.3 million) for their National Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan (NMNAP) II and to ensure robust tracking of progress by investing TZS 2.7 billion (US$1.2 million) in a reliable data and well-functioning management information system. While these are smart investments, the partnership recognizes that there are still significant gains to be made in order to gain back progress made prior to COVID-19. The fight is not ever! 

Key Moment: GFF Resource Mobilization Campaign 

The GFF launched a resource mobilization campaign in April 2021 to garner $1.2 billion.  ACTION partners have been mobilizing in various markets to garner commitments in an effort to reach that target. The Campaign will now be extended through March of 2022 to ensure that governments can make contributions and commitments to help reach this RM goal.   

The GFF Resource mobilization Campaign   

  • The GFF Launch Event Reclaim the Gains took place in May, where donors and partners garnered more that USD$200 million to kickstart the GFF’s resource mobilization campaign, including a pledge from Canada of CAD $100 Million – ACTION partner RESULTS Canada worked closely with civil society in Canada to push for Canadian leadership.  
  • The GFF Resource Mobilization Leadership Group and CSO RM WG: ACTION Partners were invited to join a group of leaders working towards supporting the GFF RM Campaign hosted by the GFF Secretariat. Partners from Results Canada, REF, and WACI Health joined the group and provided updates on advocacy strategies. ACTION was also asked to join the GFF CSO Resource Mobilization Working Group lead by the GFF Steering Committee and Global Health Visions.   
  • ACTION Partners Results Canada and Results Japan have been engaging and advocating for additional resources to support the GFF RM Campaign. In December, Canada and Japan Pledged $90 Million to the GFF.   
  • Partners participated and presented during the GFF Civil Society Coordinating Group Annual Meeting. During the meeting, civil society partners had a chance to engage with leadership from the GFF Secretariat, get updates from country partners on the GFF project and impact of COVID on RMNCAH and nutrition, discuss ways to collaborate on the Joint Learning Agenda and Advocacy and Accountability for Sustainable Health Financing, and plan priorities for next year as we continue to mobilize towards a successful GFF RM Campaign.  

The GFF We Want Campaign  

  • WACI Health launched the second phase of the GFF We Want Campaign to elevate the voice of civil society and embed lessons learned by GFF implementing countries through the current GFF resource mobilization campaign.  They have been working closely with the CSO GFF Resource Mobilization Working Group to jointly mobilize ahead of key GFF moments. Ahead of the Generation Equality Forum, they led a regional day of action targeting governments in implementing countries and 5 embassies (United States, European Commission, Denmark, France, and Sweden), mobilizing 16 implementing countries to deliver letters to the embassies, and engaging on a social media in support of the resource mobilization for the GFF during the Generation Equality Forum.  
  • Alongside the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) and particularly Global Citizens Live event in September, GFF We Want Campaigned led by WACI Health spearheaded follow up with a number of donor governments with target letters from civil society to embassies to call on strong support for the GFF. In addition, they launched The GFF Wall of Fame, a virtual platform which aims to highlight and celebrate GFF successes, including: donor commitments, country government commitments, CSO and youth contributions to results in GFF countries, and other GFF progress and they we’re able to see strong support for this campaign through online hashtags circulating including #GFFWallofFame and #TheGFFWeWant.   
  • ACTION including participants from REF, Results Canada, WACI Health and the ACTION Secretariat joined a meeting hosted by the Gates Foundation on the GFF Resource Mobilization Campaign that included representatives from the World Bank, GFF, Save the Children and Global Citizens. During the meeting, the GFF Secretariat shared updates on the amount of resources mobilized and plans for the remainder of the year. ACTION led the conversation with updates on resource mobilization efforts in various markets and momentum created by the GFF We Want Campaign. We discussed potential key moments to leverage and ACTION partners committed to following up with existing resources we’ve been using in our campaign efforts so others can use as well.  

The ICAN MLFWG met with the GFF Secretariat to discuss ways to leverage the N4G moment to garner additional financing for the GFF Resource Mobilization Campaign and gain insight into the Nutrition Road Map for the GFF that would establish goals and strategies to embed nutrition more significantly in the GFF. At the N4G Summit hosted by Japan, the GFF launched a Nutrition Road Map to help tackle the nutrition crisis in many of the world’s poorest countries and save 1 million lives through nutrition investments. The Road Map can help deliver on the nutrition agenda and support countries to address the significant impact that COVID-19 has had on essential health services and food systems.  

Nutrition:  

ACTION partner Focus Equality in Italy led the partnership’s efforts to influence the Italian G20 Presidency to prioritize nutrition, resulting in the G20 leaders’ declaration committing “to achieving food security and adequate nutrition for all, leaving no one behind.” Focus Equality and the ACTION Secretariat worked with Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), co-host of Think20 (T20), to influence the G20 Development Working Group on nutrition funding and policy. Together, we published the policy brief “Responsibility to Protect” and hosted a consultation with the Italian G20 Presidency and other key stakeholders timed to feed into the G20 Development Working Group held in May 2021. The strong support of these efforts played a key role in the Development Ministerial track establishing “food security and nutrition” as its number one priority in the Matera Declaration. Through the Matera Declaration, development and foreign affairs ministers recognized the toll of COVID-19 on nutrition (more than 100 million more people undernourished) and demanded “urgently needed actions” in the COVID-19 response and recovery to address hunger and malnutrition. In addition, the Matera Declaration mentions N4G first among the opportunities for “implementing this call to a global mobilization.” The leaders’ declaration endorsed the Matera Declaration and its Call to Action.  

RESULTS Japan prepared messaging and policy briefs to share with government officials and built up the ranks of the Diet Caucus on International Maternal and Child Nutrition. These efforts helped to secure the Caucus’s endorsement of RESULTS Japan’s bold ask of US$1 billion for nutrition.  

With the advocacy and support of KANCO and the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Association in Kenya (SUN CSA Kenya), the Kenya Parliamentary Caucus on Nutrition (“Champions for Nutrition”) was launched in January 2021 and, by June, had 34 members drawn from both the Senate and National Assembly. KANCO continued to engage these MP champions through meetings and a Parliamentary Dialogue on the United Nations Food Systems Summit and Nutrition for Growth in June 2021. The virtual meeting ensured that MPs from the Nutrition, Finance, and Agriculture Caucuses would be included in the coordination committees run by Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. These nutrition advocacy activities culminated in a national budget increase for nutrition and food security with the current budget allocation totaling Kshs60 billion, a 14.1% increase over the previous year.  

Child Health and Vaccines: 

ACTION partners helped to mobilize a total of US$8.1 billion for COVAX in ACTION partnership markets and kept up pressure for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines:  

  • In the U.S., RESULTS Educational Fund and allies pursued a campaign for a USD$4 billion emergency contribution to Gavi for COVAX. This campaign featured grassroots advocacy throughout the second half of 2020 with volunteers engaging congressional members and the media in their districts. The COVID Relief deal was signed into law in December 2020 with that $4 billion commitment, which made possible an initial USD$2 billion contribution to COVAX in February 2021 and a subsequent commitment to donate 500 million doses to COVAX in partnership with Pfizer and BioNTech announced in June 2021.  
  • With the urging of RESULTS Japan and civil society allies, the Government of Japan hosted the Gavi COVAX AMC Summit in June 2021. And, after months of advocacy by RESULTS Japan calling for Japan to be one of the top three donors for COVAX, in June, Japanese Prime Minister H.E. Suga Yoshihide announced an additional USD$800 million and approximately 30 million vaccine doses for COVAX, which brought Japan’s total pledge to COVAX to USD$1 billion.  
  • Working through the Italian G20 Presidency, Focus Equality engaged with key stakeholders including the Italian Ministry of Finance, CSOs, and Gavi to mobilize additional resources for COVAX through the Global Health Summit (GHS) in May 2021. At the summit, Italy pledged EU€300 million and 15 million doses by the end of 2021, increasing their total COVAX contributions to USD$ 470 million.  

MNCH and the GFF:

ACTION partner HDT developed a questionnaire administered to RMNCAH+N service recipients and providers in the 8 regions of GFF implementation to evaluate the impact of the GFF project. The data was collected at the beginning of 2021 in coordination with CSOs working on the GFF. This analysis was essential to informing the renewal for phase II of the GFF. Later in the year, HDT conducted a meeting with PoRALG - Health aimed at creating an understanding of the contribution of the GFF on Primary Health Care and how the GFF has increased access to RMNCAH services and prompted the government to share information on these performance indicators (which it had not done previously). Further advocacy led by HDT revealed that the Tanzanian Government had begun drafting youth-focused priorities, as informed by One Plan III for the renewal or phase II of the GFF project.  

ASAPSU organized a work session in Q4 of 2021 with in-country civil society members to analyze and review the GFF investment case that highlighted the aspects less financed by the Case, including preventive health. The meeting with Francophone and national CSO platforms on the GFF set up the advocacy plans for engaging with MPs after October. ASAPSU is helping lead this advocacy and recommendations drafted by Ivorian CSOs for the GFF replenishment and are working to present those recommendations to the GFF Secretariat.  

COVID-19  and #VaccinEquity:

ACTION partners mobilized resources in key donor markets and improved policies to help deliver on the pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), health systems, and the Global Fund COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM). Since the onset of the pandemic, partners have advocated tirelessly for an equitable international COVID-19 response that leaves no one behind, working with governments to leverage the maximum amount of resources through existing and supplemental budgets. This critical advocacy and resource mobilization included the following campaigns:  

  • #CanadianVotes: Organized by Results Canada, this campaign highlighted the urgent need to show electoral candidates that Canadians support an increase in Canadian international development aid and that they want to see a just global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.   
  • As a member of the Expert Report Advisory Group, Results Australia assisted in the development & publication of “A Shot Of Hope – Australia’s role in vaccinating the world against COVID-19.” This Report lays out the case for an ambitious, expansive, and intelligent investment to vaccinate the world and will be used as a key document in advocacy for specific outcomes at the G20, MYEFO, and the next Federal Election.  
  • GHA participated in a CSO meeting with the ACT-A Hub. GHA France along with other French CSOs leveraged the Global Citizen Live concert as an opportunity to increase ACT-A contributions.   
  • Global Health Advocates France, after working over months and years to build trust and confidence between civil society and policymakers, met with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the G7 Summit in June. They brought together CSOs to discuss the role that France and the international community can play in accelerating efforts to achieve vaccine equity.  
  • RESULTS Japan worked with the Ministry of Finance to push the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen their commitment to health. The ADB has approved a US$2 million technical assistance (TA) grant — made possible by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction financed by the Government of Japan — to help select developing members prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 by expanding and integrating water, sanitation, hygiene, and health (WASH+H) approaches into ADB’s projects.  

Past Events:  

Resources:  

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