For the first time since the 2011 UN HL Summit on NCDs in New York national NCD Directors convened at WHO Headquarters in Geneva 15-17 February. The highly interactive meeting based on a variety of breakout sessions provided an opportunity for exchange of good practice and strategising among peers on how to accelerate efforts to implement the four time-bound national commitments for 2015 and 2016 included in the 2014 UN Outcome Document on NCDs ahead of the 2018 High-Level NCD Review.

Several topic-specific Communities of Practice will be established at the regional, sub-regional and national level to continue the work initiated at the meeting. 

In order to facilitate exchange between the NCD Directors, civil society, academia and the private sector, the WHO GCM/NCD in collaboration with the NCD Alliance and the World Economic Forum organized two events on the sidelines of the meeting.

A variety of stakeholders from across the world, including the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, the Tanzania NCD Alliance, several of the NCD Alliance Federations and partners, and the NCD Alliance team, presented on initiatives and tools to help advance the NCD response at the country level.