6 March 2014: The co-facilitators of UN General Assembly (UNGA) consultations on the process to review and assess progress in preventing and controlling Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have issued the zero draft on a High-Level Meeting. Benedicte Frankinet, Permanent Representative of Belgium, and Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica, invite Member States to provide feedback on the proposed scope and modalities, on 18 March 2014.

The draft proposes that: on scope, the High-level Meeting will take stock of progress in implementing the Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, identify gaps, and reaffirm the political commitment to respond to the challenge of NCDs; on format, the Meeting will consist of four consecutive round-tables chaired at the Ministerial or senior level, framed by an opening and a closing plenary, and result in a concise, focused, action-oriented document; and the overall theme of the round-tables will be: “Taking stock of progress in implementing the Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases and scaling up of multistakeholder and national multi-sectoral responses to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.” The proposed dates of the High-Level Meeting are 10-11 July 2014.

In addition, the decision would request the UNGA President to organize an informal interactive hearing with NGOs, civil society organizations, the private sector and academia to provide input to the review and assessment. [Proposed General Assembly Decision]