The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life, as envisaged by 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are on the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners that can bring about results. The Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan and help countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, South-South and Triangular cooperation initiatives, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS supports UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan and will focus on strengthening institutions to progressively deliver universal access to basic services (outcome 3). The HIV, Health and Development Group (HHD), within BPPS, is helping to contribute towards this outcome. UNDP is a founding cosponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a partner of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and a co-sponsor of several other international health partnerships. UNDP’s work on HIV, health and development, as described in the HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016-2021: Connecting the Dots, leverages UNDP’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. UNDP delivers three types of support to countries in HIV, health and development. First, UNDP helps countries to mainstream attention to HIV and health into action on gender, poverty and the broader effort to achieve and sustain the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, UNDP works with countries to understand the social and economic factors that play a crucial role in driving health and disease, and to respond to such dynamics with appropriate policies and programmes outside the health sector. UNDP also promotes specific action on the needs and rights of women and girls as they relate to HIV. Second, UNDP works with partners to address the interactions between governance, human rights and health responses. Sometimes this is done through focused or specialized programmes, such as promoting attention to the role of the law and legal environments in facilitating stronger HIV responses, including the use of flexibilities in intellectual property law to lower the cost of drugs and diagnostics. UNDP also works to empower and include marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people living with HIV. Beyond these focused efforts, UNDP plays a key role in ensuring attention to HIV and health within broader governance and rights initiatives, including support to municipal action on SDGs, sustainable responses for Health and HIV such as improving sustainability of AIDS financing, sustainable health procurement, strengthening of national human rights institutions and increasing access to justice for key populations. Third, as a trusted, long-term partner with extensive operational experience, UNDP supports countries in effective implementation of complex, multilateral and multisectoral health projects, while simultaneously investing in capacity development so that national and local partners can assume these responsibilities over time. The UNDP/Global Fund partnership is an important part of this work, facilitating access to resources for action on SDG 3 by countries that face constraints in directly receiving and managing such funding. UNDP partners with countries in crisis/post-crisis situations, those with weak institutional capacity or governance challenges, and countries under sanctions. When requested, UNDP acts as temporary Principal Recipient in these settings, working with national partners and the Global Fund to improve management, implementation and oversight of Global Fund grants, while simultaneously developing national capacity to be able to assume the Principal Recipient role over time. Context The significant harms of tobacco use on developing countries are usually understood primarily through a health lens. This overlooks the extensive impact of tobacco on social, economic and environmental progress. Tobacco control is a development issue and its success relies on sectors such as commerce, trade, finance, justice and education working with the health sector to their mutual advantage. Significantly increased investments are necessary to meet Sustainable Development Goal targets 3 on NCD prevention. These investments will need to rely primarily on domestic public finance. Tobacco taxation (i.e. WHO FCTC Article 6) was specified in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development for its potential to reduce the health burden and associated costs of tobacco use while and generating significant revenue for countries to finance their development priorities. Raised tobacco excise taxes, along with the multiple other interventions outlined across the WHO “Best Buys”, are some of the most cost-effective and proven health and development interventions. Yet, perceived incentive conflicts amongst government sectors, particularly between the health and economic sectors, remain a barrier to its implementation and to implementation of the treaty broadly. To support increased investments in NCDs and to facilitate stronger coordination across governments, the UN has been invited to assist countries in quantifying the significant costs of the status quo – to the health sector and the economy at large – against the investments and benefits of scaled up action. The ability of governments – especially ministries of health – to make a compelling, evidence-informed advocacy case for NCD implementation is crucial for reversing the trend of more and younger people falling ill, living with chronic and debilitating conditions, being unable to participate in labour markets, and dying of diseases stemming from tobacco use, cardiovascular disease, obesity and cancer. UNDP and WHO are simultaneously responding to country demand for investment cases on NCDs. Given the significant overlap between the issues of tobacco control and NCDs, the consultant may contribute to the work of both investment cases, should a Government request that both be delivered simultaneously. UNDP’s work on health and development leverages the organization’s core strengths and mandates in human development, governance and capacity development to complement the efforts of specialist health-focused UN agencies. The emergence of NCDs as a development concern also presents governance, gender and human rights challenges that UNDP is well placed to help address, in collaboration with WHO, as the UN system lead on health, along with governments, civil society and private sector partners as appropriate. UNDP works closely with the Convention Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as well as the Inter-Agency Task Force for NCDs, particularly in supporting governance of NCD responses and helping Parties to implement Article 5 of the WHO FCTC, which pertains to national planning, governance structures and reducing tobacco industry interference in policymaking. UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan contains multiple entry points for UNDP’s engagement on NCDs, including: strengthening institutions and sectors to progressively deliver universal access to basic services; the importance of social, economic and environmental co-benefit analysis and planning; inclusive social protection; and whole-of-government/society initiatives and addressing inequalities. Overall Objective of the NCD investment cases The objective of this consultancy is to provide high quality technical support to UNDP in their work with WHO in developing a set of investment cases in low and middle-income countries and developing country-specific guidance for policymakers and technical professionals at international and country level for conducting future investment cases. The joint UNDP/WHO Investment Case team will undertake: - To meet with key stakeholders and sectors to discuss the purpose of the investment case, seek their inputs and ultimately secure the endorsement of the case.
- To provide an institutional context analysis as it relates to NCD prevention implementation in the country.
- To develop collect and analyse national health, economic and social data for input into the investment case.
- To brief the Government on how to use, adapt and update the prevention of NCDs.
Outputs of the mission - The Investment Case team in each country will undertake a desk review and one or two country missions for data collection, key informant interviews and policy analysis to deliver a tailored, compelling and clear case outlining the economic benefits of strengthening the NCD prevention implementation, and how that supports achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, utilizing context-specific policy options.
- During a detailed handover process, each country will receive the findings of the investment case in the following four deliverables:
- a brief report summarizing the Investment Case findings and integrating the institutional context analysis;
- infographics illustrating key messages;
- power-point presentation featuring the key messages; and
- excel-based economic model to be handed over to the Government in a detailed briefing session.
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