According to the WHO, 70 percent of global deaths are due to NCDs. The Bootcamp will focus on the four main killers: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases. The discussion on ‘humanitarian settings’ in the Bootcamp will focus on protracted crisis. These are by nature long-term, options for policy regulation are limited, health systems dysfunctional and large population groups are often, forcibly displaced. In these settings, good practices and ‘best buys’ identified for LMICs and stable situations may be difficult to apply. At the same time, current tools and standards for emergencies and humanitarian action may not be sufficient. Civil society, however, often play a key role in mobilising resources, engaging in
partnerships, generating evidence, and in delivering services on the ground.

The bootcamp will be hosted by project partners (DRC, NCDFREE and University of
Copenhagen) as well as IFRC and facilitated by the consultancy company Sustainia.
 

Aim

Youth can be a powerful force of social change. Therefore, the Bootcamp aims to
mobilise young leaders (professionals, researchers and advocates) from civil society to join forces in advancing ‘NCDs in humanitarian settings’ as a prominent global health and policy agenda. Concretely, the Bootcamp will provide a platform for young leaders from civil society to:

• Achieve a shared understanding of the specific challenges, needs and opportunities related to NCDs in humanitarian settings.
• Develop joint and bold policy asks and key messages on NCDs in humanitarian
  settings.
• Generate innovative advocacy and campaign ideas for promoting this agenda
  towards decision makers and influencers.
• Be empowered and inspired to address NCDs in humanitarian settings as part of the organisations they represent and throughout their careers.
• Forge new networks, coalitions and partnerships including to existing youth and
  civil society platforms on NCDs.

Outcome

The outputs of the bootcamp will be captured in an interactive outcome document that can be used as inspiration and reference for participating organisations and young leaders to further advocate on NCDs in humanitarian settings in the lead-up to the UNHLM on NCDs in
September 2018 and beyond.

The interactive outcome document will capture in particularly the policy asks, key massages and innovative ideas for advocacy and campaigns as well as specific ‘commitment to actions’ by the participants of the Bootcamp. It will also summarize, as background, the scope of the NCD challenges in humanitarian settings and highlight existing good examples of how civil society addresses NCDs in local and global contexts.

Outline and methodology

All participants will receive a background document prior to participating in the event. This will outline the scope of the problem and key operational challenges in addressing NCDs in humanitarian settings based on interviews with key informants and a literature review. It will ensure that all participants arrive with the same basic knowledge of the issues to be discussed.

The Bootcamp is designed to ensure an engaging and inspiring environment. The program will alternate between plenum presentations and smaller group exercises. Engaging ‘TED Talk’-style presentations will be held by a curated line up of emerging and established speakers, and there will be immersive ‘incubator exercises’ where participants will work with the challenges and tasks they have been presented. The outcome of the ‘incubator exercises’ will be shared with the other participants as well as presented for a diverse panel for feedback and support to potential next steps. The group exercises will be organised around six themes:

1. Access to treatment
2. Continuity of care - people on the move
3. Addressing risk factors in the community
4. Preparedness
5. Research and evidence
6. Financing and partnerships

The speakers will be inspirational specialists within their field and will highlight the key challenges related to these themes. They will communicate and articulate complex and technical issues in short, visual and engaging ways. The participants will get a chance to add their own experience and insights in the following group exercises. The outcome of the first day will be outlining the key priorities and policy asks reflecting the discussions. The second day will build directly on the discussions of the first day. Based on inspirational talks highlighting the power of civil society and youth as advocates for social change, the participants will be challenged to come up with innovative advocacy and campaign ideas, which will bring NCDS in humanitarian settings more firmly onto the global health and policy agenda. Donors, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders will be invited to qualify the outputs, which will finalize day 2.

To ensure a dynamic environment with high-energy, activities like mindfulness, yoga and outside walks are integrated into the program. To foster connections, strong networks, and partnerships, a social dinner will be held on the first evening.

Beyond the Bootcamp

2018 promises a boost to the NCD agenda with the UNHLM and other high-level events. The Bootcamp and its outputs will contribute to ensuring that NCDs in humanitarian settings is brought into these discussions by engaging participants who are already engaged in these processes. It will, however, require longer time engagement of many actors as well as
further awareness raising both within humanitarian and health organisations, donors and at the political level to place this issue firmly on the global health agenda. The Bootcamp represents one step on this journey. When participants leave the room, it will be up to them to promote and advocate as is fitting with their interests and mandate. The organising partners (DRC, NCDFREE, KU) have already committed to pursue this agenda beyond the Bootcamp either by operational initiatives and partnerships, exploring research opportunities or in further advocacy. The Bootcamp will provide more concrete suggestions and action points for how to move forward. The hope is that more individuals and organisations will make similar commitments as result of the Bootcamp.