Civil society feedback on the Zero Draft of the 2023 Political Declaration on UHC
The 2023 UN High-Level (HLM) Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) provides countries and all stakeholders with the opportunity to not just recommit to UHC but take concrete actions toward building resilient and equitable health systems. While some progress has been made since the 2019 HLM on UHC that resulted in a comprehensive Political Declaration, more than half of the world’s population still lacks access to essential health services. The situation was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the UHC2030 Co-Chairs recently stated in their reflection on the UHC Political Declaration 2023 Zero Draft, Member States must show political leadership and “move from commitment to action”. Following the release of the zero draft of the political declaration, the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (CSEM) launched a survey to collect feedback from civil society to identify priorities for strengthening the zero draft, and ultimately, the Political Declaration. Over the span of three days, the survey collected over 100 responses from 34 countries across 6 continents. While the feedback we received cannot be generalized as representative of the views of all civil society organizations, it highlights key areas of the zero draft that need further strengthening and consideration. We encourage civil society to continue to use the UHC2030 Action Agenda and the priorities below in their ongoing advocacy efforts at the country, regional and global level.