Stewardship of the post-Lusaka Agenda global process: Issues and options Final report

The Lusaka Agenda launched in December 2023 on the International Day for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) captures consensus and provides a foundation for coordinated action around five key shifts for the long-term evolution of Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) and the wider global health ecosystem:

1. Make a stronger contribution to primary health care (PHC) by effectively strengthening systems for health
2. Play a catalytic role towards sustainable, domestically financed health services and public health functions
3. Strengthen joint approaches for achieving equity in health outcomes
4. Achieve strategic and operational coherence
5. Coordinate approaches to products, research and development, and regional manufacturing to address market and policy failures in global health.

This requires united and collective effort across stakeholder groups.  Partner coordination and alignment is key to support country leadership, priorities and systems, underpinned by mutual accountability.

As a contribution to this process, the Government of Norway (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norad) volunteered in June 2024 to undertake a rapid mapping of existing partnership platforms that could play an active role in support of some aspects of the Lusaka Agenda follow-up at global level.  The report “Stewardship of the post-Lusaka Agenda global process: Issues and options” collates the views of health stakeholders engaged in the Lusaka Agenda and its aftermath across the global health eco-system, so beyond the GHIs. The report crystallises the various global functions needed to take forward meaningful action around the five shifts agreed in the Lusaka Agenda at the global level. In doing so, the report nuances these perspectives, identifying where consensus exists among stakeholders and where there is currently a range of opinion that would benefit from more dialogue ahead of decision-making. The report pulls out major risks, many identified by stakeholders themselves. Sample options are presented to illustrate how coherence and function in support of the five shifts could be achieved but as these examples are based on a ‘mix and match’ approach they could be shaped in a number of directions depending on appetite and depth of commitment to tackling the fundamental issues driving the whole process.

The contents of the report were prepared by hera – right to health and development (www.hera.eu) – as part of an existing framework contract with Norad – the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The contents of the report do not necessarily reflect policies or views of the Norwegian government.