Recent high-level dialogues — including the 2024 Global Technical Meeting on NCDs in Humanitarian Settings and the IFRC’s Global NCD Advocacy Bootcamp in 2025 — have underscored the urgency of embedding NCDs and mental health in global humanitarian agendas.

This hybrid side event at the 80th UN General Assembly, held ahead of the Fourth UN High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on NCDs and Mental Health, provides a platform to amplify crisis-affected voices, highlight scalable solutions, and align stakeholders to ensure humanitarian contexts are included in the forthcoming Political Declaration.

This event comes at a pivotal moment. NCDs account for 74% of global deaths, yet less than 2% of health financing is directed toward them — with humanitarian settings often excluded from preparedness, financing, and accountability frameworks. For over 120 million displaced people worldwide, the disruption of care caused by conflict, disasters, and fragile health systems turns manageable conditions into life-threatening emergencies.

The event will set the stage for the UNHLM, highlight the urgent need for NCD and mental health services in humanitarian settings, amplify the voices of affected people, showcase innovative country-led solutions, and mobilize global commitment for equitable and adequately financed care in crisis contexts.

By bringing together governments, UN agencies, humanitarian and health actors, research partners, and advocacy networks, this event will deliver clear, actionable messages to inform the UNHLM outcomes — driving stronger global commitment to equitable, inclusive, and adequately financed NCD and mental health care in crises.

This is a hybrid event — participants can join in person or virtually.