Carolyn Taylor, Founder and Executive Director at Global Focus on Cancer, shared on LinkedIn:
“Really honored to have been a part of this. The Symposium: Meaningful engagement of lived experience towards HLM4.
Through the WHO Symposium on Meaningful Engagement of People Living with NCDs, Mental Health and Neurological Conditions, lived experience advocates had a say in the preparatory process for the 2025 UN High-level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4).
- 329 people with lived experience and caregivers from 80 countries and territories participated in the three global gatherings from May 2024 to April 2025.
- A Steering Committee of nine lived experience advocates – selected through an equity-oriented process and remunerated – co-led the Symposium jointly with the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs.
- Key advocacy messages co-created by Symposium participants and speaking opportunities for lived experience advocates amplified the crucial role of lived experience as expertise in the HLM4 preparatory process.
A new project report discusses milestones, lessons learned, and how the Symposium may serve as a model to advance meaningful engagement in countries around the world.
You can also read: Lived Experience Hub: Patient Advocates Research Opportunity
