The Fellowship is due to begin in February 2026 and will run throughout 2026.
This expression of interest form is open to early stage lived experience advocates, with less than three years of advocacy experience, who are affiliated with NCD Alliance full or associate member organisations only, including national and regional NCD alliances. Please read the eligibility and selection criteria below carefully before applying. To apply for this opportunity, please complete the online application form, which includes a video response and a letter of support.
Background
NCD Alliance and people living with NCDs launched the Our Views, Our Voices initiative in 2017 to ensure that people living with NCDs are at the heart of decision-making processes for the NCD response. The initiative is dedicated to promoting the meaningful involvement of people living with NCDs in the NCD response and supporting and enabling individuals to share their views and experiences to act and drive change. It also seeks to advance the rights of people living with NCDs and to combat stigma and discrimination.
The first Our Views, Our Voices consultation, undertaken in 2017, shaped the Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs, which was built with the first-hand experiences, and recommendations of nearly 2000 people living with NCDs from 76 countries. Since its launch, resounding calls to put people living with NCDs at the forefront of the NCD response have been made across the globe. Taking this a step forward, in 2021, the NCD Alliance developed the Global Charter on Meaningful Involvement of People Living with NCDs which calls for formal mechanisms of involvement in organisational practices across different sectors.
In 2023, the WHO launched the Framework for meaningful engagement of people living with NCDs, mental health and neurological conditions, recognising the value and importance of lived experience and promoting incorporation of a rights-based approach to policy development, planning and programme implementation.
Most recently the Political Declaration of the fourth High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4) referred for adoption in September 2025, recognises the vital role of lived experience engagement throughout the development of national plans and policies and the unique experiences and expertise of people with lived experience. As the impact of meaningfully involving people living with NCDs throughout the NCD policy cycle receives increasing global recognition, there are a growing number of opportunities and platforms for lived experience advocates to share their day-to-day realities of NCDs and recommend actions to accelerate progress on NCD prevention and control. This increasing global recognition presents an opportunity to provide a fellowship for early-stage lived experience advocates to build their confidence to share their knowledge, expertise and skills.
Our Views, Our Voices Fellowship Objectives
The Our Views, Our Voices Fellowship is a new program launched under the Our Views, Our Voices Initiative, focused on supporting early-stage lived experience advocates to drive action on NCDs locally and globally. The Our Views, Our Voices Fellowship will provide development opportunities and access to resources and networks. The Fellowship aims to strengthen lived experience advocates‘ confidence knowledge and skills to advocate for action on NCDs.
In 2026, the Fellowship will be available to four, early-stage lived experience advocates (under 3 years of experience), who show a proven commitment to advocacy and clear leadership qualities, but who have not yet had regional or global exposure. Through the Our Views, Our Voices Fellowship, NCD Alliance will support up to four selected advocates to share their stories and develop their advocacy expertise in impactful ways by providing each Fellow with:
- Access to development opportunities: Structured training and development opportunities for Fellows to build their skills, capacities and work towards their advocacy goals.
- Access to networks and technical resources: Access to the Our Views, Our Voices and NCD Alliance networks and resources, tailored to the Fellows’ interests and advocacy goals, and access to other lived experience experts, to maximise the impact of their Fellowship.
- Access to in-person advocacy opportunity: Fully funded, in person or virtual participation in at least one advocacy opportunity or event.
Eligibility
This opportunity is designed for early-stage lived experience advocates, with less than three years of advocacy experience, affiliated with an NCD Alliance full or associate member organisation, who demonstrate a strong commitment to advocacy and show leadership potential, but who have not yet had the opportunity to engage in regional or global opportunities (e.g. convenings, events or conferences) or serve on regional or global advisory groups, steering committees etc.
Fellowship commitment overview
- Actively participate in development opportunities facilitated by NCDA
- Participate in meaningful involvement opportunities to share lived experience expertise
- Work toward their advocacy goals and seek support as needed
- Willingness to attend, participate in, and learn from global policy discussions and advocacy moments
- Submit a completion report of activities undertaken during the Fellowship cycle
Please note, a connectivity payment will be provided to Fellows and all costs related to in-person advocacy opportunities as part of the Fellowship, will be covered by NCDA, including travel costs, accommodation, insurance and a per-diem.
Time commitment
The Fellowship is expected to begin in February and run throughout 2026.
Selected fellows are expected to commit to spending up to 2 hours each week to advancing their advocacy goals and participating in Fellowship activities. This includes a monthly call with NCDA (60 minutes) along with possible additional time spent participating in virtual trainings, webinars and engaging with learning materials and resources.
The first development opportunity will be participation in the Our Views, Our Voices virtual training on building a public narrative, which will take place in late February 2026, and fellows will be expected to commit to approximately 4 hours a week over a 4-week period of online learning. During the year, fellows will also be required to take part in one in-person advocacy engagement, which may take place internationally and could involve approximately five days of travel and participation.
We ask all applicants to carefully consider whether they can commit to these opportunities.
Selection process
Fellows will be selected via competitive selection. Applications will be reviewed by NCD Alliance and a review panel from the Our Views, Our Voices Global Advisory Committee. Selection will be based on equally weighted selection criteria and overall representativeness, ensuring diversity across conditions, gender and regions.
Selection criteria
Selection will be based on the following equally weighted selection criteria:
- Commitment to NCD advocacy: experience of NCD advocacy, campaigning, and/or promoting meaningful involvement of people living with NCDs and community engagement
- Leadership potential: examples of leadership qualities, including mobilising communities or networks and inspiring action toward shared goals
- Motivation: demonstrates clear motivation for participation in the Fellowship to further their advocacy goals
- Knowledge of civil society and NCD landscape: understanding of the civil society and NCD landscape in applicants’ country
- Potential for growth and impact: demonstrates the value the applicant will gain from the Fellowship experience and how they will apply this learning to advance their advocacy journey
Process for expressing interest
If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please use this form to submit your expression of interest by Monday 5th January 5pm GMT.
This application form includes a question to be answered via a short video response (1-1.5 minutes).
In addition to completing the online application form, your application must include a supporting letter of recommendation from an NCD Alliance full or associate member organisation. This letter should be up to 300 words and should be emailed directly by the person providing the recommendation to [email protected] and [email protected] with the subject line: Fellowship letter of support- [Applicant name].
Applicants will be contacted by email regarding the outcome of their application approximately one month after the closing date of the expression of interest.
If you have any questions, please contact the NCD Alliance:
