Kikundi’s Neglected Tropical Disease Advocacy Framework

October 2025 marks the launch of “Kikundi’s Neglected Tropical Disease Advocacy Framework” developed by Kikundi and Speak Up Africa, developed to support NTD Program Managers in Africa to implement effective advocacy and resource mobilization strategies.

Launched during the Neglected Tropical Diseases NGO Network (NNN) conference in October 2025, this guide is the culmination of a consultative process with national and global NTD experts, in particular African NTD Program Managers belonging to the Kikundi Community of Practice, which identified the urgent need for additional guidance and support to develop and implement advocacy and resource mobilization strategies.

Given the changes to the global health funding landscape, especially the announcement of the reduction in US government development funding in early 2025, it is more critical than ever to equip endemic countries with the capacity to drive advocacy in support of NTD control and elimination strategies.

The guide provides detailed information on the different possible avenues to enhance NTD financing, how to develop a tailored advocacy plan, as well as guidance on developing messages to support advocacy efforts. The step-by-step guidance is accompanied by easy and accessible tools and worksheets, which can be downloaded as a separate word document to facilitate use.

As well as this general guide on NTD advocacy financing, one of the key recurring requests during the consultative process was for specific guidance on private sector engagement at the national level, as this is seen to be one of the least well leveraged opportunities. As such, a separate brief on private sector engagement is also now available. 

While these resources were developed with a specific audience in mind – NTD Program Managers in Africa – they may also be useful to anyone working on NTD advocacy, resource mobilization, and strategic communications, and is therefore available publicly through the links below.

Kikundi and Speak Up Africa extend their sincere gratitude to all who have participated in the process of developing this guide, which we hope will serve to support the fight for an NTD-free Africa.

NTD Advocacy Framework

NTD Advocacy Framework: Tools and Worksheets

Private Sector Engagement Brief

Private Sector Engagement: Tools and Worksheets