The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) organised a Capacity Development workshop, in collaboration with the NCD Alliance in Amman, Jordan, on 15-16 August 2016. The workshop was held in line with the recommendation of the Regional Meeting on Strengthening Partnership with Civil Society Organisations for the Prevention and Control of NCDs, held in Cairo, Egypt, on 1-2 September 2015, which recommends developing and conducting capacity-building training workshops for civil society organisations in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to assist in building the capacity of EMR civil society organisations active on NCD and those involved in emerging NCD alliances.

H.E. Ambassador Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of SESRIC, gave a brief on the situation of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in OIC Member Countries and highlighted the fact that non-communicable diseases caused 55.3% of all deaths in 2012 in OIC countries. Each year increasing number of people dies from non-communicable diseases in OIC Countries stemming from the common risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use, physical inactivity and eating unhealthy diets.

During the two days meeting, the NCD Alliance/WHO EMRO Capacity Development Workshop addressed the following topics:

• Increasing the ability of EMR NCD civil society to build effective NCD alliances and to engage in effective NCD advocacy;
• Supporting the establishment of effective national NCD alliances;
• Developing concrete mechanisms for increased civil society collaboration and coordination across EMR, including regional and/or sub-regional NCD alliances;
• Supporting national and regional advocacy planning.