Case studies

Convening multi-stakeholder dialogues

Commitment 

  • In 2017, IARD re-started a working relationship with the WHO (after a 7 year gap) and co-convened 40 organisations for global consultations.
  • IARD engaged Wilton Park to act as a neutral convenor to understand what actions key public health stakeholders expected of the private sector.
  • The aim was to set up a global “challenge and response” mechanism to deliver on the UN mandate from the High Level meeting on NCDs 2018.

Innovation

  • Build a global level challenge and response mechanism based on the UK government’s “Responsibility Deal” from 2011-2014. 
  • Apply principles of conflict resolution to the issue of alcohol and harm by gathering all protagonists in a safe space to get a common understanding of the issues and required actions.


Collaboration

  • Working alongside and facilitated by Wilton Park (an Executive agency of the UK Foreign Office), 174 multi-sectoral stakeholders were convened (including academia, public health, UN agency, government, and NGOs) across 5 continents through a programme of 15 dialogues.


Leading to change
The dialogues resulted in: 

  • An improved understanding of the private sectors unique role in tackling the harmful use of alcohol.
  • A shared understanding of what constitutes harmful use of alcohol.
  • A set of 5 golden principles for future action for IARD companies to adhere to (signed off by CEOs).
  • New global standards for labelling, E-Commerce and influencer marketing.