Nature for Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund

State of implementation/results

• N4H Partners meetings held monthly, SC meetings quarterly, TAG meetings once every two months.
• The Secretariat coordinated and consolidated six project narrative reports to provide MPTFO with the 2024 annual narrative report.
• The Secretariat provided feedback documents from Secretariat and TAG on three IPDs for Mongolia, Ecuador and Vietnam. A bilateral meeting with WOAH was organized to elaborate and provide further clarities on the feedback and next steps for WOAH to revise the submitted IPD via Gateway. The Secretariat also provided Gateway trainings, upon request, to help Partner focal points navigate and fill out Gateway IPDs.
• As the initial TAG members had completed their two-year term in 2025, the Secretariat initiated a review and recruitment process to appoint new members and reappoint some of the current members for the second term of the TAG from April to September 2025. In addition to seven active TAG members who are reappointed for 2025-2027, the Secretariat reviewed and prepared a shortlisted of candidates who can complement the geography and technical expertise gaps of the current TAG, especially with biodiversity and climate change expertise. Following evaluation of the 10 applicants who were interested in serving as TAG members, the N4H SC selected three candidates to serve the next two-year term on the TAG.
• Ghana: Following the withdrawal of EcoHealth Alliance (ECA) from N4H and the Ghana N4H project, the N4H Secretariat embarked on a process to replace the organisation with one of the other N4H partners. In August 2025, the N4H Steering Committee approved UNDP and IUCN as co-convening partners for the project in Ghana. Subsequently, UNDP and IUCN requested for additional funding to complete the revision of the Implementation Project Document in anticipation of approval and implementation of the full project.
• UNDP and WOAH have submitted their Implementation Project Documents (IPD) for Ecuador and Mongolia, respectively, through the MPTFO Gateway.
• Vietnam: IUCN organized a few meetings with the Secretariat and MPTFO to complete an Implementation Project Document at the MPTFO Gateway from April to May. In the meantime, IUCN Vietnam country team presented N4H Vietnam project at a webinar organised by the International Alliance against Health Risks in Wildlife Trade on 27 August. The webinar discussed on the impact of snaring, livestock grazing, and illegal wildlife trade on biodiversity and zoonotic disease risks in Viet Nam.
• Ruanda: Over the past six months, the Rwanda Nature for Health (N4H) scoping phase has seen gradual and growing national ownership from both the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Environment (MoE), alongside strong collaboration with the WHO Country Office, WHO Regional Office for Africa, and WHO Headquarters. The project continues to engage a wide range of national institutions, including the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), national parks authorities, and academic partners. Building on the first three national workshops, the project has focused on laying the groundwork for the final scoping workshop now scheduled for 6–10 October 2025. A context-specific situation analysis is being conducted by the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), including new stakeholder interviews to assess zoonotic disease risks of pandemic potential, ecosystem pressures, and policy gaps. Weekly coordination meetings of a dedicated Core Team, comprising MoH, MoE, UGHE, WHO Country Office, and WHO HQ - have facilitated shared leadership and ensured alignment with national priorities and technical frameworks, also in coordination with WHO regional office for Africa.
• The project has adopted a systemic, intersectoral approach throughout. While early engagement from MoH was strong, MoE’s active participation has steadily increased, addressing an important gap identified in the initial workshops. Key efforts are also underway to engage local and subnational actors and ensure inclusion of voices across Rwanda’s One Health platform. The IPD currently under development is expected to be finalized for submission by November 2025. It will align with Rwanda’s national development strategies and WHO’s global frameworks, including the Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health, the Global Plan of Action on Climate Change and Health, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, applying a One Health lens focused on primary prevention at source throughout. Challenges included procurement and contracting delays, budget constraints due to austerity measures, and coordination difficulties across institutions managing multiple parallel priorities. These were mitigated through streamlined communications, sustained weekly coordination calls, and leveraging of long-standing institutional partnerships. A key lesson has been the importance of early and consistent investment in interministerial coordination and trust-building to sustain momentum and enable effective delivery across sectors.
• Zambia: Following the withdrawal of Zambia from N4H in February 2025, the N4H Steering Committee approved Kenya as a replacement country for phase 1. UNEP has submitted the final narrative report and financial report to pave the way for operational closure of the project.
• Kenya: The first meeting with the core steering group took place online on Wednesday 27th September. This group consists of representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute, Ministry of Environment Climate Change and Forestry, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, University of Nairobi, Kenya Wildlife Services and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute. The core team brings together the government stakeholders from the 1st EOI and the 2nd EOI submitted by Kenya. During the online meeting, background was provided on the EoIs, the N4H objectives were shared and the expected next steps for the scoping phase of the N4H in Kenya were discussed, including their time commitment expectations. The next in person meeting is scheduled for September 19th, it will be hosted by the National Public Health Institute. The objective of that meeting is to have the Scoping report and Project Preparation Phase document discussed and if the suggestions are agreed upon, the endorsement of those documents will enable for UNEP to receive the funding for Kenya Scoping phase.
• GAPBH/SCBD: The CBD Secretariat completed and submitted a Scoping Project Document (SPD) on CBD’s Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health in April 2025. Furthermore, a first draft of indicators has been developed with expert support. Through the past and current activities, the SCBD has sought to engage a wide range of experts from several organizations, including but not limited to those from the Quadripartite on One Health. This is important to ensure that the products that will be developed are cover the diverse views of other stakeholders who have an important role to play in the implementation of One Health, biodiversity and health linkages and pandemic prevention. A draft proposal for a side event for UNEP 7 (MEA pavilion) has been submitted. If approved, this will allow the SCBD and partners to use this as an opportunity to promote the Global Action Plan, in line with this project’s activities.

Latest Update:
12/2025