Our Impact Report
Welcome to our Impact Report. Explore the quality of our work and the change we have supported in the low- and middle-income country non-communicable disease arena over the years. Our impact is uncovered through numbers and narratives, visuals and storytelling. We will take a bird's-eye view of what we do and zoom in on the many faces that reflect the depth and breadth of our work. Enjoy!
"I am proud to present our second Impact Report, highlighting the change made possible through our programmes and advocacy workover the past two decades."
Leif Fenger Jensen,
Managing Director,
World Diabetes Foundation
Impact at scale
"Over the years, we have consistently asked ourselves what meaningful change really looks like in the context of diabetes and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries
"Over the years, we have consistently asked ourselves what meaningful change really looks like in the context of diabetes and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries. For us, it is about improving access to care where it is most needed, supporting countries in addressing pressing gaps, and ensuring that people living with diabetes are not left behind - regardless of where they live or the circumstances they face."
To date, WDF has supported 633 projects in 121 countries. 88 of these are ongoing projects.
Behind these numbers we find the partnering organisations that we support, the health systems that we help strengthen and the lives of individual people living with diabetes and other chronic diseases that we serve. To understand how our efforts support our mission to raise awareness and strengthen care and prevention of NCDs, we need to look beyond the numbers and dive into the changes that our funding has enabled.
Without attributing to WDF the positive changes that have happened in the global NCD arena the past two decades, we seek to show our impact through the contributions we have made.
Maybe you want to read this report from end to end, maybe you want to create your own journey through our impact.
We hope you will enjoy as you scroll down, read and click to explore WDF's levels of impact within care, prevention and advocacy for diabetes and other chronic diseases.
On this page
-
Jordan leading the way: Advancing NCD care in a humanitarian setting
-
The advocacy timeline: Highlights of WDF's impact on global policy for NCDs
Throughout this online-only report we unfold our impact with a focus on three levels of change:
-
Individual level: people living with, or at risk of developing, chronic diseases who are reached through our projects
-
Organisational level: organisations, institutions, communities, and local environments that influence individuals’ access to prevention and care within WDF-supported project areas
-
Systemic level: national and sub-national systems, policies, governance structures, and financing mechanisms that shape the prevention and care of chronic diseases
Impact stories
To get a more holistic picture of our impact, we need to look more closely at the changes that our support enables. Such as people living healthier lives, clinics providing better care, partners attracting more funding, and policymakers making diabetes a top priority.
Type 1 diabetes in Africa – Two decades of WDF impact
In Africa, children living with T1D face a particularly high risk of going mis- or undiagnosed and untreated. Even after diagnosis, the vast majority do not receive the necessary care. In sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that fewer than 1 in 4 people with a non-communicable disease (NCD) receive adequate treatment.
Since its inception, the World Diabetes Foundation has sought to address gaps in T1D care. We set out to transform care for children and young people with T1D, create sustainable access to expertise, and enable lasting change for families and communities across the region. Over time, we found that early capacity-building would drive sustainable impact for years - well beyond the end of the funding.
“Now, central hospitals have nurses rotating through our clinic, learning about diabetes management
“Now, central hospitals have nurses rotating through our clinic, learning about diabetes management. Through WDF and our partners, we have trained almost the whole country. This programme has truly changed the landscape for children and young people living with diabetes in Malawi.”
Dr Amos Msekandiana
Paediatric Endocrinologist
Malawi
Jordan leading the way:
Advancing NCD care in a humanitarian setting
Humanitarian crises take many forms. Some are sparked by sudden disasters - floods, earthquakes, and the collapse of infrastructure. Others unfold slowly, shaped by decades of political instability, forced migration, and deep-rooted poverty. Whether triggered by sudden disasters or chronic instability, displacement disrupts access to healthcare and essential medicines, leads to interruptions in treatment, and restricts opportunities for screening and healthy living.
This reality has become one of the most pressing public health challenges across the Middle East, a region shaped by successive waves of forced migration. In Jordan alone, more than 600,000 Syrian refugees are officially registered, with unofficial estimates reaching 1.2 million. This is on top of Jordan’s long-standing role as host to a large Palestinian refugee population, further underscoring the strain on national systems.
For years, the World Diabetes Foundation has been working closely with local partners to strengthen health systems to include NCD care for displaced populations, recognising that this is long-term work that requires sustained collaboration.
"We wanted to address NCDs properly
"We wanted to address NCDs properly. We took our sweet time, so that the end result was a really good one."
Amal Ireifij
Director General
Royal Health Awareness Society
Jordan
The impact of WDF's advocacy work
The global agenda on diabetes and NCDs has come a long way since WDF’s inception in 2002. From very limited acknowledgment of the emerging NCD burden in the early days, to diabetes and NCDs now being anchored in international frameworks and agreements. The past two decades reveal an evolution in the global recognition of and attention to NCDs - slowly but surely paving a path for diabetes and NCDs in policymaking at global, regional, and national levels.
Explore our interactive impact journey, where we seek to show an incredibly complex process in a simple manner. We list WDF's contribution to major global policy milestones on the one side and provide an overview of how the global NCD agenda has evolved on the other. The ambition is to give an impression of how our efforts in global, regional and local advocacy have played a role in influencing, informing, and advancing the global dialogue on NCDs over the years.
Building what lasts
"At WDF, sustainability has never been an afterthought
"At WDF, sustainability has never been an afterthought. It has been a cornerstone from the very beginning, guiding how we partner, the projects we support, and how we approach long-term change."
Ongoing projects in 2025
Without our partners, WDF would have no impact at all. Partnerships are the basis of everything that we do. Since our inception, the way we do our programmes has evolved. From small projects with many different partners, we have shifted to bigger projects with fewer partners.
Today we have 88 ongoing projects covering 52 countries.
Small drops and big waves:
How WDF programmes, advocacy and learning enable change
At WDF, we define impact as the effects our initiatives have on the lives of people with diabetes and related NCDs in low and middle-income countries. This includes both long-term systemic changes and short-term improvements that help enhance access to healthcare and increase opportunities for healthy living.
We take an ambitious approach to reporting on impact by combining quantitative impact data with qualitative deep dives exploring how WDF has been a catalyst for change in the field of diabetes and related NCDs in low- and middle-income countries.
