A Decade Of Advocacy For Fair And Smart Alcohol Taxation
Kristina’s foreword
Over ten years, alcohol taxation has moved from being a neglected policy option to a recognised quadruple-win solution – reducing harm, raising revenue, financing health and development, and promoting social justice.
Many stakeholders have stepped up and scaled up their work on alcohol taxation over this past decade, such as the WHO, the UN Interagency Taskforce on NCDs, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the OECD, and Vital Strategies through the RESET Alcohol Initiative.
Movendi International’s contribution to this progress has been to put the issue on the agenda at the highest levels of global health and development decision-making when no one else did, to translate evidence into action, to empower and inspire advocates, to mobilise civil society, and to support governments at every level.
Our contribution also lies in exposing, counter-acting, and overcoming alcohol industry interference against alcohol taxation at all levels. We do this together with our members and partners by revealing alcohol industry lies and other practices that pollute the public discourse and mislead policy makers and by informing the public discussion about the support for and benefits of raising alcohol taxes.
Our alcohol taxation advocacy story is one of value-based persistence, collaboration, and justice: a decade of advocacy that shows how civil society can help shape global health and development priorities and create real change for people and communities.
Over the past decade, we have shown that when civil society persists with values-based advocacy, even neglected solutions like alcohol taxation can rise to the top of the global agenda. Together with our members and partners, we have turned evidence into action, countered industry interference, and built a movement that proves alcohol taxation is both a public health measure and a catalyst for fairness, justice, and sustainable development.”
Kristina Sperkova, International President, Movendi International
In a Decade: From Neglected Solution to Global Priority
Over the last decade, Movendi International has shaped the discourse and set the policy agnda for alcohol taxation. Movendi International has worked with our members and partners around the world to make alcohol taxation the global health and development priority it should be.
Step by step, through persistence, collaboration, and values-driven advocacy, alcohol taxation has moved from the margins of global health and development discussions to the center stage.
2015 – Advocacy for alcohol taxation in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda
Movendi International kicked off the systemic advocacy initaitive to make alcohol taxation the priority it should be with a landmark report jointly published with the East African Alcohol Policy Alliance ahead of the 3rd Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa. The report “Alcohol Taxation – A Win-Win Measure For Financing Development” for the first time presented compelling and comprehensive evidence of how raising alcohol taxes contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Based on the report, Movendi International advocated with governments and UN agencies to include alcohol taxation in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development (AAAA). These efforts were not successful – as only tobacco taxation was included in the AAAA – despite the evidence Movendi had presented about the potential of alcohol taxation for financing development and reaching the SDGs.
This was a setback moment: it showed the persisting tobacco control exceptionalism and the magnitude of making alcohol taxation the priority it should within evidence-based public health and sustainable development policy making.
2016 – Launching the Resource Center on Alcohol Taxation
To sustain momentum and empower more advocacy for alcohol taxation around the world, Movendi launched the online Resource Hub for Alcohol Taxation, which has since grown to nearly 700 knowledge articles.
The purpose was and is to provide resources to empower advocates, governments, and journalists with accessible, evidence-based tools in a field long dominated by alcohol industry narratives.
The Resource Hub for Alcohol Taxation offers state of the art country best practices, latest scientific evidence, and stories to inform the public discourse.
2017 – Engaging WHO leadership and expanding the evidence base
In 2017, Movendi International leaders met with newly elected WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to make the case for a joint global initiative on alcohol taxation.
The idea for such an initiative was borne out of feedback from countries Movendi supported in alcohol policy development and a similar existing initiative for tobacco taxation – as the country need for technical support in raising alcohol taxes became ever clearer.
Movendi International published a pioneering resource on alcohol taxation for the SDGs, showing how well-designed excise taxes are a catalyst for multiple wins: reducing harm, raising revenue, financing health and social programs, and promoting equity because raising alcohol excise taxes directly benefits 10 SDGs, such as poverty eradication (SDG 1), good health for all (SDG 3), quality education (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12), peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16), and additional financing for the SDGs (SDG 16).
2018 – “The movement starts here”
Movendi International succeeded in placing alcohol policy on the global agenda by organising the first ever high-level alcohol policy side event at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 73). This side event was a successful collaboration between Slovenia, Movendi, and WHO, with support from countries from around the world, such as Estonia, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, Thailand, , the Philippines, Suriname, and Sweden.
In the event, Movendi brought together H.E. Maithripala Sirisena, the President of Sri Lanka, five ministers, and other high-level representatives from countries and civil society.
At the side event, WHO launched the SAFER initiative and technical package – with taxation as one of its five evidence-based high-impact alcohol policy measures – a milestone where our advocacy played a crucial role.
The event was a historic achievement that clearly expressed the need of countries and civil society around the world for more accelerated action on alcohol harm as a health and development priority. In her closing remarks, Prof. Ilona Kickbusch said “the movement starts here” referring to the global binding treaty for alcohol and call from the meeting for alcohol policy to become the priority it should be.
2019 – Mainstreaming alcohol taxation into global health and development debates
In 2019, at the Prince Mahidol Award Conference, Movendi International hosted a side event “The Economics of Alcohol Prevention: Beating NCDs and Promoting Socio-Economic Development” together with the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, the Stop Drink Network, Thailand, the Alcohol and Drug Information Center (ADIC), Sri Lanka, and the IOGT-NTO Movement, Sweden.
The event connected alcohol policy in general and alcohol taxation in particular to broader socio-economic development, helping to shift alcohol policy firmly into global health and development debates.
PMAC is named after Prince Mahidol of Songkla, who is considered the “Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand.” The conference attracts ministers, WHO leadership, UN agencies, academics, civil society, and philanthropic organisations. PMAC serves as a neutral platform for high-level policy dialogue on priority global health issues. The aim is to connect evidence, policy, and practice – and to influence the global health agenda by providing recommendations that often feed into WHO, UN, and G7/G20 processes.
2020 – Pioneering fund-raising for alcohol taxation advocacy
In 2020, despite the challenges of the pandemic, Movendi International broke new ground by securing the first-ever philanthropic funding for alcohol taxation advocacy. Movendi International President Kristina Sperkova successfully completed the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubator and successfully secured the first ever philanthropic funding from the Effective Altruism community for alcohol taxation advocacy.
Through the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubator and support from the Effective Altruism community, we were able to establish a sustainable funding base for the Center for Alcohol Policy Solutions (CAPS). This was a game-changer: it allowed us to move from ad-hoc advocacy to systematic, long-term support one country and civil society to advance evidence-based, fair, and modern alcohol taxation.
2021 – Global Recognition as leading alcohol policy advocacy engine
Movendi International received the UN Interagency Task Force Award for our alcohol policy advocacy, including our advocacy initiative for making alcohol taxation the priority it should be.
This global recognition validated Movendi’s advocacy approach and showed how far alcohol policy advocacy had reached in the NCDs prevention and global health promotion space.
2021 – Launching CAPS and initiating an alcohol policy investment case
Building on the momentum of the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubator, Movendi International launched the Center for Alcohol Policy Solutions (CAPS) as a dedicated hub for technical support and strategic advocacy on alcohol taxation. CAPS commenced systematic work for raising alcohol excise taxes in Sri Lanka and initiaited work to develop investment cases that demonstrated the economic logic of improving alcohol polocy, including alcohol taxation.
With philanthropic funding secured for CAPS, we scaled up and levelled up our efforts of providing direct support to governments and civil society.
With CAPS, we contributed foundational work support alcohol tax increases in Sri Lanka and supported advocacy in other countries around the world.
2022 – Major alcohol policy milestones and new initiatives
In 2022, Movendi International advocacy contributed to the landmark adoption of the WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan, ensuring taxation was highlighted as a high-impact alcohol policy solution.
Movendi advocacy from 2017 to 2019 had been pivotal in bringing back alcohol policy in the agenda of the WHO governing bodies. In close collaboration with champion member states, Movendi International and several of our members contributed to the inclusion of alcohol policy in the agenda of alcohol policy in 2019 to review the implementation fo the WHO Global Alcohol Strategy on the way forward. This led to a decision that a new Global Alcohol Action Plan was necessary to ensure the implementation of the Global Alcohol Strategy.
With the new action plan, Member States made alcohol policy a public health priority and called for accelerated action.
Later in 2022, the WHO European region was first to adopt a regional framework of the Global Alcohol Action Plan – that also had alcohol taxation as a focus area.
WHO Europe launched its Signature Initiative on Alcohol Taxation – something Movendi advocacy had contributed to. This initiative embeds fiscal policy at the heart of regional health policy.
And Vital Strategies, with Movendi as key partner, launched the RESET Alcohol Initiative.
The RESET Alcohol Initiative is a global initiative that brings together national governments, civil society, researchers, and leaders in public health and alcohol policy to implement three alcohol best-buy policies from the World Health Organisation’s SAFER technical package for alcohol policy: increasing taxation, regulating availability and restricting marketing. RESET Alcohol provides financial, technical, communication and advocacy support to governments, civil society organizations and research institutions, primarily in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
In 2023, at UNGA 78, we co-organised another high-level side event showcasing alcohol policy country successes.
2023 – Regional uptake and global platforms
In the African region, countries adopted the WHO AFRO “Framework for Implementing the Global Alcohol Action Plan“, embedding alcohol taxation into regional guidance. Movendi International and our members in the African had advocated for such a regional alcohol strategy since the first attempt had stalled a decade ago.
In 2023, the UN Sustainable Development Report addressed the role of alcohol taxation – an important recognition of the potential of alcohol taxation for development and for financing development. Movendi has been advocating for this type of recognition since 2015.
At the UN General Assembly’s 78th session, Movendi co-organised another landmark high-level side event showcasing country experiences and reinforcing alcohol taxation as a financing tool for health and development.
Movendi International scaled up technical support for alcohol taxation advocacy by conducting an increasing number of in-person and online capacity-building workshops and providing on-demand technical assistance, policy and issue briefs, and supporting government champions.
2024 – Consolidating the global agenda
At both the UNGA 79 High-Level Side Event and the WHA 76 High-Level Side Event on alcohol policy, Movendi and partner countries kept alcohol taxation on the agenda of global health and development decision-makers.
More countries implemented reforms, demonstrating the real-world impact of years of advocacy and technical support.
As part of the RESET Alcohol Initiative, Movendi International further levelled up technical support for alcohol taxation advocacy by civil society, guiding the development of advocacy strategies, conducting trainings, documenting and exposing alcohol industry practices, and providing timely advocacy and technical advice.
2025 – The breakthrough moment: 3×35 Initiative and Dr. Tedros’ leadership
Movendi International continued to scale up technical support for values-based alcohol policy advocacy, especially alcohol taxation advocacy, launching new advocacy resources, conducting capacity-building workshops, and providing on-demand advocacy and technical advice.
In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of health, academia, civil society, and UN partners successfully validated the alcohol policy investment case – that CAPS had brought underway in 2021.
By 2025, the momentum had culminated in WHO’s 3×35 Initiative – supporting governments to raise the real prices of alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks by at least 50% by 2035. Backed by Movendi International and other global partners, the initiative aims to prevent 50 million premature deaths, generate $1 trillion in revenue, and reduce harm from noncommunicable diseases. The initiative marks a major step forward in global alcohol policy and offers a roadmap for health and development.
Movendi International was among the earliest advocates for such bold commitments.
Compared to 2015 and 2017 (see above) there is a clear shift in political commitment at the highest levels of WHO to raising alcohol taxes. Dr. Tedros himself is now and finally explicitly promoting alcohol taxation as one of the most effective and fair tools governments can adopt. For Movendi and our members, this was both a validation of a decade of work and a springboard for the future.
This meant a full-circle moment: from the setback in 2015 when alcohol taxation was excluded from the outcome document of the 3rd Financing for Development Conference, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, despite our advocacy, to 2025 when alcohol taxation was included in the outcome document of the 4th Financing for Development Agenda, the Compromiso de Sevilla; and from our first conversation with Dr. Tedros in Montevideo in 2017, to hearing him now explicitly champion alcohol taxation as one of the fairest and most effective solutions shows that alcohol taxation has now found its place on the global health and development agenda.
Country progress on alcohol taxation
At the country level, we can see ever growing interest in raising alcohol taxes and escalating initiatives to implement evidence-based alcohol tax increases.
Concrete country cases
Multiple countries have raised alcohol excises taxes for public health benefits with the support of Movendi International and our members.
Three countries cases highlight our impact:
In Sri Lanka, our technical expertise and advocacy – through CAPS, RESET, and our local members and representatives – contributed to successful tax increases.
In Ghana, our technical expertise and advocacy support – through our local members and representatives – contributed to successful tax increases.
In Vietnam, our technical expertise and advocacy support to local partners contributed to successful tax increases.
Our members also helped secure alcohol tax reforms in Lithuania and Latvia.
Recent alcohol tax increases Movendi contributed to:
- In 2022, Movendi helped defend alcohol taxes in Lithuania.
- In 2023, Ghana raised alcohol taxes.
- In 2023, Sri Lanka raised alcohol tax.
- In 2023 the government of Latvia approved draft amendments to steadily raise excise tax rates.
- In 2024, Montenegro raised wine taxes.
- In 2024, Vietnam raised alcohol taxes.
- In 2024 and 2025, Movendi is contributing to initiatives to raise alcohol taxes in Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, and Uganda – as part of the RESET Alcohol Initiative.
- In 2025, Movendi is contributing to civil society initiatives in Cameroon, Colombia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Germany to put alcohol taxation on the political agenda.
Alcohol taxation advocacy success stories from Brazil, Ghana, and Sri Lanka
Three inspiring examples from Sri Lanka, Ghana, and Brazil showing how advocacy contributes to support alcohol tax reforms deliver health, justice, and development.
Lessons from a Decade of Alcohol Taxation Advocacy
Reflecting on the journey of making alcohol taxation the global health and development priority it should be, there are three key lessons:
1. Invest in people’s capacity and build a movement.
We can shift global policy together. From our journey we can see the potential of people and communities on the ground being involved and being in the driver’s seat of change, with their lived experience and empowered with knowledge, tools, and confidence to advocate in their own contexts. And when they are connected in a larger movement change is possible.
This is why we created the Alcohol Taxation Resource Hub, built the Center for Alcohol Policy Solutions, conduct weekly capacity-building sessions, and support advocates around the world: to enhance capacity and build a global movement that sustains change.
2. Ensure values-based advocacy.
Values move people. Evidence is essential, but numbers alone don’t move hearts or change policies.
Advocacy grounded in values – fairness, justice, protecting children, and investing in communities – resonates widely. Over the past decade, we’ve seen how framing alcohol taxation as a matter of justice and social progress has opened doors and built broad support.
3. Start concretely but with a comprehensive vision.
When we began, we focused on concrete steps – such as pushing for recognition of alcohol taxation in global frameworks. But our vision was broader from the outset: to make alcohol taxation a catalyst for health, equity, and sustainable development.
Step by step, concrete wins have added up to something bigger: from global high-level side events to country reforms, from technical reports to the groundbreaking initiatives, such as RESET and the 3×35. The lesson for me is that starting with tangible action matters, but never losing sight of the comprehensive vision for change drives each of the concrete and sometimes small actions.
Looking Ahead
Ten years ago, alcohol taxation was absent from global health and development agendas. Today, it is recognised as a smart, fair, and cost-effective solution. Movendi International has contributed to this shift by mobilising civil society, supporting governments, and keeping the focus on people’s values, such as fairness and well-being, rather than private profit greed.
We’ve come far and we’re thankful to all the members, partners, donors, and champions along the way. The journey we’re on is far from over. Alcohol taxation is still underutilised and faces relentless alcohol industry opposition. But with the 3×35 Initiative, growing country momentum, and more empowered civil society advocacy movements, we are entering a new promising phase.
This advocacy impact story shows what is possible: when people come together, guided by values of justice and health, even the most neglected issues can rise to the top of the global agenda.
Suggested citation:
Movendi International. (2025). A Decade of Advocacy for Fair and Smart Alcohol Taxation. Stockholm: Movendi International.
