blah
Costing your National Action Plan
Costing a National Action Plan is a critical step in turning strategy into implementation. It translates prioritized activities into detailed, time-bound resource requirements, helping governments understand what is needed, what is already funded, and where gaps remain.
By linking technical priorities with financial planning, costing enables countries to develop realistic operational plans, mobilize resources, and monitor investments over time.
Introduction
A robust costing process typically follows a bottom-up approach — breaking activities into measurable inputs, estimating unit costs and quantities, and consolidating these into a comprehensive budget. This process is iterative and supports prioritization, planning, and sustainable financing of AMR interventions.
Costing is a central component of National Action Plan implementation. It provides a structured approach to estimate the resources required for prioritized activities, supports budgeting and financing decisions, and enables countries to identify funding gaps. Effective costing connects technical planning with financial realities, ensuring that interventions are feasible, scalable, and sustainable.
It also supports the development of investment cases, strengthens advocacy, and improves coordination across sectors under a One Health approach — integrating human, animal, and environmental health priorities into a single, coherent financing framework.
Key Components of NAP Costing
A well-structured costing process covers several interconnected steps, from defining activities and estimating inputs through to identifying funding gaps and building the financial case for implementation.
DEVELOPING A COSTED OPERATION
Costing begins with a detailed operational plan. Activities must be clearly defined — who does what, when, and with what resources. Breaking down strategic actions into specific, measurable components ensures accurate cost estimation and realistic implementation planning.
BOTTOM-UP COSTING APPROACH
A bottom-up approach estimates costs by identifying all inputs required for each activity, including personnel, materials, equipment, and services. This method improves accuracy and transparency by building total costs from detailed activity-level data, reflecting the real operational context of each country.
RESOURCE MAPPING & FUNDING GAPS
Costing helps identify existing financial resources and highlight funding gaps. By mapping available funding against required investments, countries can prioritize actions, mobilize additional resources, and strengthen budget advocacy with ministries of finance and development partners.
BUILDING AN INVESTMENT CASE
A costed NAP forms the foundation of a strong investment case. Linking activities to costs and demonstrating funding gaps enables countries to engage donors, global health funds, and development banks with structured, evidence-based financing proposals that support resource mobilization.
COSTING & BUDGETING TOOL
The WHO Costing and Budgeting Tool supports countries in estimating the cost of AMR NAP activities in a structured and flexible way. It enables users to input activities, define quantities and unit costs, and generate detailed outputs including total costs, funding gaps, and dashboards for decision-making.
Ready to Start Costing Your NAP?
Costing connects strategy with financing, enabling countries to prioritize interventions and strengthen long-term health system resilience. Get in touch to find out how we can support your country’s costing process.