Dates and theme of the ECOSOC Forum on FfD 2016

The inaugural ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up will be held from 18 to 20 April 2016 in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Forum will include the Special high-level meeting of the Council with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The theme of the Forum will be “Financing for sustainable development: follow-up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.” According to its mandate, the Forum will address the follow-up and review of the Financing for Development outcomes and the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The modalities of participation will be those utilized at the international conferences on financing for development.

More information can be found on the official FfD website: http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffd-follow-up/ecosoc-ffd-forum.html

Please find the relevant links to the ECOSOC resolution on the dates http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/2016/L.9 and theme of the Forum http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/2016/L.10

Inaugural 3-Day Forum rather than 5-Day

This year’s Forum will be limited to three days. The rationale (or lack of it) for the shorter Forum emerges from a combination of factors, including the inaugural nature of the event, the lateness of the preparatory process and the busy NY schedule in that very week, with the PGA’s decision to host the High Level Thematic Debate (HLTD) on Achieving the Implementation of the SDGs on April 21 and the Signing Ceremony of the Paris Climate Change Agreement on April 22.

The length and time scheduling of the FfD Forum was subject of intense discussions and negotiations, with some tension in terms of 3-versus-5 days, and some attempts to shift the Forum to July, back-to-back with the HLPF. In the end, negotiations settled on the 3-day inaugural event with the understanding that this sets no precedent for the future (the resolution explicitly refers to this by stating “without prejudice to decisions regarding the timing and duration of future forums”).

Tentative programme

The inaugural segment, on Monday, 18 April, will feature presentations by the heads of the major institutional stakeholders and of intergovernmental bodies of these institutions, followed by statements by Ministers and other high-level officials. In the afternoon, there will be an interactive dialogue between UN Ambassadors and Executive Directors of the World Bank and IMF. The next two days of the Forum will include a series of interactive multi-stakeholder round tables, which will feature more focused, expert-level discussions on action areas and other components of the FfD Agenda.

Please find the latest programme at the following link: http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ECOSOC_Forum_-FfD_DraftProgram_22-03-16.pdf (March 22 update)

Please also find the concept note on the Forum modalities at the following link: http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Modalities_for_the_2016_ECOSOC_FfD_Forum.pdf (March 7 update)

Outcome and related negotiations

As you are aware, the Forum is expected to generate “intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations”, though the precise format of this outcome is still unclear and subject to ongoing talks and negotiations. The Forum’s outcome will be fed into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Two co-facilitators have been appointed by the President of ECOSOC, namely H.E. Mr. Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations, and H.E. Mr. Vladimir Drobnjak, Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations. Informal consultations stated on 23 March 2016 and will continue in early April (pending date). A Zero Draft should soon be made publicly available for comments by Member States and other constituencies. The timeline is however still uncertain and it is expected that negotiations may be finalized at the Forum itself (a Main Committee may therefore run in parallel to the roundtables).

Inter-Agency Task Force Report

The Forum will be informed by the Report of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). Please visit the website (http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffd-follow-up/inter-agency-task-force.html) for more information on the mandate of the IATF, the Inaugural 2016 Report, and the Note by the Secretary-General highlighting the main findings of the 2016 IATF Report

CSO particiption and contribtuion

CSO Participation to FfD Forum 2016

CSO Collective Response