The second FfD Forum will be convened by the President of ECOSOC from 22 to 25 May 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Building on the inaugural FfD Forum, which devoted particular attention to setting up the monitoring framework for the follow-up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (Addis Agenda), the 2017 Forum is expected to provide impetus for the implementation of FfD outcomes and the delivery of means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The 2017 Forum will begin with the ministerial segment, which, on 22 May will feature the Special High-Level Meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It will provide an opportunity for the heads of international trade and financial institutions as well as their intergovernmental bodies to interact with their United Nations counterparts on issues of common interest in the follow-up to the FfD outcomes.
The ministerial round tables, to be held on 23 May, will be the main novelty of the 2017 Forum, responding to the mandate in the Addis Agenda for the FfD follow-up process to promote the sharing of lessons learned from experiences at the national and regional levels. Each round table would bring together a balanced mix of ministers from developed and developing countries, as well as high-level officials of international organizations and other stakeholders to share their steps taken towards implementation of commitments contained in the Addis Agenda and other FfD outcomes.
The 2017 FfD Forum will also provide the opportunity for Member States to express their views through the general debate. It is expected that the intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations of the Forum will be adopted at the conclusion of the ministerial segment.
The expert segment, which will take place from 24 to 25 May, will focus on all seven action areas of the Addis Agenda, as well as other specific issues that Member States mandated the FfD Forum to address. It will also feature a dedicated panel discussion on the IATF report, a dialogue with stakeholders, as well as briefing on progress in initiatives mandated by the Addis Agenda or launched at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.