25 February 2016: The President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) announced that the permanent representatives of Benin and Croatia will facilitate consultations on the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development (FfD). The FFD Forum’s inaugural session is expected to take place in April 2016, in New York, US. In addition, the UN Secretary-General convened an Inter-Agency Task Force to report annually on progress in implementing the outcomes of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on FfD and the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In a letter to Member States, President Oh Joon notes the appointment of Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of Benin, and Vladimir Drobnjak, Permanent Representative of Croatia, to facilitate preparation of draft conclusions and recommendations of the FfD Forum and to facilitate consultations among Member States, “with a view to reaching an intergovernmental agreement on the draft.” This appointment follows requirements of resolution A/RES/70/192 adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 22 December 2015, which invites the ECOSOC President to consider appointing two co-facilitators. The resolution also looks forward to the annual report of the IATF, which it notes is established in accordance with paragraph 133 of the AAAA.

The IATF, meanwhile, held its first meeting on 11 January 2016, and is drafting a report, which is expected to be presented on 18 April 2016, for the FfD Forum. The outline of the report was made available on 22 February 2016, and a draft version is expected to be available by 11 March 2016, according to IATF documentation.

The IATF is convened by the UN Secretary-General, and chaired by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and/or by the Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development, “as appropriate.” The IATF is composed of: FfD “major institutional stakeholders” including the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP); the UN regional commissions; and other UN organizations, funds, agencies and programmes. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) ensures IATF coordination and edition of the IATF report.

In the AAAA, UN Member States agreed that the Forum will, inter alia, discuss the follow-up and review of the FfD outcomes and the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda. They also decided that the intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations from that Forum will feed into the overall follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda implementation in the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF).

According to the IATF terms of reference (ToRs), the Task Force’s report will consider emerging issues and challenges related to implementation, and assess progress in the seven action areas of the AAAA, such as: (i) domestic public resources; (ii) domestic and international private business and finance; (iii) international development cooperation; (iv) international trade as an engine for development; (v) debt sustainability; (vi) addressing systemic issues; and (vii) science, technology, innovation and capacity building. In addition, per the ToRs, analysis will build on the statistical indicators currently developed by the UN Statistical Commission for the SDG means of implementation targets, and will draw on additional data and information in areas that are central to the AAAA but not covered in the SDG indicators.

The ToRs state that the report will inform the deliberations of UN Member States on the implementation of the FfD outcomes at the annual ECOSOC FfD Forum and on the means of implementation “of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” at the HLPF. Also every four years, an extended version of the report that assesses progress over the preceding four years will support deliberations at the High-Level Dialogue of the UNGA on Financing for Development, which will be held back-to-back with the quadrennial HLPF under the auspices of the UNGA.

In preparation for the FfD Forum, the UN Secretariat has issued an informal note outlining linkages between AAAA’s paragraphs and SDG means of implementation included in Goal 17 and throughout the 2030 Agenda. ECOSOC plans to take action on the dates and themes of key meetings in 2016, on 14 March 2016. Consultations on the dates and theme of the inaugural FFD Forum have been ongoing for several weeks. [UNGA President Letter on Co-Facilitators Appointment] [Letter on First Meeting of the IATF] [Draft Outline of the IATF Report] [IATF Guiding Questions to be Addressed in the Sub-sections of the Inaugural 2016 Report] [IATF Members] [IATF Terms of Reference] [Informal Note: Linkages between SDG MOIs and AAAA] [ECOSOC FfD Forum Website] [[IISD RS Story on Consultations on Date, Theme of FFD Forum]