UN Member States held informal consultations on the third international conference on financing for development (FfD), exchanging views on the preamble, duration, outcome, timing, and the organization of the preparatory process of the conference.
The third meeting took place on 13 May 2014, in New York, US.
13 May 2014: UN Member States held informal consultations on the third international conference on financing for development (FfD), exchanging views on the preamble, duration, outcome, timing and organization of the preparatory process of the conference. The third meeting took place on 13 May 2014, in New York, US.
On the preamble, delegates generally supported a proposal that it should recall the relevant outcomes of international conferences and major international events in the FfD agenda and sustainable development, also recalling UN General Assembly (UNGA) and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolutions adopted in the context of the FfD follow-up process since 2002, in particular UNGA resolution 68/204. Agreement seemed to emerge also in regard to the final outcome of the conference, with delegations supporting the option of an intergovernmentally-agreed document.
On duration, some delegates suggested as a point of reference both the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, 2002) and the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus (Doha, 2008), which took place over five days. Others stressed the costs involved and proposed a three-day conference. On the organization of the preparatory process, some delegations supported the option of having a preparatory committee, while others found value in holding intergovernmental consultations of the whole, and a few suggested a hybrid between these two options.
No agreement emerged on the timing of the conference.
The next informal consultation will take place on 2o May 2014. [Letter from the Co-Facilitators] [IISD RS Sources]