The inaugural ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development (FfD) follow-up will be held from 18 – 20 April at UN HQ in New York. The theme of the Forum is Financing for sustainable development: follow-up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and will address the follow-up and review of the FfD outcomes from July 2015 and the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

 

The major outcome of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3)(link is external) [1], which took place in July 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was the adoption of an outcome document containing a series of measures to renew and enhance global commitments for financing sustainable development.

Building on the DOHA Declaration and Monterrey Consensus, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda is intended to be taken as a policy framework that speaks to how countries will mobilise resources to implement the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which will be adopted in September.

Importantly, the agreement contains a strong focus on health and NCDs, with agreements to consider taxing harmful substances, mainly tobacco, to deter consumption and generate domestic revenue.

The text notes the enormous burden NCDs have on developing and developed countries, and the importance of strengthening health systems and achieving universal health coverage as part of efficient sustainable development.

Additionally, the AAAA encourages all countries that have not yet done so to accept the TRIPS amendment allowing improved access to essential medicines.