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2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development & 4th PrepCom for FFD4
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The ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development will be held on 28 to 29 April 2025, followed by the Fourth Preparatory Committee (4th PrepCom) Session for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) from 30 April to 1 May 2025 at Trusteeship Council, UN Headquarters, New York.
On 28 April, in an exceptional joint effort by the President of ECOSOC and the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee of FFD4, Ministers and high-level officials will have the opportunity to express their views and foster political momentum for the FFD4 Conference.
The Forum this year assumes added importance and a critical role in mobilizing momentum and concrete solutions for FFD4. Held back-to-back with the 4th FFD Preparatory Committee session, the deliberations of the forum will feed into the discussions on the outcome of the FFD4.
Both events bring together ministers and high-level government officials as well as senior officials of international organizations. Civil society organizations, the business sector and local authorities will also be represented.
The 2025 Forum and the 4th PrepCom will be livestreamed on UN Web TV.
Please click on the category in this Participate page that best describes your organization to find the suitable registration portal.
Programme of FFD Forum and 4th PrepCom
Click here for the pdf version of the FFD Forum programme.
Click here for the pdf version of the 4th PrepCom programme.
Click here for the pdf version of the FFD Forum & 4th PrepCom programme of Side Events or click here to view the Side Events on the UN Journal
Programme for 30th April, 2025
Debt and the Cost of Borrowing
Panel discussion 2 on specific actions in the first draft of the outcome document on ‘II.E. Debt and debt sustainability’
Introductory remarks and moderation
H.E. Ms. Merete Fjeld Brattested, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations
H.E. Mr. Chola Milambo, Permanent Representative of Zambia to the United Nations
Panelists
Mr. Phil Stevens, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, United Kingdom
Ms. Monica Asuna, The National Treasury, Kenya
Mr. Jose Correia, Director General, Economic and Development Cooperation, Cabo Verde
Discussants
Mr. Gianpiero Leoncini, Executive Vice-President, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean
Interactive discussion (2-minute time limit)
Background and Guiding Questions
Amid successive crises and shocks, sovereign debt challenges have become one of the greatest obstacles to realizing sustainable development. Many developing countries face high debt service burdens and borrowing costs, which severely constrain their fiscal space and ability to address poverty and inequality and invest in sustainable development. Despite progress in reforming the debt architecture, restructurings are often still inadequate, late and too lengthy. A development-oriented debt architecture, based on sound and transparent analysis of debt sustainability, is urgently needed to address these debt challenges.
The debt chapter outlines four areas of actions to address these challenges, including actions to: i) strengthen debt management, debt transparency, and responsible borrowing and lending; ii) lower borrowing cost and enhance fiscal space for investment in sustainable development in developing countries; iii) achieve efficient, fair, predictable, coordinated, timely, and orderly restructurings; and iv) promote debt sustainability and credit assessment that are more accurate, objective and long-term oriented.
Panelists in this session are invited to pay particular attention to the proposals on strengthening and systematizing of liquidity and liability management support and on closing gaps in the debt architecture. They are invited to address the following questions:
- What are the key constraints to scaling up and ensuring coordinated support to countries to enhance fiscal space and lower their cost of borrowing, and to provide related financial instruments, such as debt swaps and credit enhancements at scale? (action 42)
- How can we provide such support at scale, taking into account the need for providing financial support, and for responsiveness to country-specific needs and circumstances? (42b)
- What are the most critical gaps that need to be closed to create a development-oriented debt architecture? (action 43).
Programme for 1st May, 2025
International Development Cooperation
Programme
Panel discussion 5 on specific actions in the first draft of the outcome document on ‘II.C. International development cooperation’
Introductory remarks and moderation
H.E. Ms. Alicia Buenrostro Massieu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations
H. E. Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations
Panelists
Mr. Sergio Vinocour-Fornieri, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica
Mr. Markus Dürst, MFA, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland
Ms. Karolina Krywulak, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Development Cooperation, Poland
Discussants
Ms. Hassatou Diop N’Sele, Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, African Development Bank Group
Ms. Mary Beth Goodman, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
Mr. Matias Bendersky, Manager of Global Partnerships of the Inter-American Development Bank
Interactive discussion (2-minute time limit)
Background and Guiding Questions
International development cooperation represents a critical source of financing in many developing countries. However, rapidly rising demands, coupled with recent reductions in ODA programmed at the country level and announcements of significant further aid cuts are putting scarce resources under increasing stress. Growing fragmentation is also increasing transaction costs and runs counter to long-standing effectiveness principles. There is an urgent need for the entire development cooperation ecosystem to work better as a system with a focus on poverty eradication and on catalysing other sources of finance, both public and private, for long-term sustainable development outcomes in developing countries.
Actions on international development cooperation in the draft outcome include commitments to reverse the decline in ODA, work towards meeting respective commitments and increasing its quality, as well as more and better south-south and triangular cooperation and MDB financing. The draft also contains commitments to update the development cooperation architecture at the country level, strengthening country-led plans and strategies and putting in place inclusive coordination platforms to support these, and at the global level.
Panelists in this session are invited to pay particular attention in their interventions on the proposals on enhancing contributions of multilateral development banks, including scaling up local currency lending, strengthening the development cooperation architecture at the national level, and on strengthening accountability and follow up on international development cooperation as part of the FFD process. They are invited to address the following questions:
- How can concessional financing by MDBs be further increased over the next ten years? What steps could be taken to enhance provision of local currency products? (action 31 n)
- How can international development cooperation, including ODA, more effectively respond to the needs and priorities of developing countries? What are conducive arrangements at the country level for effective provision of development cooperation, and for ensuring alignment of development cooperation with national priorities and needs? (action 33 a)
- How can we make the most of existing platforms and fora to enhance inclusive monitoring, accountability and follow up on international development cooperation at the global level? Would the roles, scope and functions of existing platforms and fora need to evolve? How can they support a strengthened the Development Cooperation Forum? (action 33 c)