The fourth Financing for Development (FfD) Forum took place from 15 to 18 April 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event brings together ministers, high-level officials from ministries of finance, foreign affairs and development cooperation, Executive Directors of the World Bank and IMF, as well as senior officials from the UN system, including the other stakeholders, such as the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities.
Mr. Jose Viera, permanent representative of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities and CEO of World Blind Union was a lead discussant on domestic public resources in the context of persons with disabilities on 17 April. Very positively, this was the first time that a person with a disability was an official presenter at a Financing for Development Forum. You can read the statement here.
The annual FfD Forum results in inter-governmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations that are fed into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. This year the agreed conclusions and recommendations were adopted on 18 April. For the first time in an FfD Forum, persons with disabilities have five explicit references as well as three inexplicit references. Explicit references are included in areas of inclusive infrastructure, disability-led businesses, access to markets at all levels, underrepresentation in STEM education and jobs, and disaggregation of disability data to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Inexplicit references include: accessible, ensuring no country or person is left behind, and inclusive and equitable quality education
This increased inclusion and engagement means that Member States recognize and acknowledge persons with disabilities in the financing for development dialogue. In addition, this is particularly powerful since this year’s agreed conclusions and recommendations will feed into the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development on 26 September, which will be turned into actionable figures.
