The second FfD Forum was convened by the President of ECOSOC from 22 to 25 May 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event brought together 20 ministers and vice-ministers, numerous high-level officials from ministries of finance, foreign affairs and development cooperation, a large number of Executive Directors of the World Bank and IMF (24), as well as senior officials from the UN system, including the major institutional stakeholders, and other international organizations. Civil society organizations, the business sector and local authorities were also strongly represented.

Building on the inaugural FfD Forum, which devoted particular attention to setting up the monitoring framework for the follow-up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (Addis Agenda), the 2017 Forum provided impetus for the implementation of FfD outcomes and the delivery of means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 2017 Forum began with the ministerial segment, which, on 22 May featured the Special High-Level Meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It provided an opportunity for the heads of international trade and financial institutions as well as their intergovernmental bodies to interact with their United Nations counterparts on issues of common interest in the follow-up to the FfD outcomes.

The ministerial round tables, held on 23 May, were the main innovation of the 2017 Forum, responding to the mandate in the Addis Agenda for the FfD follow-up process to promote the sharing of lessons learned from experiences at the national and regional levels. Each round table brought together a balanced mix of ministers from developed and developing countries, as well as high-level officials of international organizations and other stakeholders to share their steps taken towards implementation of commitments contained in the Addis Agenda and other FfD outcomes.

The 2017 FfD Forum also provided the opportunity for Member States to express their views through the general debate. The intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations of the Forum were adopted at the conclusion of the ministerial segment.

The expert segment, which took place from 24 to 25 May, focused on all seven action areas of the Addis Agenda, as well as other specific issues that Member States mandated the FfD Forum to address. It also featured a dedicated panel discussion on the IATF report, a dialogue with stakeholders, as well as briefing on progress in initiatives mandated by the Addis Agenda or launched at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.