May | 2017 | UN DESA VOICE

Monthly Newsletter, Vol 21, No. 5 – May 2017

UN Forum to consider forest-based solutions to improve people’s lives and reduce poverty

The United Nations Forum on Forests will meet for its 12th session (UNFF12) from 1 to 5 May 2017 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The meeting marks the first session of the Forum since the historic adoption of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030 by the United Nations General Assembly on 27 April 2017. Discussions at UNFF12 will focus on technical issues related to sustainable forest management and strategies to promote implementation of the Strategic Plan.

Making eradication of poverty an integral objective of all policies: what will it take?

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes poverty as the “greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” To eradicate it, coordinated efforts must be undertaken to build on the achievements realized so far and to prevent current and future challenges from jeopardizing further progress.

Advancing SDGs progress with science, technology and innovations

The Second Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for the Sustainable Development Goals, which is part of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, will take place in New York from 15 to 16 May 2017. This year’s forum will explore the same set of SDGs as the 2017 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), but with a focus on science, technology and innovation.

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Assessing progress to realize financing for development commitments

The second annual ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up (FfD Forum) will be convened from 22 to 25 May 2017. The FfD Forum was established by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda to support the follow-up and review of FfD outcomes (Monterrey Consensus, Doha Declaration and Addis Agenda) and the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Expert voices

Innovations for infrastructure development and sustainable industrialization

On 31 May 2017, the President of ECOSOC will convene a special meeting to highlight the relevance of industry, innovation and infrastructure to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ahead of this meeting, UN DESA Voice spoke with Navid Hanif, Director of the Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination (OESC) in UN DESA, about the state of infrastructure development and sustainable industrialization around the world.

In case you missed it

Commission on Population and Development: Changing population age structures

Changing population age structures and sustainable development was at the center of the debate at the 50th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) which took place at UN Headquarters in New York from 3-7 April 2017. Speakers at the event emphasized that the world’s population had substantially increased in size and had seen dramatic shifts in its distribution by age and by place of residence since the first session of the CPD 70 years ago.

More from UNDESA

1-5 May, New York	12th Session, United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF11)
8-10 May, New York	2017 Integration Segment of ECOSOC
15-16 May, New York	Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs
22-31 May, New York	2017 Resumed Session of the Commitee on NGOs
22-25 May, New York	ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development