With the declaration by the World Health Organzation of coronavirus disease COVID-19 as a global pandemic, two upcoming meetings organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) have been changed.

The annual ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development originally scheduled for 20-23 April, will be shortened to two and a half days, ending on 22 April. It will limit in-person participation to those attendees based in New York, as the situation allows, and will move much of its proceedings online. All side events will be cancelled.

The SDG Investment Fair, originally scheduled for 20-22 April, has been cancelled.

This decision is in keeping with World Health Organization guidelines.

The annual Forum on Financing for Development reviews trends in development finance and progress on the SDGs, and usually sees hundreds of ministers of finance, foreign affairs and development cooperation from around the world. Attendees also include executive level representatives from the World Bank and IMF, along with senior UN officials.

Notwithstanding the move to virtual platforms and pending further developments, the substantive scope of the programme will remain intact. Officials in the Financing for Sustainable Development Office of UNDESA, which organizes the Forum and the Fair, said that they remain hopeful that the Forum will achieve its aims of mobilizing action and resources for sustainable development.

The SDG Investment Fair is normally held in tandem with the Forum, and brings governments, the private sector, and financial intermediaries to review specific investment opportunities, policies and regulations aimed at mobilizing resources for the SDGs.

12 March 2020