Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with the League of Arab States (LAS), are convening the Second Session of the Arab High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development (AFSD) during the period 5-7 May 2015 in Manama.
The AFSD supports Arab regional preparations for the third session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which will be held in New York during 26 June 2015 - 8 July 2015 under the theme "Strengthening integration, implementation and review - the HLPF after 2015".
Taking stock of the global processes leading to the formulation of the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs, the AFSD will provide a multi-stakeholder platform to:
- Exchange perspectives on where the Arab region stands vis-à-vis the SDGs. Discussions will be based on an analysis of current regional status and trends as presented in the findings of the prototype edition of the Arab Sustainable Development Report, and will highlight regional implementation challenges;
- Increase knowledge on financing for sustainable development. Discussions will be based on an analysis of the financing gap in the Arab region and new and innovative financing supply streams at the global and regional levels;
- Engage participants in a dialogue on the future steps for SDG monitoring and evaluation and the institutional frameworks required for adequate planning, implementation, review and reporting at the regional level. In addition, focus will be given to the science-policy interface and national capacity-building needs to enable adequate assessment of SDG progress within the context of the anticipated data revolution.
Cairo, Egypt
