Implementation of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018–2027) A/RES/73/246 especially in the poorest and most vulnerable countries with limited domestic resources; 35. Stresses the importance of mobilizing greater domestic support towards the fulfilment of ODA commitments, including by raising public awareness, providing data on aid effectiveness and demonstrating tangible results, encourages partner countries to build on progress achieved in ensuring that ODA is used effectively to help to achieve development goals and targets, encourages the publication of forward-looking plans which increase the clarity, predictability and transparency of future development cooperation, in accordance with national budget allocation processes, and urges countries to track and report resource allocations for advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls; 36. Expresses concern that in 2017 ODA fell by 0.6 per cent compared with 2016, while bilateral (country-to-country) aid to least developed countries rose by 4 per cent, after remaining flat for the previous six years, and that ODA was, on average, 0.31 per cent of the aggregate donor gross national income in 2014, below the commitment of 0.7 per cent, reiterates that the fulfilment of all ODA commitments remains crucial and that, for many least developed countries and landlocked developing countries, ODA remains the largest source of external financing, and therefore emphasizes the importance of the commitments made by many countries to achieve the national target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to the least developed countries, and calls upon developed countries to deliver on their commitments in relation to ODA; 37. Welcomes the increasing efforts to improve the quality of ODA and to increase its development impact, recognizes the Development Cooperation Forum of the Economic and Social Council, notes other initiatives, such as the high -level forums on aid effectiveness, which produced, inter alia, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the Accra Agenda for Action 25 and the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which make important contributions to the efforts of the countries that have made commitments to them, including through the adoption of their fundamental principles, and bears in mind that there is no one -size-fits-all formula that will guarantee effective assistance and that the specific situation of each country needs to be fully considered; 38. Encourages all relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, to strengthen United Nations funding for the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, through voluntary contributions to existing poverty related system-wide funds; 39. Acknowledges the complexity of the challenge of poverty eradication, and in this regard emphasizes that, in accelerating poverty eradication and effectively implementing the Third Decade, the organizations of the United Nations development system must be driven by national priorities, including thro ugh the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, with the development of national capacities and development strategies in developing countries continuing to be a core area of focus, and operate in an integrated, coordinated and coherent manner, through development programmes and projects that address poverty eradication as their underlying objective, within their respective mandates, in order to ensure that gains are irreversible, making full use of the interlinked and mutually reinforcing pillars of the United Nations development system, and encourages the use of diverse strategies; 40. Reiterates the need to strengthen the leadership role of the United Nations in promoting international cooperation for development, and recognizes the role of __________________ 25 12/14 A/63/539, annex. 18-22624