The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), together with the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), the US SilvaCarbon and SERVIR programme, is organizing the second GFOI Capacity Building Summit from 18–21 September 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal. GFOI’s capacity building component works towards understanding country needs and facilitates choices in designing, developing, and operating forest monitoring systems and associated measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) procedures for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) in developing countries. The GFOI Capacity Building Summit 2017 aims to facilitate more efficient and effective international cooperation in capacity development on forest monitoring and to enhance methods of training and knowledge transfer that ultimately improve the effectiveness of GFOI partners’ capacity building techniques. The summit will provide an opportunity to assess, prioritize, and jointly plan targeted and harmonized capacity building activities that will help countries make progress towards improved monitoring techniques and reporting for REDD+ and the needs of other forum. The summit will bring together country representatives who contribute to the design and development of their national forest monitoring systems (NFMS) and decision makers involved in planning and designing international cooperation assistance from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Objectives Assess the impact of past and current capacity building efforts reflected on the development of countrywide MRV systems Establish a mechanism through which GFOI partners and developing countries can identify gaps and communicate their planned support to respond to countries’ technical needs to advance their NFMS Identify a programme of effective capacity building techniques and recommend these for future GFOI activities Develop a draft work plan of joint capacity building activities based on the selected techniques