Following years of discussions on financing for development, the first International Financing for Development (FfD) conference in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002 led to the "Monterrey Consensus," which comprised a broad understanding between developed countries and developing countries about the importance of financing development, including through private sector investment, economic growth and markets.  

The second International FfD conference resulted in the Doha Declaration (2008), which reaffirmed the Monterrey Consensus in the shadow of the global economic crisis.  

The third FfD conference – held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July of 2015 – led to the drafting of what has now been finalized as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.  The Addis Agenda is one of the key means of implementation (MOI) for financing and achieving the SDGs, as reinforced in the SDG Outcome Document, “Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

Recognizing the unprecedented demand that has been, and will continue to be, placed on the private sector 's financial and other resources (particularly technology cooperation and innovation) in the 2030 development era, there is a greater need for the private sector to have a seat at the table and a role in the prioritizing and implementing the new sustainable development agenda at national and global levels.