The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) was established in 2012 (General Assembly resolution 66/288, "The future we want") as a replacement for the Commission on Sustainable Development.

In 2013 the General Assembly directed (67/290) the HLPF to conduct regular reviews, starting in 2016, of the follow-up and implementation of sustainable development commitments and objectives, including those related to the means of implementation, within the context of the post-2015 development agenda. The objective of this background paper is to draw lessons from existing multilateral review mechanisms to inform the design of the review process