The SIDS Partnership Framework is a direct follow up to the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS Conference) which was held from 1 to 4 September 2014 in Apia, Samoa, under the overarching theme “The sustainable development of small island developing States through genuine and durable partnerships". Around 300 SIDS partnerships were announced towards and during the SIDS Conference in 2014.

The SIDS Partnership Framework was called for by member States in the SAMOA Pathway as a means to follow up on partnerships that were announced in the lead up to, and during the six multi-stakeholder partnership dialogues that were held during the Conference.

The Framework, formally established in December 2015, consists of 1) a Member-States driven Steering Committee, currently chaired by Maldives and Italy, 2) the organization of an action-oriented, results-focused annual Global Multi-stakeholder SIDS Partnership Dialogue, 3) a partnership reporting process, 4) encouragement to organize regional and 5) national partnership dialogues.