As an evaluator who attended the Third Financing for Development conference a few weeks ago, I saw the signing of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the clarification of inputs–partnerships, agreements, and monies–as a vital starting point.

Amidst the symbolism and the commitments to write sizable checks to fund programs that will lay the ground for the future, Addis also offered an opportunity for assembled stakeholders to cast a clear eye at evidence, feedback, and learning to ensure we are learning from the past. Such evidence comes from a range of sources, including the World Bank Group’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) that I direct and lead.

Over the past several years, IEG has deepened the evidence that can help development finance succeed in translating the SDGs into actions and results.  Our paper for Addis, “Financing for Development: Using Independent Evaluation to Turn Aspirations into Achievements,” makes those insights more accessible.

From my vantage point, some of the events in Addis did a better job of reflecting on and sharing insights from the past than others.

Our evaluations have consistently found that ownership is one of the key drivers of success.  This applies in all instances, including fragile and conflict affected states (FCS). At Addis, the FCS group impressed me just as much as it had at earlier g7+ and International Dialogue ministerial meetings. The group is characterized by committed leadership, a clear focus on ending fragility, and is keenly interested in learning from others and building on evaluation evidence to use their scarce resources wisely. As a group, and as individual countries within the g7+, the membership demonstrates strong ownership and is keenly aware of the opportunity the Addis Accord holds: With domestic public resources on the rise, national ownership will be deepened. The extractive sectors can provide an important source of domestic revenue. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has done good work to set standards in this area, but more is needed to ensure extractive industries pay their fair share in the countries where they exploit natural wealth. The g7+ and International Dialogue can lend their voice to these efforts, in particular as they often fare worse than other countries in negotiating deals.

Another event hosted by the OECD discussed how we could shift the focus from ODA to other resource flows to capture all resources for Fin4Dev. Measuring these flows is complicated (what gets counted, how, and why?). Although IEG’s evaluations focus on results rather than accounting for financial flows, our work has shown it will be challenging to develop effective accounting systems for the complicated arrangements as envisaged. For instance, how are aggregate flows of resources to be counted where a public-private partnership (otherwise an in-flow) places a burden on domestic public resources? And, how will counting money flows be linked up with the measurement of results? The discussion touched on these points, but it was clear that a much deeper dialogue will be needed.

Finally, new global partnerships were high on the agenda of a number of Addis events.  Partnership is a great way to rally resources for specific causes, but there is need for caution as well. In the excitement over new commitments and new forms of partnership, valuable insights from evaluation may be given short shrift. For instance, our work suggests partnerships can often make it more difficult to maintain country ownership, add to crowding in the extensive development landscape, and can increase transaction costs for partner countries. Factoring in these evaluation findings, new global partnerships will have to work hard to ensure they set themselves clear goals and measures of success. As I have previously observed, and as set out in our learning note on partnership, effective partnerships are characterized by a number of traits, including mutual agreement on goals, clear governance arrangements, and clarity in relation to respective responsibilities.

Addis was a stimulating and energizing milestone along the way to a new era in development. As one would expect at an event as global and inclusive as this, great optimism was contrasted with skepticism, and grounded in realism about the challenges ahead.

Advancing beyond past experience will require all actors to look back with a critical view to help turn aspirations into achievements.

Caroline Heider is Director-General and Senior Vice-President, Independent Evaluation Group World Bank Group. Caroline has more than 25 years of international experience, the majority of which in evaluation, and is leading IEG’s engagement with the emerging F4D and SDG agendas.