October 18, 2021 – October 27, 2021

Evidence on development policies and interventions is key to addressing many crucial questions: what do children learn when sitting in a classroom? What does it take for children to actually go to school? How can children be properly nourished and escape malnutrition? What will it take for women to be granted equal access to the job market or to be compensated fairly for their work? What will it take for billions of dollars spent on ineffective programmes to be redirected and better targeted to desired development outcomes?

It is over 15 years that the Center for Global Development asked When Will We Ever Learn?, pointing out that billions of dollars are spent each year on development programmes of unknown effectiveness. Since then, there is a growing body of evidence about what works. And that evidence shows that a large proportion of development interventions are ineffective. The availability of this growing body of evidence worldwide is welcome. But there are still three major challenges.

First, to ensure that the evidence is relevant to decision-makers - policy makers and practitioners - by addressing not only what works, but how, why, for whom and at what cost? And that it this evidence contextualized in ways which enhance transferability not generic. Second, to ensure that evidence is communicated in timely and usable ways, which often involves a process of knowledge translation or knowledge brokering and a good understanding of policy processes. And third, to make sure debates on policy challenges are informed by varied and competing sources of evidence, and the people involved in them are capable of discerning between them.

The 'What Works Global Summit 2021: Evidence for Development' takes up these challenges.