How can we make progress in bridging the gap between development policy and development evaluations? The conference will encourage new thinking on teaming policy relevance with methodological quality in development evaluations.

Policy makers, implementing practitioners, evaluators, and researchers will share their experiences and will engage in discussions about using evidence for policy making. In a mixture of distinguished keynote speeches, high-level panels and parallel working sessions, the event will highlight the current state of affairs and cover urgent questions and emerging issues.

09:00 – 09:30 Welcome Coffee

09:30 – 09:45 Welcome Address

09:45 – 11:15 Evaluation for policy making

Keynote 1: Lant Pritchett (Harvard Kennedy School): Does it Still Pay to be Ignorant?
Keynote 2: Howard White (The Campbell Collaboration): What Evidence Should Policy Makers Use and How Can We Make It Happen?
Moderator: Jörg Faust (DEval, German Institute for Development Evaluation)

11:15 – 11:45 Coffee Break

11:45 – 13:00 The Impact of Ending Aid

Presenter: Antonie de Kemp (IOB, Evaluation Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Discussants: Jean Bossuyt (European Centre for Development Policy Management), Donald Mmari (REPOA, Policy Research for Development)
Moderator: Ariane Hildebrandt (BMZ, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:45 Parallel Sessions

1: Rural Development Reinvented
2: Poverty and Inequality – what are we measuring?
3: Legitimacy of Foreign Aid: Carte Blanche for the Donor?
4: Aid and Trade: Who benefits?

15:45 – 16:15 Coffee Break

16:15 – 17:45 Evaluation and Learning: Policy Maker Perspectives

Panel Discussion:
Gunther Beger (BMZ, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)
Reina Buijs (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Ben Broeckx (Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation)
Carlos A. Casas Tragodara (Universidad Del Pacífico)
Moderator: Caroline Heider (IEG, Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank)

18:00 Evening reception

08:30 – 10:00 Evaluation and Methodology: Experiments and Beyond

Keynote: Edward Taylor (University of California)
Panel Discussion:
Howard White (The Campbell Collaboration)
Stephan Klasen (University of Goettingen)
Katharina Michaelowa (University of Zurich)
Moderator: Ruerd Ruben (Wageningen University)

10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break

10:30 – 12:15 Methodological Perspectives – Parallel Sessions:

5: Geocoding: Mapping Impact
6: Evaluating Complexity: The Example of Budget Support
7: Evaluating the Provision of Global Public Goods
8: Planning Implementation and Evaluation: Experience from the Field

12:15 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 15:00 Closing Panel: The Institutionalization of Evaluation

Short Presentations and Panel Discussion:
Dominique de Crombrugghe (Former Head of Evaluation at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation)
Wendy Asbeek Brusse (IOB, Evaluation Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Jörg Faust (DEval, German Institute for Development Evaluation)
Caroline Heider (IEG, Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank)
Emanuel Jimenez (3ie, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation)
Moderator: Michaela Zintl (DEval, German Institute for Development Evaluation)

15:00 – 15:15 Closing