The Impact of Development Finance: Where are We and Where are We Going?

This document describes an action research program that seeks to build on the priorities, experiences and agendas of a previous impact assessment (IA) and to develop a credible and useful IA. The aim of the program is to empower development finance organizations (DFOs) and:

• Make them more proactive in developing their own learning systems;
• Enable informed internal decision making;
• Satisfy the requirements of external stakeholders, donors;
• Develop understanding and improve the impact of development finance on poverty.

The paper also describes the ideas shared in a workshop that was held as part of the program. The workshop provided participants with an opportunity to:

• Share their experiences of IA;
• Identify themes and issues for the development of a coherent research program;
• Present new IA methodologies to improve the delivery and impact of microfinance;
• Contribute to knowledge in the microfinance sector.

This paper draws on the written and oral presentations of workshop participants, as well as other documents to outline:

• The perspectives of donors and international organizations on IA;
• Main approaches and experiences of IA of DFOs;
• Themes identified for this program to consider in the subsequent phases.