Development is entering a more demanding phase. Fiscal space is tightening, public resources are being reallocated, and expectations for results are rising even as the room for error narrows. Delivering greater impact now requires not only ambitious investments, but stronger systems for learning, adaptation, and evidence-based decision-making.
The Development Impact Fund (DIF) is a World Bank Group multi-donor fund and global partnership bringing together governments, international institutions, multilateral development banks, philanthropic organizations, and technology partners. Together, we invest in generating new scientific evidence and in building the institutional capacity and evidence-based decision infrastructure needed to translate knowledge into better policies, stronger programs, and greater development impact.
Over the past two decades, the global development community has greatly expanded what is known about effective policies and programs through randomized controlled trials and other rigorous methods. Yet important knowledge gaps remain, and even proven solutions do not improve outcomes unless institutions can use, test, adapt, and scale them in real-world settings. The next frontier is therefore not a shift away from research, but a shift toward connecting the generation of evidence more systematically with the decisions, delivery systems, and institutions that put it into practice.
DIF was established to help bridge this full pathway from knowledge generation to adoption and scale. It works with governments, World Bank Group operations, and development partners worldwide to generate rigorous evidence and embed experimentation, real-time data, behavioral science, and AI directly into program design and delivery. By creating continuous feedback loops between research, implementation, and results, DIF helps programs learn while delivering, improve as they operate, and scale what works.
Impact at a Glance:
DIF portfolio to date: 270 projects across 67 countries, informing over US$38B in development financing
Results from embedded learning: 5–6 quarters faster delivery, and impact gains of up to 2×
Global partnership: US$130M+ mobilized across the global partnership platform
