An outcome-driven framework to more effectively leverage public finance and deliver better development results was the subject of the Financial Management Umbrella Program – sponsored Reimagining Public Finance (RPF) Global Conference at the World Bank on September 29 and 30, 2025. The approach was developed over more than a year of research, which included more than 760 stakeholder consultations around the world.
Conference participants learned about, debated, and contributed to the further development of the RPF framework. That framework casts public finance reform as a way to achieve development results, not as an end in itself, and calls on practitioners to craft reforms by working backward from the desired development outcome. Target outcomes include things like improvements in education and health as well as the advancement of goals in areas including gender-based violence and climate.
“For years we have been funding PFM reform support with the implicit assumption that this would translate into better outcomes… but the evidence is weak,” said Philippe Bruegger, program manager at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), a donor and supporter of the Financial Management Umbrella Program. “We need to become better at showing how this work actually changes people’s lives. We must come with a mindset to listen and to understand — not to impose tools or ‘best practices,’ but to engage with the local political economy and empower reformers.”
The approach received strong endorsement from the audience of more than 200 representatives of governments, nonprofits, civil society, academia and think tanks, and international organizations. In a live poll, over 80% recognized the framework’s added value, and 16% were considering it. Conference-goers tested applying the framework through interactive exercises.
Seven principles of reform, developed as part of the RPF initiative, provided a foundation for much of the dialogue. In addition to being outcome-led, the principles are to make the reform process problem-driven, locally led, team-based, people-centered, feasible, and iterative. The framework discussed at the conference also included the enumeration of specific steps for turning those principles into productive, results-oriented action.
Insights from the conference will feed into a global report synthesizing research and lessons from this first phase of the RPF initiative, followed by a toolbox to support countries in applying outcome-led approaches to their own reforms. Together, these outputs are meant to empower and aid reformers through effective, stakeholder-driven, outcome-achieving change.
Details on speakers and video of all conference sessions can be found on the Reimagining Public Finance event page. For more information or to engage in the dialogue, please visit the Reimagining Public Finance website.