Ms Melba E. Alvarez-Pagella, IOE's Evaluation Communication and KM Officer, attended the Knowledge for Development (K4D) Global Partnership Conference that took place in Geneva on 3-4 April 2017. The IFAD delegation was led by Ashwani Muthoo, Director of the Strategy and Knowledge Department (GKS), and included Helen Gillman, Anja Lesa, Linda Calao and Alessandro Picheca (GKS), Maria Elena Mangiafico and Silvia Sperandini (Policy and Technical Advisory Division). The conference aimed to review and advance knowledge management practices in the field of sustainable development. It was co-organized by the Joint Inspection Unit of the United Nations system and Knowledge Management Austria. IFAD was a co-chair of the conference.

The Global K4D Conference kicked off the first day with opening remarks by high-level diplomatic and United Nations representatives (e.g. International Labour Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Permanent Representatives to the UN from the United Arab Emirates and Austria, Knowledge Management Austria and KM4Dev Community). It was highlighted that the Conference was a multi-stakeholder partnership for knowledge in the world and that effective knowledge management is vital for success.

Two flagship documents were introduced. First, the Joint Inspection Unit launched its 2016 Report of the “Knowledge Management in the United Nations System,” which highlights best practices and makes recommendations on how to improve and integrate knowledge management practices into the work of United Nations agencies. The second document, the “Agenda Knowledge for Development” was presented by Knowledge Management Austria. This agenda brings a new and integrated view on the challenges and opportunities related to knowledge and provides orientation to all stakeholders in the field of development, including a set of Knowledge for Development Goals intended to complement and support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

All the presentations delivered during the conference are available online.

A "knowledge market" was organized to share experiences and display material during the multiple breaks in the conference. IOE shared various publications, such as the 2016 Annual Report on Results and Impact of IFAD Operations with its Profile and infographic; the recently released evaluation synthesis on gender (main report and learning brief), the IOE brochure and USB cards containing the Evaluation Manual and evaluation reports published since 2011 (PDF versions and links).