The Reflections series synthesizes lessons from past evaluations to support organizational learning about what works and what doesn't. This paper examines past evaluations to provide eight lessons on development financing:

1. Multi-donor interventions and pooled funding modalities in complex crises enhance compatibility and contribute to coherence.
2. International cooperation modalities should prioritize strengthening country-level capacities support to improve avenues of development financing.
3. In protracted crisis contexts, there is relevance in simultaneously financing humanitarian as well as development efforts through an integrated framework.
4. Political economy analysis enables addressing policy and other bottlenecks and the adoption of concrete development financing options.
5. Local development financing mechanisms can catalyse resource mobilization and support capital market development.
6. Addressing policy bottlenecks and using new and alternative financial instruments to enhance private sector engagement will increase development financing.
7. Aligning the needs of the environment vertical funds and government is essential to catalyse development financing.
8. Fragmented COVID-19 responses will weaken efforts to address SDGs reversals.