This volume presents the proceedings of the conference, “Evaluation and its discontents: do we learn from experience in development?”, jointly organised by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Development Research Network (EUDN) and held in Paris on 26 March 2012. In 2012, we saw fit to challenge a relapsing issue: our capacity to evaluate development and draw lessons from our experience in development. Are we willing and able to evaluate and account for development results and, if so, how is it that we seem unable to translate this experience into practice? What are the factors hampering the learning process?