In anticipation of the Fourth High Level Forum (HLF-4) in Busan South Korea this paper analysed the conclusions of the second phase of the evaluation of the Paris Declaration (PD) on Aid Effectiveness, based on IDAS experience. It argues that, in the run up to the landmark HLF-4, the PD principles were still relevant  but  that  new  efforts  were  needed  to  ensure  more  realistic  approaches  to  their implementation.