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Toward Improving ODA Evaluations Based on the New Development Cooperation Charter
The Development Cooperation Charter articulates the basic policy of Japan’s development cooperation. Considering that the circumstances have changed significantly since the time of its formulation in 2015, it was decided that the Charter would be revised for a more effective and strategic implementation of development cooperation. The revised Development Cooperation Charter was approved by the Cabinet and published in June 2023, after a drafting process that included Advisory Panel meetings, public hearing meetings with NGOs and economic organizations, and a public comment procedure.
As mentioned on page 19 of this Annual Report, a “Review of Japan’s ODA Evaluations from FY 2015 to FY 2021” was conducted in FY2022 ahead of the revision of the Development Cooperation Charter. This review focused mainly on ODA evaluations (third-party evaluations) and involved an analysis with reference to the main items in the Development Cooperation Charter (2015), as well as verification of consistency with the Charter and the status of achievement. The review produced recommendations on the revision of the Charter, recommendations on Japan’s development cooperation policy and its implementation, along with recommendations on the ODA evaluation methodologies.
Based on these recommendations, the ODA Evaluation Handbook, which contains information about the flow and procedures of ODA evaluations conducted by the ODA Evaluation Division, Minister’s Secretariat of MOFA, is to be revised. The following are the key points of this revision.
1. Policy Level Evaluation (Country/Regional Assistance Evaluation, Thematic/Cooperation Modality Evaluation)
(1) Relevance of Policies
With regard to “Relevance of Policies,” which is one of the evaluation criteria, it will be clearly stated that evaluations aim to verify if programs have been implemented in line not only with the Country Development Cooperation Policy and the SDGs, but also with the priority policies set out in the Development Cooperation Charter, and whether strategic consistency has been maintained. In addition to consistency with Japan’s high-level policies, new examples of verification items are added to check if development cooperation policies have been prioritized as necessary with reference to the high-level policies.
(2) Effectiveness of Results
The review also pointed out that previous ODA evaluations by MOFA did not adequately verify the status of achievement from the viewpoints of the Development Cooperation Charter. In view of this, the impact of development cooperation policies and their contribution to the priority policies set out in the Development Cooperation Charter will be verified, as far as possible, under the evaluation of “Effectiveness of Results.” Furthermore, examples of verification items on “impacts on different beneficiary groups (inclusiveness)” and “environmental sustainability” will also be added, in view of the importance of “quality growth” as a priority policy in the Charter, to verify more appropriately the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria of “Effectiveness” and “Sustainability”.
(3) Appropriateness of Processes
The revised Development Cooperation Charter sets out three approaches for effective and strategic development cooperation: solidarity to realize co-creation with various actors, further enhancement of strategic approaches including strengthening consistency between policies and implementation, and a fine-tuned system design of ODA that includes constant improvement. In view of this, under the verification of “Appropriateness of Processes,” examples of verification items will be newly added in relation to development agenda setting by utilizing Japan’s experience and knowledge, the formation and utilization of development platforms, effective cooperation and solidarity with various actors, and processes to enhance development effects by combining bilateral cooperation with cooperation through international organizations and NGOs. At the same time, the Handbook also clearly sets out the inclusion of various development cooperation partners, including NGOs, as the subject of interviews undertaken for ODA evaluations.
Furthermore, the “Appropriateness of Processes” will be verified, as far as possible, in view of the implementation principles that are highly relevant to the subjects of evaluation among the “Implementation Principles for Ensuring the Appropriateness of Development Cooperation” in the Charter.
2. Project-Level Evaluation
In project-level evaluation, consistency with the Development Cooperation Charter will also be added to the evaluation questions in the verification of “Relevance of Plans.” Furthermore, as “Appropriateness of Processes” is included in the relevant evaluation questions of the two evaluation criteria “Relevance of Plans” and “Effectiveness of Results” for project-level evaluation, concrete verification items will be added to ensure that verification based on these evaluation criteria is conducted in light of the implementation principles set out in the Development Cooperation Charter.
Apart from this, we will also consider the priority policies set out in the Development Cooperation Charter when selecting subjects to be evaluated under policy-level evaluation.
In addition to updating the ODA evaluation methodologies based on the revised Development Cooperation Charter through these revisions, we will continue to strive for the continuous improvement of ODA evaluations in order to make improvements in ODA management and ensure accountability to the citizens, as part of the PDCA cycle of policymaking, implementation, evaluation, and improvement for development cooperation.