Other ODA Evaluations
Evaluations Based on the Government Policy Evaluations Act (GPEA)
Since the enforcement of the Government Policy Evaluations Act (GPEA) in 2002, each ministry or agency of the Government of Japan is required to conduct self-evaluations of the policies under its jurisdiction.
MOFA conducts ex-post evaluations of its overall economic cooperation policies, ex-post evaluations of pending and unfinished projects,Note 1 and ex-ante evaluations of projects exceeding a certain monetary valueNote 2 based on the GPEA and its Order for Enforcement.
●MOFA Website
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/oda/shiryo/index_hyouka05.html (in Japanese only) 
Note 1 “Pending projects” include projects for which the Loan Agreement has not yet been signed or loan disbursement has not yet begun five years after the policy was determined, etc. “Unfinished projects” include projects for which loan disbursement has not yet been completed ten years after the policy was determined, etc.
Note 2 Ex-ante evaluations are implemented for grant aid projects in which the maximum amount of aid offered through an Exchange of Notes (E/N) is one billion yen or more and ODA loans in which the maximum amount offered through an E/N is 15 billion yen or more.
Evaluations by Other Ministries and Agencies
Other than MOFA, each ministry or agency also conducts ODA-related evaluations as part of evaluations of policymaking, policy enforcement, and project implementation in areas under their jurisdiction based on the GPEA. The following shows representative examples from the respective ministries and agencies. For details, please refer to the website of each respective ministry or agency linked below.
●Financial Services Agency (FSA)
Training program for financial officials in emerging countries (supervisory seminars)
https://www.fsa.go.jp/common/budget/kourituka/03_R5/03_R5.html (in Japanese only)
(See Project 1, Program 30 “Expenditures Required for Technical Cooperation Extended to Emerging Countries” (Training Projects) in the Review Sheet for Projects Implemented in FY2022.)
●Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
Systematic development and provision of official statistics
https://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_yosan/jigyou5/kizon/kizon_r5_7-3.html (in Japanese only)
(See Administrative Review Sheet for Projects Implemented in FY2022: “0180 Operation of United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP)”)
●Ministry of Finance (MOF)
Promote a wide variety of international cooperation, including financial support and intellectual assistance, to help developing countries stably develop their economies and societies
https://www.mof.go.jp/about_mof/policy_evaluation/mof/fy2023/evaluation3/index.html (in Japanese only)
(See p. 236-255 of the full version. The policies/programs include non-ODA projects.)
●Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Promotion of international exchange and cooperation to contribute to the development of a prosperous international community
https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/kouritsu/detail/block30_00123.htm (in Japanese only)
See Administrative Review Sheet for Projects Implemented in FY2022 (reviewed in FY2023), Policy 13: Promotion of International Exchanges and Cooperation that Contribute to the Development of a Prosperous International Community (0470 – 0503) (Reference) (The policies/programs include non-ODA projects)
●Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)
Participation in and Contribution to the International Community
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/wp/seisaku/hyouka/keikaku-kekka.html#hyouka (in Japanese only)
(See the preliminary analysis table for policy evaluation.)
●Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
Establishment of comprehensive food security
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/budget/review/r5/f/04_05f.html/ (in Japanese only)
See Administrative Review Sheet for Projects Implemented in FY2022 and Projects Started in FY2023, Project Name “0078 Contributions to Cooperation in the Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Industries through International Organizations (Agricultural and Forestry Fields).” (The policies/programs include non-ODA projects.)
●Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
Projects for the development of emerging markets, based on the utilization of technical cooperation
https://www.meti.go.jp/information_2/publicoffer/review2023/html/1-2saisyu.html (in Japanese only)
●Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)
Promotion of international cooperation in the field of transportation
https://www.mlit.go.jp/page/kanbo05_hy_003141.html (in Japanese only)
(The policies/programs include non-ODA projects.)
●Ministry of the Environment (MOE)
International coordination and cooperation related to global environmental conservation
http://www.env.go.jp/guide/seisaku/index.html (in Japanese only)
(See the preliminary analysis table for policy evaluation. The evaluation includes non-ODA projects.)
Evaluations by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
JICA evaluates individual projects (external evaluations by third-party evaluators or internal evaluations by JICA overseas offices depending on the aid amount) with the three aid schemes of technical cooperation, ODA Loans, and grant aid (under JICA’s jurisdiction). It also conducts comprehensive and cross-sectoral evaluations with specific themes (e.g., by region, issue, or aid modality), impact evaluations for evidence-based project implementation, and process analyses focused on the achievement of results from projects.
When conducting evaluations, JICA aims to promote the utilization of evaluation results to further improve projects from the perspective of “learning,” while also striving to ensure accountability by securing the objectivity and transparency of evaluations as well as publishing the evaluation results.
●JICA Website
Project evaluations
https://www.jica.go.jp/english/activities/evaluation/index.html
Initiatives to Enhance the Evaluation Capacities of Partner Countries and Promote Understanding of Japan’s ODA
Evaluations by Governments and Agencies in Partner Countries
Each year, MOFA commissions partner governments, government agencies, private consultants, or professional evaluators in a partner country to conduct an evaluation on a development program in an area such as health, transportation, or disaster prevention. These evaluations aim to enhance the partner country’s evaluation capacities, improve ODA management, ensure accountability, and promote understanding of Japan’s ODA in the partner country.
In 2023, the Evaluation of Japan’s ODA Loans to the Infrastructure Development Planning Sector in Indiawas implemented in India.
ODA Evaluation Workshop
MOFA has been holding ODA Evaluation Workshopssince 2001, inviting government officials and experts from the Asia Pacific region.
ODA Evaluation Workshops are meant to facilitate understanding of ODA evaluation methods and challenges in the Asia Pacific region, and enhance evaluation capacities particularly for developing countries. Moreover, through improving the evaluation capacities of evaluators in developing countries, these workshops not only aim to enhance assistance efficiency for donor countries, but also improve ownership, transparency, and development efficiency in developing countries.
In FY2023, the 19th ODA Evaluation Workshop was convened in an online format, as it was in FY2021 and FY2022.