Products made of Kyrgyz woolColumn In FY 2019, MOFA conducted an evaluation of ODA policy in the gender sector. As a part of the survey, the evaluation team took a eld trip to the case study countries, Kyrgyz and Kenya to interview ocials from local governments and international organizations and visit ODA project sites to meet beneciaries.In Kyrgyz, which is located in Central Asia, the evaluation team drove through the mountains for several hours from Bishkek, the capital, to visit a project site in a small village in the Issyk-Kul Region, where poverty is more severe than it is in urban areas. The team visited a factory where local women were making wool felt products and cosmetics using local resources and selling them with the assistance of JICA experts.In the rural areas of Kyrgyz, men generally work in grazing and women are tasked with unpaid domestic work and childcare. Therefore, there are not many opportunities for women to earn income, which leads to the issue that women have no voice at home and in the community.Through this project, women have started making money for the rst time in their lives and using the money for their households. In an interview, those women have told the evaluation team that their families were opposed to them participating in the project at rst, but once they started earning cash income, their family members became supportive, and their presence at home increased.This is a great example of Japan's ODA not only having an economic impact through training on manufacturing techniques for women to earn money, but also enhancing women's social status—which is to say women are being empowered.This rural development project is highly recognized by the Kyrgyz government and other donors. From the remark made by former Kyrgyz President Jeenbekov in September 2019 expressing gratitude to Japan for its assistance, we can see that Japan's ODA contributes to sound bilateral relations.Development Project in Rural Areas and Empowerment of WomenKyrgyzWomen making felt products at a factory in the Issyk-Kul regionWomen's Empowerment and Development — A Peek into the ODA Project Sites —17
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