5. Future Tasks
Given the constrained domestic environment confronting ODA and the limited budget for evaluation (averaging around 0.02% of the total budget for ODA in the general account), the challenges for enhancing ex-post evaluations noted in the 1997 report were (i) improvement of evaluation quality, (ii) improvement of evaluation methods, and (iii) development of evaluation frameworks.
In seeking to improve evaluation quality, it is imperative to assure impartiality, neutrality, and objectivity. MoFA strives to achieve these goals by commissioning evaluations to independent third parties, including external academics and foreign specialists.
Improvement of evaluation methods demands that the methods adopted be as objective and standardized as possible. To this end, MoFA is engaged in ongoing development and research into evaluation methods, and has prepared guidance manuals for each type of evaluation, including Expert's Evaluation Manuals and the DAC Evaluation Principles mentioned earlier.
To develop enhanced evaluation frameworks, MoFA began in FY1997 to build a database with an improved search and retrieval system. This will better enable aid personnel to access evaluation information for earlier aid projects.
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