Press Releases
Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs ERI’s Attendance at the Inauguration of the 5th Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) Conference
On November 12, Ms. ERI Arfiya, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, attended the Inauguration of the 5th Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) Conference held at Hitotsubashi Hall in the National Center of Sciences, Tokyo, and delivered her remarks on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. The overview is as follows:
- In her remarks, Parliamentary Vice-Minister ERI welcomed the first hosting of the APEA Conference in Japan and mentioned that since 2001, Japan has been organizing ODA Evaluation Workshops targeting the Asia-Pacific region. The discussions at these workshops led to the establishment of APEA in 2012, making it significant to hold the milestone 20th ODA Evaluation Workshop as part of the 5th APEA Conference in Tokyo.
- Parliamentary Vice-Minister ERI also congratulated APEA for contributing to fostering an evaluation culture throughout the Asia-Pacific region and promoting Japan's international cooperation through evaluation, which led to receiving the Foreign Minister's Commendation for FY2025 in August.
- Furthermore, Parliamentary Vice-Minister ERI stated that as the world faces common social challenges, Japan has long placed the values of co-creation and equal partnership at the core of our international cooperation framework, including in evaluation. She also highlighted the importance of strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation capabilities in addressing these challenges and expressed Japan's intention to enhance our collaboration and partnership with various stakeholders in this field.
(Reference1) APEA Conference
The APEA Conference is held biennially since 2016. The 5th Conference, themed "Institutionalization of Evaluation and Strengthening Capacity Building in Asia Pacific Region," is held from November 11 to 14 in Tokyo, where approximately 200 researchers and practitioners in the evaluation field from not only the Asia-Pacific region but around the world gather to discuss various evaluation-related topics.
(Reference2) ODA Evaluation Workshops
The ODA Evaluation Workshops organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan since 2001 aim to enhance understanding of ODA evaluation methods and challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, and to improve the evaluation capabilities of developing countries. The goal is to enhance aid efficiency for donor countries and improve ownership, transparency, and development efficiency for developing countries through the improvement of evaluation capabilities by stakeholders in developing countries themselves. The 20th Workshop will be held on the afternoon of November 13 as part of the 5th APEA Conference, in a hybrid format combining in-person and online participation, co-hosted with APEA. Approximately 60 government officials from the Asia-Pacific region involved in evaluation efforts and Voluntary National Review (VNR) activities related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will participate online.