Development Assistance Committee (DAC) peer reviews function as a tool for both learning and accountability. This report – containing both the main findings and recommendations of the DAC and the analytical report of the Secretariat – is the result of a nine month in-depth consultation and review process. It was produced by a review team comprising peer reviewers from the European Union (Filippos Pierros, Delegation of the European Union to the OECD, and Silviu Jora and Anca Maria Szigeti, Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission) and Italy (Alessandra Pastorelli, Permanent Delegation of Italy to the International Organisations, and Lodivica Longinotti, Italian Development Cooperation Agency). From the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, John Egan, Senior Policy Analyst, served as the lead analyst for the review, together with Emily Bosch, Policy Analyst, Cyprien Fabre, Policy Analyst (Humanitarian Specialist), and Karin McDonald, Policy Analyst. Nagisa Takatsuki assisted with research and drafting. Valuable advice was received from Professor Ken Masujima, Professor of Political Science, Kobe University. Katia Grosheva and Autumn Lynch provided logistical assistance to the review, and formatted and produced the report. The report was prepared under the supervision of Rahul Malhotra, Head of Division, Reviews, Results, Evaluation and Development Innovation. The report was edited by Fiona Hinchcliffe.
The team is grateful for valuable inputs from across the Development Co-operation Directorate, including statistical support from the Financing for Sustainable Development division, and the OECD, in particular the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, the Directorate for Public Governance, the Economics Department, the Environment Directorate, the Trade and Agriculture Directorate and the Development Centre. The team also valued inputs from the International Energy Agency and the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network.
The Peer Review of Japan benefited throughout the process from the commitment and dedication of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The review team are also thankful to the Ambassadors and Heads of JICA Country Offices in Accra and Phnom Penh and their staff, who ensured smooth contact with local counterparts as well as logistical support.