The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts periodic reviews of the individual development co-operation efforts of DAC members. The policies, systems and programmes of each member are critically examined approximately once every five to six years, with five members reviewed annually.

Japan has been a member of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 1960 and was last reviewed in 2014. This report reviews progress since then, highlights recent successes and challenges, and provides key recommendations for going forward. Japan has partially implemented 55% of the recommendations made in 2014, and fully implemented 40%. This DAC Peer Review of Japan – containing both the main findings and recommendations of the DAC and the analytical report of the Secretariat – was prepared with reviewers from the European Union and Italy and adopted at the OECD on 17 September 2020. In conducting the review, the team consulted key institutions and partners in Tokyo, Japan in November 2019; and in the field in Accra, Ghana in December 2019 and in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in January 2020. The Secretariat Report was drafted before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan is committed to peace, stability and prosperity. Through participation in the G7 and G20 it promotes important issues for global sustainable development – such as universal health coverage, quality infrastructure investment and gender equality – and advances environment and climate issues. It highlights regional opportunities and challenges through regular high-level summits, such as the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM), and active engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including through the ASEAN‑Japan Forum.