The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is the principal body through which the OECD study issues related to cooperation with developing countries. It is a forum for its member states in their role as bilateral donors. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. ... Bilateralism is a term referring to trade or political relations between two states. ...

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Members

There are currently 23 members of DAC, including the European Commission, which acts as a full member of the committee, although it is not a member state in the judicial meaning of the term.^[1] The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ...

Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada. ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_(bordered). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Portugal. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Australia. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Austria. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Finland_(bordered). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Greece. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Luxembourg. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

History

Formerly known as the Development Assistance Group, the DAC was created by Ministerial Resolution of 23 July 1960.^[2] Its first mandate reads:

The Committee will continue to consult on the methods for making national resources available for assisting countries and areas in the process of economic development and for expanding and improving the flow of long-term funds and other development assistance to them.

—Development Assistance Commitee, Mandates (1961)

This institutionalization of development aid also marks the emergence of the national aid agencies of the member states.^[3] Canada created an "External Aid Office" in 1960, which in 1968 became the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). France was the first country to establish a Ministry for Co-operation to be responsible for assistance to independent, mainly African, developing countries in 1961, the predecessor to French Development Agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD). Enactment in the United States in 1961 of the Foreign Assistance Act as the basic economic assistance legislation, established the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It has been suggested that Official Development Assistance, International development, Foreign aid, Aid, Tied aid, Aid effectiveness, Output-based aid be merged into this article or section. ... An aid agency is an organisation dedicated to distributing aid. ... The Canadian International Development Agency is a Canadian government agency which administers foreign aid programs in developing countries. ... French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement, AFD) is the French international development agency. ... The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress on September 4, 1961. ... USAID logo The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the U.S. government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. ...

Later the rest of the member states followed, either establishing an aid agency under the command of its Foreign ministry or as a separate entity.

Functions

The work of the committee concentrates on

• how international development cooperation contributes to the capacity of developing countries to participate in the global economy, and
• the capacity of people to overcome poverty and participate fully in their societies.

To this end, the committee holds an annual High Level Meeting where the ministers or heads of the national aid agencies meet to discuss issues related to development and adopt recommendations and resolutions. It is also attended by senior officials of the World Bank, the IMF and UNDP. ^[4] Development has meaning in several contexts: // Biological development or morphogenesis of embryos in the context of developmental biology Child development (in the context of physical development, or post-natal human development (pediatrics, etc); or in the context of psychological development, part of the larger area of human development (psychology) or... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means... The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. ...

The member states are expected to have certain common objectives concerning the conduct of their aid programmes. The committee therefore issues guidelines on the management of development aid. It also publishes a wide range of reports, among them the annual OECD Journal on Development.

The subsidary bodies of DAC are:^[5]

• Working Party on Statistics
• Working Party on Aid effectiveness and Donor Practices
• Network on Development Evaluation
• Network on Gender Equality
• Network on Environment and Development Co-operation
• Network on Powerty Reduction
• Network on Governance
• Network on Conflict, Peace and Development Co-operation

Since 2003 it’s chair has been Mr. Richard Manning. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Development aid. ...

Achievements

As already noted, the DAC is a forum for the bilateral donors where they coordinate their aid efforts. One of the principal questions that emerged was how to ensure that its member states contributed equal shares of development aid. In the early 1960s, some member states contributed a significant larger share of their GNP than others.^[6] To encourage that the aid effort was equally divided, DAC quickly recognized the UNCTAD recommendation on having an International Aid Target, proposed in 1964.^[7] The issue of the aid burden-sharing eventually lead to the first report on “Total Official Contributions as Per Cent of National Income” in 1967, something that was accompanied by closely negotiated explanations.^[8] It has been suggested that Official Development Assistance, International development, Foreign aid, Aid, Tied aid, Aid effectiveness, Output-based aid be merged into this article or section. ... Measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate the value of goods and services produced in an economy. ... The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

Another early question was what a donor could include when it reported its aid efforts to the committee. It was necessary to make the distinction between official transactions that were made with the main objective of promoting the economic and social development of developing countries, as opposed to other official flows (OOF) like military assistance. To that end, the committee adopted the concept of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 1969. The definition had to be renegotiated in 1972, but has remained unchanged since then.^[9] Official Development Assistance (ODA) is a category of development aid. ...

As a forum for and by the bilateral donors, each donor’s aid efforts are evaluated in peer reviews where major findings and recommendations are presented.^[10]

More recently DAC, in collaboration with the World Bank, has been involved in questions related to aid effectiveness. This collaboration lead to the adoption of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness at the DAC High Level Meeting in 2005. The UNCTAD has noted that since the turn of the century, DAC has become one of the dominant institutions with regards to development aid.^[11] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Development aid. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

1. ^ DAC Members and Date of Membership, [1] (n.d)
2. ^ The Development Assistance Committee's Mandate, [2] (1961)
3. ^ The Story of Official Development Assistance, [3] (1996)
4. ^ The Development Assistance Committees Mandate
5. ^ Development Co-operation Committee Structure and Subsidiary bodies, [4], (2003)
6. ^ The Story of Official Development Assistance, [5], p. 14.
7. ^ Ibid., p. 17.
8. ^ Ibid., p. 19.
9. ^ Ibid., p. 21.
10. ^ Peer Reviews of DAC Members, [6]
11. ^ UNCTAD. (2006). ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA - Doubling Aid: Making the “Big Push” work. Geneva: UNCTAD, Table 1, p. 10 [7]

See also

• Development
• Development aid
• Official Development Assistance
• International Aid Target
• List of development aid agencies
• Aid effectiveness
• Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

Development has meaning in several contexts: // Biological development or morphogenesis of embryos in the context of developmental biology Child development (in the context of physical development, or post-natal human development (pediatrics, etc); or in the context of psychological development, part of the larger area of human development (psychology) or... It has been suggested that Official Development Assistance, International development, Foreign aid, Aid, Tied aid, Aid effectiveness, Output-based aid be merged into this article or section. ... Official Development Assistance (ODA) is a category of development aid. ... This is a list of organizations focused giving development aid. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Development aid. ...

External Links

• Development Co-operation Directorate (DAC), OECD
• Peer Reviews of DAC Members, OECD
• Aid Statistics, OECD
• Aid Effectiveness, OECD
• Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, OECD
• Aid Effectiveness Review, World Bank
• Aid Harmonization and Alignment, Paris High-Level Forum (2005)