OECD Development Assistance Committee

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the principal international forum of bilateral aid donors, comprising thirty member countries that collectively account for the large majority of global official development assistance flows, which sets standards for what qualifies as ODA, monitors donor performance, and promotes good development cooperation practice through peer reviews and policy guidance; the DAC was established in 1960 and defines ODA, tracks aid flows through its Creditor Reporting System, and publishes the annual Aid at a Glance statistics that constitute the primary data source for analysis of international aid; the DAC List of ODA Recipients classifies countries by income level and eligibility for concessional financing; DAC peer reviews assess member countries' aid policies and programmes against agreed good practices, creating accountability among donors; the DAC's definition of ODA has been contested and revised over time, with debates about whether climate finance, peacekeeping, debt relief, and in-donor refugee costs should count as ODA reflecting tensions between donors' desire to count their contributions and recipients' desire for genuinely additional development resources