Development Co-operation Directorate

The work of the DAC is supported by the Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD), one of some dozen directorates in the OECD. The DCD is often referred to as the DAC Secretariat because of this key function.

The Directorate is managed by Richard Carey, Director. It has a staff of approximately 70 experts, plus support staff, organised around the Office of the Director into five divisions and one unit:

• The Policy Co-ordination Division (DCD/POL) covers a significant range of policy issues, including: governance and anti-corruption; capacity development; conflict, peace and security issues; fragile states; environment; gender equality and women’s empowerment; policy coherence for development. It engages members and observers through corresponding networks.
• The Poverty Reduction and Growth Division (DCD/PRG) concentrates on the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction (treated in the POVNET) through work on agriculture; private sector development; infrastructure; social protection; employment and labour markets. Aid for trade, private investment for development and untying of aid are also important parts of its work programme.
• The Aid Effectiveness Division (DCD/EFF) supports the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of 2 March 2005. It services the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness (i.e. the international partnership, hosted by the DAC, of bilateral and multilateral donors and partner countries) which monitors the Paris commitments and reports on progress achieved against set targets. The division also supports specific work on public financial management, procurement and management for development results.
• The Review and Evaluation Division (DCD/PEER) monitors the aid programmes, including humanitarian aid, of individual DAC members through peer reviews and country-level assessments. It also deals with evaluation, notably through the Network on Development Evaluation, which supports work on effectiveness and results-based management. In addition, it covers DAC outreach to non-DAC donors.
• The Statistics and Monitoring Division (DCD/STAT) collects and compiles statistics on flows of aid and other resources, including their type, terms, sectoral breakdown, and geographical distribution among developing countries. It tracks performance against members’ ODA volume commitments.
• The Aid Architecture and Financing Unit (DCD/AAF) carries out analytical work to address the information gap on current and future aid allocations in a more complex environment of actors. It examines current bilateral and multilateral aid allocations policies and practices, tracks donors’ future aid allocations and assesses efficiency of global aid allocation with a view of improving division of labour amongst donors. 

The directorate also includes:

• Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21). PARIS21 was established in 1999 by the UN, OECD, World Bank, IMF and the EC and is hosted at the DCD. PARIS21’s main output over the next four years will be well designed national and international statistical programmes, centred on implementing National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDSs) which both build statistical capacity and provide data for high priority needs. The objective is for countries to have better nationally-produced data by the time of the next major review of the MDGs in 2010.

DCD is part of the “Development Cluster”, under the authority of a Deputy Secretary-General. Within this framework, DCD works closely with other OECD directorates on issues of policy coherence for development. In addition to DCD, the cluster includes the following units:

• The Development Centre, the OECD’s knowledge base and research arm on development issues.
• The Sahel and West Africa Club, which is a facilitator and leader of informed actionoriented debates within West Africa and between that region and OECD members.
• The Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members (CCNM), provides strategic co-ordination to the development of OECD’s relations with non-members and with other international organisations.
• The Africa Partnership Forum Support Unit (APF SU) provides a bridge between G8/OECD and African agendas. Through its monitoring work it seeks to catalyse action in favour of African development at a high political level.

The Directorate also works closely with other OECD Directorates on issues of common interest. Examples include such themes as external debt, trade, the environment, corruption in international transactions, and child labour. The general subject of linkages between OECD and developing countries and their implications for development is an ongoing, active pursuit of the Organisation as a whole.