Joining the DAC offers the opportunity to: demonstrate commitment to international development; benefit from advice on strengthening and reforming development co-operation systems and policies; improve the collection and reporting of development finance statistics; participate in the development of policy guidance for providers; and participate in the DAC’s decision-making processes.

Since its establishment in 1961, the DAC has grown to count 32 DAC members.

In line with OECD rules, the DAC regularly reviews its engagement with non-OECD Members and has developed a strategic vision for outreach and engagement (Strategic Vision for 2023-2024). The following objectives guide the DAC’s strategic approach in this regard:

• Engage with partners with a view to improve the effectiveness of the global development co-operation architecture and increase the impact of our collective action; 
• Advance transparency, fairness, and accountability in development co-operation policies and advance the common goals of the 2030 agenda; 
• Aim to seize opportunities to strengthen mutually beneficial dialogues in order to support the promotion of internationally agreed standards, and to promote mutual learning and shared responsibilities for more impactful development cooperation policies.  

Furthering these objectives, in 2022-2023, the DAC reviewed its approach towards enlarging its membership to both OECD and non-OECD Members. That process led to an updated set of DAC accession criteria and conditions, as well as an improved and clarified accession process:  

DAC Enlargement and Accession (pdf)

Before becoming a DAC member, non-DAC OECD Members are welcome to engage with the DAC and its subsidiary bodies in areas of mutual interest. They may also attend meetings in line with OECD rules as Participant or Invitee (see the DAC Participation Plan).

A candidate country addresses a brief letter to the OECD Secretariat announcing its interest in becoming a DAC member (also known as “Associate” in the case of non-OECD Members). 

If a preliminary analysis by the DAC deems it appropriate, the OECD Secretariat will conduct an accession review against the established accession criteria and conditions and prepare a report on the country's readiness to join, for consideration by the DAC. 

Based on this report and a presentation by the candidate country of its development assistance system, the country is assessed and, if the proposed membership is supported by the DAC (and the OECD Council in the case of non-OECD Members) invited to join the DAC. To formalise its membership, the candidate country writes to the OECD Secretary-General accepting the invitation and pledging to fulfil the obligations of DAC membership.

The criteria for OECD Members and conditions for DAC Associates aim to assess a candidate country’s 1) development co-operation system and effort; 2) engagement with the DAC; and 3) commitment to progress towards meeting DAC standards. 

Criteria for OECD Members are: 

1. The existence of a policy, institutional and accountability (including monitoring and evaluation system) framework that commits the country to contribute to sustainable development, in partnership with developing countries, through the use of public resources.
2. An accepted measure of effort in providing official development assistance (ODA), for example ODA/GNI ratio over 0.20% or ODA volume above USD 100 million, or a time-bound commitment to work towards such levels
3. Provision of information on its alignment with the OECD legal instruments under the responsibility of the DAC, including information on all relevant laws, policies, practices, and future plans to implement.
4. Provision of information on its development cooperation efforts, including annual statistics on ODA flows at activity level for at least 2 years ahead of accession.
5. Regular participation in DAC meetings as well as in meetings of subsidiary bodies of mutual interest for one year.

Conditions for DAC Associates are: 

1. The existence of a policy, institutional and accountability (including monitoring and evaluation system) framework that commits the country to contribute to sustainable development, in partnership with developing countries, through the use of public resources, as well as evidence of political commitments in line with the DAC’s mandate and international agreements. 
2. An accepted measure of effort in providing ODA, for example ODA/GNI ratio over 0.20% or ODA volume above USD 100 million, or a time-bound commitment to work towards such levels; 
3. Provision of information on its alignment with the OECD legal instruments under the responsibility of the DAC, including information on all relevant laws, policies, practices, and future plans to implement; 
4. Provision of information on its development co-operation efforts, including annual statistics on ODA flows at activity level for at least 2 years ahead of accession; 
5. Regular participation in DAC meetings as well as meetings of subsidiary bodies of mutual interest as a Participant for at least two years. 

DAC members have the following obligations, which apply equally to both OECD and non-OECD Members:

• To adhere, at the time of their accession, to all legal instruments under the responsibility of the DAC; 
• To maintain the capacity to participate in all meetings of the DAC and at least one of its subsidiary bodies; 
• To participate in a mid-term review within two years of accession and a peer review covering the full analytical framework within five years if it has not conducted such a review as part of its accession to the DAC; 
• To conduct a regular peer review of its development co-operation, in line with the methodology approved by the DAC, and to serve as an examiner in reviewing other DAC member programmes; 
• To provide the annual submission of required official and private statistics which meet DAC requirements, reporting standards, and methods; 
• To provide summary information to be included in the Development Co-operation Report on request.

DAC members contribute to the DAC budget, either through their contributions to the overall OECD budget for OECD Members or through an annual fee for non-OECD Members.