On March 1 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee will get a new chair. Carsten Staur, Denmark’s current ambassador to the OECD, will be the first Dane to lead the body, which defines, measures, and critiques its 31 members’ aid spending.
That puts it at the heart of debates such as how to count loans, excess vaccine doses, and the cost of hosting refugees. The chair’s role is to help guide these sometimes years-long discussions to a point where all members can agree.
Yet despite the DAC’s significance, its inner workings remain largely hidden. Devex was one of the few media outlets to cover the recent closed-door election race that saw Staur beat candidates from Norway and France.