Thomas Gass elected chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee
Bern, 08.07.2026 — On 8 July, the members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) elected Ambassador Thomas Gass as their next chair. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) supported his candidacy and welcome his election.
The DAC comprises 34 OECD donor countries and is the leading international body for development cooperation. It develops international standards, promotes coordination among donor countries and helps to enhance the effectiveness of international development cooperation.
Mr Gass was elected by the 34 DAC members in a secret ballot. As chair of the DAC, he will play a key role in the strategic advancement of international development cooperation, lead dialogue between member states and drive forward the drafting of common development policy standards and priorities. Mr Gass will begin his four-year term at the start of 2027 in Paris. He will be supported by a technical secretariat at the OECD, which will carry out the operational and analytical work.
International development cooperation is faced with profound changes due to geopolitical shifts, growing funding challenges and an increasingly diverse donor landscape. The DAC is helping to actively shape this transition, further develop international standards and strengthen dialogue with new and established donors, as well as with partner countries.
Mr Gass has been head of the Swiss embassy in Vietnam since 2023. From 2018 to 2022 he was assistant director and head of bilateral cooperation at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Bern. Before that, he was assistant secretary-general at the United Nations Secretariat in New York, where he was responsible for, among other things, the negotiations on the 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.