The Audit Committee, which is a sub-committee of the Executive Board of IFAD, was established by decision of the Executive Board at its Fifteenth Session in April 1982, in order to deal with audit-related matters on an ad hoc basis. Its membership distribution was revised at the Sixty-First Session of the Executive Board to fall in line with the new membership distribution of the Executive Board. It is now composed of nine Members from the 36 Members of the Executive Board at the time; four Members from List A, two Members from List B and three Members from List C. The Chairmanship of the Audit Committee rests permanently with List A. These nine Members are elected to the Committee by the Executive Board itself, for a three-year term of office. The Audit Committee meets regularly four times a year; the first time at the beginning of March to review the audited financial statements and then just before each of the April, September and December Board Sessions.

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Audit Committee and the IFAD Policy on the Disclosure of Documents, the proceedings, documents, and records of the Audit Committee, with the exception of the annual investigation reports, are restricted. The outcome of deliberations of the Audit Committee  are made public following Audit Committee meetings, and shared with the Executive Board in the Report of the Chair.