The MCA Monitor provides rigorous policy analysis and research on the operations and effectiveness of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. It aims to contribute to the MCC's success by drawing lessons from relevant experiences, raising awareness, and linking related work on aid effectiveness.
What's New at the MCC
- MCC signs $262 million Compact with Moldova
- Cape Verde named eligible for second compact
- Daniel Yohannes sworn-in as new MCC CEO
MCA Countries
Six countries are currently eligible for MCA Compact funding and two are eligible under the MCA's Threshold Program.
To date, twenty countries have signed MCA Compacts totaling more than $7.2 billion over five years, and nineteen countries have signed Threshold programs totaling over $470 million.
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The MCA Monitor team explores which countries it thinks the MCC Board will select to be eligible for compact assistance in fiscal year 2010.
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CGD's MCA Monitor takes a look at which countries pass the control of corruption indicator for fiscal year 2010.
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Burkina Faso was the first country to sign a threshold program with the MCC and the second nation to transition from a threshold program to compact implementation. In CGD’s latest MCA Monitor Report from the Field, Rebecca Schutte examines the implementation successes and challenges of the MCC’s programs in Burkina Faso at every level of society
LEARN MORE
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In a presentation delivered at NYU's Aid Watch Conference, CGD president Nancy Birdsall, in a session on accountabilty, spoke about Cash on Delivery Aid, a way for donors to transfer money that could make aid-dependent governments accountable for outcomes to their citizens -- instead of for inputs to their donors.
View the Slides
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The Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) has received wide praise for its innovative approaches to aid allocation and delivery but has not yet reached its full potential. Now, with the transition to a new administration, the MCC must take bold steps to achieve greater effectiveness, clarity of purpose, and integration with the broader U.S. foreign assistance framework. CGD analysts Sheila Herrling, Steve Radelet, and Molly Kinder offer timely suggestions, including introducing smaller, multiple compacts, reorienting the Threshold Program, and focusing exclusively on low-income countries.
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Join us for a conversation with Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) CEO John Danilovich as he prepares to pass stewardship over the MCC to a new Administration. In his introductory remarks and subsequent dialogue with CGD Senior Fellow Steve Radelet, Ambassador Danilovich will reflect upon his role and experiences in leading and shaping the agency which marks its fifth anniversary in January. He will share his views on both the challenges and opportunities of implementing what many call “one of the most promising innovations in foreign aid” and will reflect on how the MCC fits into the broader landscape of modernizing U.S. foreign assistance, a stated priority for the incoming Obama Administration. We are delighted to host Ambassador Danilovich on the “eve” of his departure and to both congratulate him for his many successes as well as explore with him the unfinished agenda for the new team to carry forward.
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On December 11th, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will announce which countries will be eligible to apply for funding in 2009. With funding tight, few new countries passing the eligibility indicators test, twelve of eighteen countries with signed MCC compacts failing the indicators test, and an uncertain future in the new administration, this year's selection round will both test the MCC's adherence to its principles and perhaps set new precedents. CGD's MCA Monitor team took a hard look at tough choices and predicts which countries the MCC Board is likely to choose for 2009 in a new paper titled "Round Six of the MCA". This event features a discussion with Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow at CGD, who will present the forecast and highlight the key issues the Board will face this year.
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The MCA Monitor team presents its predictions for the MCC's selection of countries eligible to apply for funding in 2009. Steve Radelet and Amy Crone take a hard look at the tough choice the MCC has to make, and they offer suggestions to help the MCC to weather a tight budget and political transition, to increase transparency, and clarify criteria for Threshold Program elegibility.
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The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), established by Congress in 2004 to administer a major new U.S. development assistance effort, has undertaken a concerted strategy to address this evaluation gap, sponsoring rigorous independent evaluations of its funded projects so as to build scientifically-valid evidence about "what works." On October 29, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, in collaboration with MCC, will host a forum with leaders of the development policy and research community on MCC's evidence-based approach. The forum's purpose is (i) to discuss the approach, including some initial results and MCC's new web-based effort to make the results public in a transparent and timely way; (ii) to explore whether the MCC approach can help spark rapid, evidence-driven progress in development assistance, similar to that which has transformed other fields such as medicine and U.S. welfare policy; and (iii) to seek input and suggestions on the approach from forum participants.
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With the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) soon to release the scorecards and performance data that form the basis of the FY09 country selection round, Sheila Herrling and Amy Crone examine how countries fare on the control of corruption indicator, the only “hard hurdle” that countries must pass to qualify for MCC money, in this new MCA Monitor Analysis.
LEARN MORE
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In this study, Steven Radelet examines the MCA's potential promise and possible pitfalls. He offers a rigorous analysis of the MCA’s central challenge: making foreign aid more effective in supporting economic growth and poverty reduction in the poor countries. He systematically explores what makes the MCA different and pinpoints the critical issues that will determine its success or failure.
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In a presentation delivered at NYU's Aid Watch Conference, CGD president Nancy Birdsall, in a session on accountabilty, spoke about Cash on Delivery Aid, a way for donors to transfer money that could make aid-dependent governments accountable for outcomes to their citizens -- instead of for inputs to their donors.
View the Slides
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As Congress gears up to allocate some $36 billion in the international affairs budget across a multitude of foreign aid programs, CGD senior policy analyst Sheila Herrling and research assistant Sarah Rose ask whether the MCA should receive the full $3 billion requested by the president for the initiative. The authors applaud the MCA as one of the few U.S. foreign aid programs specifically dedicated to long-term global growth and poverty reduction and argue that reduced funding could jeopardize its core credibility.
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President Bush's FY2008 budget request provides a first glimpse into how the administration's new foreign assistance framework and transformational diplomacy agenda translate into who gets how much for what. In this CGD essay, authors Samuel Bazzi, Sheila Herrling and Stewart Patrick, show that the U.S. continues to devote a tiny fraction of national wealth to alleviate poverty and promote growth in the developing world. They recommend reform of U.S. development assistance include: a comprehensive national strategy for global development; a hard look at the top recipients; impact evaluation; a cabinet-level development agency; and rewriting the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Learn more
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The MCA Monitor team explores which countries it thinks the MCC Board will select to be eligible for compact assistance in fiscal year 2010.
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With the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) soon to release the scorecards and performance data that form the basis of the FY09 country selection round, Sheila Herrling and Amy Crone examine how countries fare on the control of corruption indicator, the only “hard hurdle” that countries must pass to qualify for MCC money, in this new MCA Monitor Analysis.
LEARN MORE
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In response to a request from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, CGD convened the Global Health Indicators Working Group to examine potential measures of a government's commitment to health. The group's report recommends eight indicators for consideration by the MCC and other donors as they assess recipient countries' readiness to make effective use of foreign assistance. Learn more
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CGD's MCA Monitor takes a look at which countries pass the control of corruption indicator for fiscal year 2010.
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The Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) has received wide praise for its innovative approaches to aid allocation and delivery but has not yet reached its full potential. Now, with the transition to a new administration, the MCC must take bold steps to achieve greater effectiveness, clarity of purpose, and integration with the broader U.S. foreign assistance framework. CGD analysts Sheila Herrling, Steve Radelet, and Molly Kinder offer timely suggestions, including introducing smaller, multiple compacts, reorienting the Threshold Program, and focusing exclusively on low-income countries.
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Burkina Faso was the first country to sign a threshold program with the MCC and the second nation to transition from a threshold program to compact implementation. In CGD’s latest MCA Monitor Report from the Field, Rebecca Schutte examines the implementation successes and challenges of the MCC’s programs in Burkina Faso at every level of society
LEARN MORE
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MCA Monitor: Burkina Faso Report from the Field
- Jul 29, 2009
Burkina Faso was the first country to sign a threshold program with the MCC and the second nation to transition from a threshold program to compact implementation. In CGD’s latest MCA Monitor Report from the Field, Rebecca Schutte examines the implementation successes and challenges of the MCC’s programs in Burkina Faso at every level of society
LEARN MORE
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From Innovation to Impact: Next Steps for the Millennium Challenge Corporation
- Jan 16, 2009
The Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) has received wide praise for its innovative approaches to aid allocation and delivery but has not yet reached its full potential. Now, with the transition to a new administration, the MCC must take bold steps to achieve greater effectiveness, clarity of purpose, and integration with the broader U.S. foreign assistance framework. CGD analysts Sheila Herrling, Steve Radelet, and Molly Kinder offer timely suggestions, including introducing smaller, multiple compacts, reorienting the Threshold Program, and focusing exclusively on low-income countries.
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Round Six of the MCA: Which Countries Are Most Likely to Be Selected for FY2009?
- Nov 24, 2008
The MCA Monitor team presents its predictions for the MCC's selection of countries eligible to apply for funding in 2009. Steve Radelet and Amy Crone take a hard look at the tough choice the MCC has to make, and they offer suggestions to help the MCC to weather a tight budget and political transition, to increase transparency, and clarify criteria for Threshold Program elegibility.
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Which Countries Make the FY2009 Corruption Cut? - MCA Monitor
- Oct 2, 2008
With the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) soon to release the scorecards and performance data that form the basis of the FY09 country selection round, Sheila Herrling and Amy Crone examine how countries fare on the control of corruption indicator, the only “hard hurdle” that countries must pass to qualify for MCC money, in this new MCA Monitor Analysis.
LEARN MORE
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MCA Monitor El Salvador Report from the Field
- Sep 3, 2008
This ninth MCA Monitor Report from the Field is a snapshot-in-time of El Salvador’s program in the early phases of its implementation, during a year in which the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is under pressure to increase and accelerate disbursements, demonstrate tangible impacts, and substantiate the country-driven model as a viable alternative to traditional U.S. government foreign assistance. El Salvador’s experience highlights the challenges of balancing country ownership and oversight as well as managing procurement and expectations. The report suggests solutions to pressing questions related to country ownership, the consultative process, donor coordination, aid effectiveness, and transparency.
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Round Five Of The MCA: Which Countries Are Most Likely To Be Selected For FY2008?
- Nov 26, 2007
On December 12, the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) Board will choose which countries are eligible for FY2008 funding in what may be the toughest selection round to date. With funding tight, new countries passing the performance test, half of the countries with signed compacts failing, and an MCC decision to shift its focus to implementation, this round should test the MCC's adherence to its principles and perhaps set new standards. As it does each year, the MCA Monitor team takes a hard look at tough choices and predicts which countries the MCC Board is likely to choose.
Read the paper
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The Impact of FY2008 Funding Options on the MCA: From Saving Face to Saving the Program
- Nov 16, 2007
Amid a contentious FY2008 budget round between Congress and the White House, foreign assistance -- particularly that for development -- may face cuts during negotiations. The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) -- one of few U.S. foreign aid programs specifically targeted to long-term development objectives -- is especially vulnerable. In a new MCA Monitor Analysis, senior policy analyst Sheila Herrling presents a path forward for Congress and the administration to address the real issues hindering MCA implementation, and argues against an amendment introduced by Senator Lugar to change the MCA's compact funding obligations policy because it erodes key innovations that distinguish the MCA from other aid programs.
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Which Countries Might Trip on the Millennium Challenge Account Corruption Hurdle?
- Oct 22, 2007
The Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) will soon release performance data that will form the basis of its FY2008 country selection round. The only indicator that countries must pass to qualify for MCC money is Control of Corruption. CGD's Sheila Herrling and Sarah Rose have crunched the numbers for the corruption indicator data and offer an early preview of which countries will clear the hurdle—and which are likely to trip. In early November the MCA Monitor team will release their predictions of which countries will be deemed eligible for Millennium Challenge funding. The MCC Board is scheduled to announce its decision on December 4.
Learn More
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A Conversation with Ambassador John Danilovich: Transition and the MCC
- Jan 13, 2009
Join us for a conversation with Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) CEO John Danilovich as he prepares to pass stewardship over the MCC to a new Administration. In his introductory remarks and subsequent dialogue with CGD Senior Fellow Steve Radelet, Ambassador Danilovich will reflect upon his role and experiences in leading and shaping the agency which marks its fifth anniversary in January. He will share his views on both the challenges and opportunities of implementing what many call “one of the most promising innovations in foreign aid” and will reflect on how the MCC fits into the broader landscape of modernizing U.S. foreign assistance, a stated priority for the incoming Obama Administration. We are delighted to host Ambassador Danilovich on the “eve” of his departure and to both congratulate him for his many successes as well as explore with him the unfinished agenda for the new team to carry forward.
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Which Countries Will the Millennium Challenge Corporation Choose for Fiscal Year 2009?
- Dec 2, 2008
On December 11th, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will announce which countries will be eligible to apply for funding in 2009. With funding tight, few new countries passing the eligibility indicators test, twelve of eighteen countries with signed MCC compacts failing the indicators test, and an uncertain future in the new administration, this year's selection round will both test the MCC's adherence to its principles and perhaps set new precedents. CGD's MCA Monitor team took a hard look at tough choices and predicts which countries the MCC Board is likely to choose for 2009 in a new paper titled "Round Six of the MCA". This event features a discussion with Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow at CGD, who will present the forecast and highlight the key issues the Board will face this year.
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Rigorous Evidence: Key to Progress Against World Poverty?
- Oct 29, 2008
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), established by Congress in 2004 to administer a major new U.S. development assistance effort, has undertaken a concerted strategy to address this evaluation gap, sponsoring rigorous independent evaluations of its funded projects so as to build scientifically-valid evidence about "what works." On October 29, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, in collaboration with MCC, will host a forum with leaders of the development policy and research community on MCC's evidence-based approach. The forum's purpose is (i) to discuss the approach, including some initial results and MCC's new web-based effort to make the results public in a transparent and timely way; (ii) to explore whether the MCC approach can help spark rapid, evidence-driven progress in development assistance, similar to that which has transformed other fields such as medicine and U.S. welfare policy; and (iii) to seek input and suggestions on the approach from forum participants.
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Which Countries Will the Millennium Challenge Corporation Choose in 2008?
- Nov 29, 2007
On December 12th, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will announce which countries will be eligible to apply for funding in 2008. With funding tight, new countries passing the eligibility indicators test, nine of sixteen countries with signed MCC compacts failing the indicators test, and an organizational decision to shift its focus to implementation, this year's selection round will both test the MCC's adherence to its principles and perhaps set new standards. CGD's MCA Monitor team took a hard look at tough choices and predicts which countries the MCC Board is likely to choose for 2008 in a new paper titled "Round Five of the MCA". This event features a discussion with Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow at CGD, who will present the forecast and highlight the key issues the Board will face this year.
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Which Countries Will the Millennium Challenge Corporation Choose in 2007?
- Nov 6, 2006
The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will announce on November 8th which countries will be eligible to apply for funding in 2007. With funding tight, four countries with signed MCC compacts failing the indicators test but pressing for exemptions, and two countries that might be chosen for political purposes, this year's selection round will test the MCC's adherence to its principles. CGD's MCA Monitor team took a hard look at tough choices and forecasts which countries the MCC Board is likely to choose for 2007 in a new paper titled "Round Four of the MCA". This event features a discussion with Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow at CGD, who will present the forecast and highlight the key issues the Board will face this year.
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The Millennium Challenge Account: From Start-up to Grown-up?
- Apr 27, 2006
Ambassador John J. Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation, will offer opening remarks at this CGD event. A moderated discussion with Janet Ballantyne, Vice President for International Development, Abt Associates Inc. and Former Acting Deputy Administrator, USAID; Roger Bate, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; John Hewko, Vice President of Operations, Millennium Challenge Corporation; Mark Lippert, Director of Foreign Policy, Office of Senator Barack Obama; Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development; and H.E. Tertius Zongo, Ambassador of Burkina Faso will follow.
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CGD Video: Benin's Millennium Challenge Account Compact
- Feb 23, 2006
John Danilovich, head of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), and Cosme Sehlin, Benin's minister of finance, discussed Benin’s new $307 million compact with the MCC at a CGD event moderated by senior fellow Steve Radelet. Other participants included Simon Pierre Adovelande, national coordinator for MCA Benin, and Michael Grossman, senior country director at the MCC. Video highlights and transcipts are now available.
Learn more
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Assessing Cape Verde's Millennium Challenge Account Compact
- Jul 13, 2005
Bread for the World, CGD, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation are jointly hosting an event with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde and the Millennium Challenge Account CEO, Paul Applegarth to analyze Cape Verde's recent MCA Compact.
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