Implementing Millennium Challenge Corporation Compacts

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is now in the fourth year of implementing some of its compacts of assistance to developing countries to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. According to MCC's establishing legislation, a compact cannot exceed 5 years.

• MCC's pace of implementation has consistently lagged behind projections, and MCC has rescoped several of its compacts due to implementation delays and rising energy, construction, and foreign exchange costs.
  
  Full Report of GAO-08-1145R (PDF, 54 pages)
• MCC needs to assess what it can successfully complete within the compacts' available time, what the rescoped compacts' effects will be on economic growth and poverty reduction, and how it will oversee compact efforts that are funded within the 5-year window but not completed until afterward.
  
  Full Report of GAO-08-1145R (PDF, 54 pages)

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

MCC needs to take several actions to improve its economic analysis, including the following:

• Ensure that MCC officials perform economic analyses that more fully reflect the countries' socioeconomic environment and are better understood by country public- and private-sector representatives.
  
  Highlights of GAO-06-805 (PDF)
• Assess whether statements of expected benefits in Vanuatu and other compact countries accurately reflect the underlying data and analysis.Improve economic analysis by phasing the costs and benefits in compact economic rates of return calculations and by more fully accounting for risks.
  
  Highlights of GAO-07-909 (PDF)
• Adopt and implement written procedures for a secondary independent review of its economic analyses.
• Improve MCC’s guidelines by identifying a consistent approach with preferred methods for projecting compacts’ impact on income and poverty.
  
  Highlights of GAO-08-730 (PDF)

Additionally, MCC should improve its monitoring and evaluation capabilities.

^ Back to topKey Reports

Millennium Challenge Corporation: Summary Fact Sheets for 11 Compacts Entered into Force

GAO-08-1145R, September 26, 2008

Summary (HTML)   Full Report (PDF, 55 pages)   Accessible Text

Millennium Challenge Corporation: Independent Reviews and Consistent Approaches Will Strengthen Projections of Program Impact

GAO-08-730, June 17, 2008

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 46 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)

Millennium Challenge Corporation: Analysis of Compact Development and Future Obligations and Current Disbursements of Compact Assistance

GAO-08-577R, April 11, 2008

Summary (HTML)   Full Report (PDF, 27 pages)   Accessible Text

Millennium Challenge Corporation: Vanuatu Compact Overstates Projected Program Impact

GAO-07-909, July 11, 2007

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 69 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)

Millennium Challenge Corporation: Compact Implementation Structures Are Being Established; Framework for Measuring Results Needs Improvement

GAO-06-805, July 28, 2006

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 101 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)

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