We have so much to learn from schoolchildren.  Their curiosity and imagination have never ceased to intrigue and impress me during my service as U.S. Ambassador and, more recently, as Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO.  One of the most gratifying aspects of this job has been the chance to talk with young people in some of the 35 countries where we are partnering to reduce poverty.  My visit to Ghana late last month was a particularly poignant reminder of the huge investment that the United States is making in education around the world.

Education is a major driver of economic growth, which is at the heart of a sound antipoverty strategy.  Last month in Ghana, I participated in the commissioning ceremony for one of the hundreds of schools that will be renovated or built through Ghana’s $547 million MCC compact.  In the joy of the children and the enthusiasm of the teachers, we can already see how our investments in education are making a difference.  Investing in education enhances future earnings and employment opportunities for students, while contributing to overall economic growth and poverty reduction.  In addition to Ghana, MCC grants support educational programs in Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, and Namibia.

I was also in Ghana to preside over the groundbreaking of a major road project, together with President Kufuor.  Funded through Ghana’s MCC compact, the rehabilitation of this critical transportation route from the capital of Accra to the port of Tema will help farmers get their products to the marketplace in a quicker, more cost-efficient manner.  Having pineapples or mangos, for example, sit on the back of a lorry for three hours on their way to markets wastes time and fuel and shortens the fruit’s shelf-life.  This new roadway will transform Ghana’s agriculture sector and help fuel sustainable economic growth.  I am proud of these tangible results unfolding in our partner countries worldwide.  Investments in infrastructure are essential to the very real needs for development our partners themselves have identified as vital for long-term growth and prosperity.

Our partners also consistently identify secure and efficient access to land as critical for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.  We have seen our partners invest their MCC grants in ways to promote improved legal frameworks, more client service-oriented property registries, and formal recording of land rights in selected communities.  To further discuss the importance of secure land tenure for the poor, I welcomed Ron Terwilliger, Chairman of the Board for Habitat for Humanity International, to MCC last Thursday for a standing-room only event to delve into the “housing crisis that no one is talking about”-the issue of secure land tenure for the world’s poor.

Investments in education, infrastructure, and land tenure are making a difference in ways that matter to the poor.  MCC looks forward to advancing this progress under the Obama-Biden administration.  We encourage the new administration and congressional representatives, from both parties, to continue the fight to end global poverty through sustainable and results-based programs like MCC.  Given today’s global economic concerns, we recognize the increased importance of investing every dollar of taxpayers’ money wisely when it comes to foreign aid.  MCC remains committed to making smart and innovative investments in countries that are focusing on positive policy reform and delivering tangible results in the fight against poverty.

In the end, fighting global poverty is about good policies, not politics.   It is a fight based on partnership.  Our partners know this; and we know this.  MCC’s effective, results-driven collaboration with partner countries to replace poverty with prosperity is something we can all be proud of as Americans and as responsible and concerned citizens of an increasingly connected world.

Last week, MCC signed threshold agreements with Rwanda and Albania to support their efforts to become eligible for U.S. Government assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account. While these two countries have little in common in terms of geography, cultural heritage, or history, they share a fundamental aspiration: to give their citizens the building blocks to construct economic self-reliance in a meaningful and prosperous way. At a standing-room only ceremony on Capitol Hill to celebrate the threshold program with Rwanda, and at a similar ceremony in Tirana for the threshold program with Albania, there was much discussion about the importance of these building blocks. It is something that the United States is successfully addressing through innovations like MCC.

Systemic poverty robs people of basic freedoms and choices. The sound economic, political, and social policies that MCC expects from its partners are helping create societies where entrepreneurship can flourish. The roads, land titles, schools, water and sanitation improvements, and agricultural programs that MCC supports are allowing men and women to choose their economic path, instead of being constrained by poverty. Rather than fleeing to urban areas or crossing borders, these people are building a solid economic, political, and social future right at home. This builds stability; and greater economic stability for the world’s poor means a healthier global economy and world community for all of us.

Innovations in assistance, such as MCC, are the subject of a historic White House Summit on International Development that will take place in Washington this Tuesday. I am pleased that MCC has been asked to convene a panel discussion on economic growth as part of this meeting. The conversation about how to best deliver U.S. Government assistance continues to underline the need for results-based programs that measure not just the dollars disbursed, but tangible, positive impacts in the lives of the poor. A recent report by Oxfam International discusses this concept and points to MCC as one way it is being addressed. This principle is part of our work in Africa just as much as it is in Eurasia and Latin America. Countries such as Denmark, with whom MCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month, are also looking at how to maximize their poverty reduction investments abroad, and MCC is proud to be working with them to make that goal a reality. In a month when the world commemorates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and World Food Day, concerted, positive actions like these are among the best things we can do to ensure that the fight against poverty results in tangible, positive impacts for the poor.

These essential building blocks for economic success are something that Americans take seriously. At MCC, by asking recipients of U.S. assistance to enact policies that foster good governance, investments in their people, and greater economic freedom, we are helping strengthen the building blocks for global prosperity that benefit us all. Thank you for your continued comments and feedback at info@mcc.gov.

The U.S. Government’s support for Africa is much more than words alone.  The tangible actions on the ground in places where the Millennium Challenge Corporation operates are evidence that long-term solutions to poverty are hard at work in Africa.  What African leaders continue to tell us is that they don’t want mere donations; they want partnerships.  We have such a partnership with Burkina Faso.  This week’s signing of a $481 million MCC compact with Burkina Faso is an exciting milestone for me personally and for this organization.  President Compaore and I attended the signing ceremony for the grant agreement at the State Department, with MCC Board Chair Condoleezza Rice presiding at the event.  These funds provide more than emergency or temporary relief to Burkina Faso’s economy.  They are designed to go deep into solving the impediments to growth that the country itself identified.  The compact follows a successful two-year, $13 million threshold program to improve girls’ access to education in Burkina Faso that MCC proudly funded.  Having visited the “girl-friendly” schools that MCC funds made possible, I can attest to the effectiveness of this investment.  You can feel the sense of hope and accomplishment in these schools where families and communities can now offer their daughters options for their future.

MCC’s private-sector Board members are already some of our best spokespersons about what our country-driven approach is accomplishing in Africa.  MCC’s Board composition is unique, with private-sector members—along with key government officials—playing a crucial role in guiding the organization in our mission to reduce poverty through growth.  Catholic Relief Services President Ken Hackett, who serves on MCC’s Board as one of those private-sector members, joined me earlier this week to talk about the Burkina Faso compact during an outreach meeting with President Compaore.  Ken shared his first-hand perspective on how investments in Africa are making a difference.  I am also happy to report that MCC Board member Senator Bill Frist is currently in Africa and is visiting MCC projects and beneficiaries as part of his itinerary.  Be sure to read about some of his impressions.

As the debate in Washington continues about how best to deliver foreign assistance, MCC is pleased to see such robust dialogue emerge around the very principles that are at the core of our operating model.  During congressional hearings and meetings in recent weeks, we have heard time and again how aid with accountability, a focus on results, partner country-led solutions, an intolerance for corruption, and investments for long-term economic development are more than nice ideas; they are best practices that should be examined and embraced to deliver U.S. development assistance effectively.  We at MCC welcome this debate and invite you to look further into what is unfolding in the 18 countries where we are working to fight poverty by employing these core principles.  It’s not a fight that any one approach alone can win, but MCC is changing the conversation about foreign assistance and providing an effective action plan.  Poverty, after all, is a foe that demands our actions, and not just our words.