The holiday season is a particularly poignant time to reflect on the needs of those around the world who are less fortunate than ourselves.  We are responsive to the struggle and sacrifice confronting millions of families worldwide who are living in poverty.  Their incredible burdens are also the most basic of human needs-how to access shelter, food, health services, education, and jobs.  MCC is making a difference in this fight against systemic, entrenched poverty.  And, we are enhancing our efforts by partnering with organizations that share our core belief that generating sustainable prosperity, development, and growth can improve the lives of the poor.

MCC’s MOU with the World Food Program

MCC CEO Ambassador John Danilovich and World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran, pictured here with a small red cup Sheeran brought from Africa is an actual portion size of the only food that some children in school food programs throughout the world receive on a daily basis.

Today, I joined Josette Sheeran, my good friend and a champion for the poor who serves as the World Food Program’s (WFP) Executive Director, to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the WFP and MCC that creates a framework for coordinating our investments to significantly leverage our mutual impact on global economic growth, poverty reduction, and improved food security.  The MoU outlines three areas of cooperation in countries where both the WFP and MCC work: agricultural production, policy and program reforms, and gender integration.  These are all important components for strengthening local markets and achieving food security.

Building on MCC’s existing partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), MCC and the WFP will initially work in countries where MCC is already collaborating with AGRA.  The cooperation between MCC and AGRA is bearing fruit and setting a precedent for results.  In Madagascar, for example, AGRA is considering an investment of over $500,000 to MCC-funded agricultural business centers to set up farmer-based seed multiplication sites for improved varieties of rice, corn, and beans.

MoUs like these-with AGRA and now with the WFP-demonstrate MCC’s commitment to augmenting U.S. taxpayer money with additional initiatives. This approach prevents duplication of efforts, enhances the impact of each project activity, and helps our partners attract investments in long-term growth.  Particularly in a time of severe financial constraints, this is a smart and strategic approach that ensures that every dollar counts.

MCC’s Partnerships throughout Latin America

What’s equally smart and strategic is the power of effective partnerships to fight poverty in the Americas.  With nearly $1 billion committed to compacts and threshold programs in the Americas, MCC is proof of positive and constructive U.S. engagement throughout the Western Hemisphere.

MCC CEO Ambassador John Danilovich shakes hands with Bharrat Jagdeo, the President of Guyana

I was reminded of this just yesterday when I welcomed Bharrat Jagdeo, the President of Guyana, to MCC to discuss progress on Guyana’s nearly $7 million MCC threshold program, which is aimed at overhauling fiscal policies, creating a more business-friendly environment, and streamlining business registration.  Guyana’s progress is proof of the deep resolve in the Americas to replace poverty with prosperity, and we are proud of our role in helping our partners achieve their self-determined, country-driven antipoverty plans.

Farmers in Honduras received technical assistance and training in small business skills and agricultural practices

Last night, I attended an event hosted by the Council of the Americas where I spoke about the “good news” of MCC’s approach to development assistance and what it is accomplishing in the hemisphere-students attending vocational training, thousands of families receiving land titles, farmers benefitting from training to increase their agricultural productivity, jobs being created, and key infrastructure being developed.  The slideshow of MCC’s work in Latin America provides an overview of the strength of our partnerships to transcend the often empty rhetoric of politics to deliver the tangible reality of positive, meaningful change for the poor.

MCC’s partnerships-whether with other donors or with partner countries-is how the fight against poverty will be won.  Through mutual accountability and a mutual investment of resources, expertise, and resolve, we see this underway already.  The time to further build on this progress is now.

Global poverty will continue to plague our world as long as corruption remains unchecked.  From boardrooms to farm fields, the corrosive effects of corruption rob countries large and small of the chance for long-term economic growth and sustainable development.  This issue is one of the constant themes that people around the globe raise with me as we discuss ways that the U.S. Government can help lift people out of poverty in the most effective, results-based way.  Addressing the problem is at the heart of the MCC model, and we partner exclusively with those countries that are taking concrete steps to free their countries from corruption’s strangulating grip.

A prime example of this partnership is MCC’s relationship with Paraguay.  We have worked with Paraguay since May 2006 in targeted sectors identified by the Paraguayans as high priorities in fighting corruption.  MCC’s $34.64 million anticorruption Threshold Program in Paraguay is nearing completion, and some of the early results paint an impressive picture of what can be accomplished when a country confronts corruption in an open and aggressive manner.  A new forensic laboratory will help Paraguay’s prosecutors carry out investigations with the right tools and with integrity.  Discipline of judicial personnel has improved significantly now that complaints can be filed and processed in an open and transparent way.  Internal controls and ethics awareness are helping thousands of Paraguay’s public servants serve with greater accountability, quality, and integrity.  Paraguay’s tax authority is aggressively pursuing noncompliant businesses and contraband, and illegal merchandise totaling over $6 million has been seized thanks to enhanced systems in Paraguay’s customs service.

These actions are tangible steps toward rooting out corruption.  In recognition of these concrete efforts-and of the commitment of Paraguay’s new President Fernando Lugo and his historic government to sustain reforms and further control corruption-MCC invited Paraguay to submit a second, “Stage II” Threshold Program proposal, which is currently under review.  Partners like Paraguay understand why MCC considers corruption as one of the “hard hurdles” that must be overcome in order to be eligible for a large-scale grant, or MCC compact.  It makes sense that U.S. taxpayer investments go to countries that are tackling these problems on their soil.  It makes sense for our partners to join with the U.S. in fighting a common enemy like corruption, the negative effects of which infect our global economy and hurt all of us in the long-run.  A less corrupt world is a better place to do business, a more nurturing environment for democracy, and a better home for all of us.  The fight against poverty requires the fight against corruption.  It’s as true in countries like Paraguay as it is in places like our own country and our own hometowns, and it requires our combined efforts as partners.

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.