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.

A great achievement in Georgia

It is no secret that Georgians, and particularly Georgia’s poor, have confronted considerable conflict and economic uncertainty during the past few months.  Yet, even in the face of this, the country’s resolve to address systemic poverty has not been deterred or diminished.  Progress continues on Georgia’s MCC compact, which is primarily focused on rehabilitating infrastructure for transportation, energy, and municipal water services.  These infrastructure improvements are creating jobs, facilitating access to markets, boosting trade links, improving travel time, reducing vehicle operating costs, providing communities with a constant supply of potable water, and delivering heat to homes and businesses. 

I traveled to Georgia last week and heard from Georgians firsthand about their daunting situation.  Despite the difficult times, I also sensed the strong resolve of our Georgian partners to replace poverty with prosperity, and uncertainty with economic stability.

While in Tbilisi, I joined Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili to sign an amendment to Georgia’s MCC compact that increases MCC’s development assistance under the compact by $100 million, bringing the total to $395 million.  This additional funding will be used to complete projects relating to roads, regional infrastructure development, and energy activities.  The majority of these projects were part of Georgia’s original concept for its compact, which can now be included and realized with this additional funding.  Georgians, who themselves outlined and advocated for these projects as important in reducing poverty and stimulating growth, will build on the compact progress already evident and will use these funds to pave additional roads, build wastewater networks, and make more headway on their country’s national energy strategy.  Projects like these will go a long way toward boosting investor confidence in Georgia, contributing to economic stability, and promoting economic growth that will improve the lives of millions of Georgians living in poverty.  I invite the public to learn more about this amendment to the U.S. Government’s poverty reduction compact with Georgia through MCC’s web site, where the full set of documentation (including Congressional Notifications, Fact Sheets, Country Status Reports, and other information) is available.

In Paris with Agence Française de Développement

The fight against global poverty requires as many partners as possible. No nation, or donor organization, can shoulder or effectively tackle this problem alone. That’s why en route to Tbilisi, I met in Paris with my counterpart in the French government to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Agence Française de Développement (AFD).  The French share America’s commitment to eradicating global poverty, and this MOU memorializes the intent to deepen in-country cooperation between our two development agencies in sectors such as microfinance, land tenure, legal and judicial reform, transportation infrastructure, and agriculture in countries where we are both working.  Especially in places such as Africa, this enhanced cooperation will make our poverty reduction efforts more effective.  We had an early example of this cooperation last month when MCC and AFD co-sponsored a workshop for African countries to share lessons learned regarding land policy.    

Results-oriented partnerships between MCC and partner countries like Georgia and between MCC and other donors like AFD will lead to improvements in the lives of the world’s poor in ways that matter for their long-term prosperity.

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.

Today, MCC welcomed former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to our Washington headquarters to commemorate an important milestone that helps us accomplish our mission to reduce poverty and improve the lives of our friends and partners in Africa. The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with AGRA will allow our organizations to achieve more at a time when food security issues are a top priority in the fight against poverty. Mr. Annan and I agree that implementing long-term, country-based solutions to foster agricultural growth is key to reversing the current food crisis in a sustainable way. By joining forces on this front, we are helping to deepen the commitment to the work already underway in our partner countries, from reforming agricultural sectors to investing in fundamental rural infrastructure. I invite you to learn more about what our local partners and experts agree are closely linked aspects of food security and poverty reduction that demand our attention.

Mr. Annan’s cooperation with MCC, and his words of encouragement for MCC’s mission, are the latest in a growing chorus of support for the results we are seeing on the ground. President Bush, a bipartisan group of Senators, and groups like the Center for Global Development, InterAction, Freedom House, and the U.S. Global Leadership Council have been sending a clear message of support to Congress over the past few weeks. As CEO of an agency helping to change the conversation about the way the U.S. can help address poverty, I am encouraged to see support from the many champions of those who live on less than $2 a day. We agree with them that poverty isn’t political-it’s about policy, not politics.

The various memoranda of understanding MCC has signed recently are much more than mere paper or policy declarations. We are seeking ways to leverage the resources of those in the private sector (such as GE and Microsoft), of those with in-depth, on-the-ground knowledge in places like Africa (as is the case with DfID and AGRA), and of those who can help us find a diverse, talented workforce (as with the Phelps-Stokes Fund) in order to achieve our goals. I have asked that each of these memoranda of understanding be available to the public on our website so that you can see how MCC works to augment U.S. taxpayer money with additional initiatives. Only by engaging and working together with groups like these can we prevent duplication, improve the impact of each kilometer of road or irrigation, and help our partners attract long-term growth opportunities. MCC is just one tool in the toolbox to help address global poverty. We can accomplish much more by working together, and I welcome your input to help identify those working relationships that will help us achieve these goals.

The boardroom at the General Electric Company at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City is a long way from villages in Ghana or rural communities in El Salvador. I was reminded this week, however, that the expertise, technologies, and resources of corporate America are important bridges to these faraway places. The private sector offers exciting, real options for growth for the poorest people of these countries, and MCC is partnering with the private sector to make our mutual efforts more effective and take this responsibility to heart. MCC signed an agreement with GE to explore areas of mutual cooperation and ways to leverage financing and technical know-how to help MCC countries find long-term solutions for reducing poverty and sustaining growth. From clean air and water technologies to corporate best practices, GE is willing to help our partners maximize their MCC funding to fulfill their own development priorities. GE Vice Chairman and CFO Keith Sherin and I spoke to a group of business leaders and opinion makers about the urgency for private sector engagement. MCC’s approach to foreign assistance—using a results-driven, corporate model —is encouraging the private sector to move beyond “charity” to a strong sense of corporate social responsibility in developing countries where they do business. I hope others will join the growing list of corporations that are engaging with our MCC partner countries. We’re creating a conversation about how these companies can and should provide the technologies, employment opportunities, and investments that will make MCC’s roads, bridges, ports, schools, and irrigation projects something that is much more than just stand-alone infrastructure. With the private sector’s involvement, they become real opportunities for sustainable development.

MCC countries must demonstrate a commitment to democracy to be eligible for our grant funding. Democracy is multifaceted—it’s not just about elections or governance—and we believe that well functioning democratic institutions provide an environment that leads to sustainable economic growth. Last week, MCC hosted an expert panel at our Washington headquarters to address this issue and to look at the links between a free press and economic growth. Our panelists agreed that raising the profile of this important issue is a cornerstone of what MCC helps partner countries strive for, and achieve. Keeping corruption in check requires a free press that can investigate, uncover, and report. Only when the press functions as a viable, independent institution can it truly fulfill its role in society. MCC programs in developing countries are training journalists, strengthening institutions that fight corruption, increasing transparency, and helping build democracies.

MCC continues to bring people around the table to talk about global poverty. Earlier this week while in New York to sign the memorandum of understanding with GE, I was reminded of how much interest there is in the United States to address this problem. From prominent members of the Philippine-American community, to business leaders, to the media, to promising students at places like Manhattan’s Hunter College, we are a nation that takes development assistance seriously. The U.S. taxpayer investment that MCC represents is a symbol of this commitment, but so is the urgency with which the private sector in America—through philanthropic efforts, involvement in critical issues like gender, the environment, human rights, and increased investment—has taken on this responsibility. Poverty is a problem that merits this serious contribution from public and private sector America, and MCC is proud to be part of this conversation and commitment.

(Technical edits were made to this post on April 9, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. —Ed.)

This has been an exciting few days for MCC. President Bush signed our largest compact to date, with Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam this past weekend, bringing unprecedented attention to what MCC is achieving with partner countries—poverty reduction through sustained growth. The comments made by both President Bush and President Kikwete during the signing ceremony capture what I believe is already clear through our work: People expect and demand results and accountability for these funds, for reforms that will bring about prosperity and stability. Poverty reduction is so much more complex than a single program or a single effort. It requires solid policy reforms to establish the institutional foundation upon which these investments can be based. I am currently in London en route from Africa back to the United States and have had the chance to speak with the international press regarding the MCC. One thing that clearly struck a chord with journalists ranging from the BBC to major media outlets in the pan-Arab press was that MCC’s work is a clear manifestation that the U.S. isn’t “imposing” anything on these countries. The poverty reduction proposals come from the countries themselves. We cannot force a country to adopt a project or a policy reform that does not come from the partners. Only this way will they have the backing and wherewithal to flourish. I told the press that MCC, together with the historic investments in programs on the African continent, are a clear statement that the President, the U.S. Congress, and the American people understand the urgency for poverty reduction in Africa. America grasps the extent of the problem and we are working to address it.

While in London, I met with UK Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander MP, to sign a memorandum of understanding to solidify cooperation between our two organizations. Our work together has been extremely positive to date, and this new agreement will help the two organizations—whether in the field, in places like Africa, or at headquarters, in London or Washington—better share data, and work through coordinated programs. The agreement demonstrates a willingness at the highest levels in our governments to deepen our already positive collaboration. The agreement strengthens practical cooperation in Africa where concrete cooperation is already underway. It also addresses sector and technical cooperation issues ranging from infrastructure to growth diagnostics to impact analyses. It makes sense that our two organizations should look for ways to work together. We owe it to our respective taxpayers whose funds we administer. Poverty reduction is a bigger problem than any one country—or any single donor—can handle on its own. I am pleased that the agreement I signed with DFID does more than more than just talk about coordination. It is a tangible example of donor coordination.

I am returning to Washington from my trip to Morocco having witnessed firsthand the potential of one very unique aspect of our compact there—the support for artisans, tourism development, and the environment in Fez Medina. This innovative component of the compact will enable artisans to increase the quality of their goods by supporting access to training and support in much-needed areas such as: modern production techniques, business management, access to bank and microcredit loans, the construction of modern, environmentally friendly kilns, and pottery workshops. While only a portion of the $698 million MCC compact with Morocco, it speaks volumes about how integrated strategies in poverty reduction affect multiple sectors, groups of people, and have great potential for growth. I was struck by the historical beauty of these crafts. Even more impressive, however, was the desire of the Moroccan artisans to transform something of beauty into something that will transform their long-term well-being. Helping craftsmen conserve their traditions while prospering from the process is a scenario where not just the Moroccans, but all of us, win.