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.

Recent events have focused increased attention on how closely the world’s economies are dependent on one another to achieve global prosperity and security.  At the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we can see first-hand how poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere.  Finding long-term solutions to fight the problem of global poverty is not simply the right thing to do, it’s also the most expedient thing to do - for the men and women of our partner countries and for our long-term economic stability here in America.

MCC announced this week that another $2.55 billion in U.S. Government poverty-reduction grants had entered into force in Lesotho, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, and Tanzania.  This means that these programs are now entering the implementation phase, joining 11 other compacts already being implemented around the world.  Over the next five years, the work of design, preparation, training, construction, and monitoring and evaluation will take place in a number of sectors that will bring tangible results for the people of these regions.  In Morocco, this means more efficient fisheries.  In Tanzania, it means improved rural roads.  In all our partner countries, it means a transparent process where the communities have a voice in these projects.  The flow of money is scrutinized in a transparent manner, and all segments of society - with a special emphasis on women - will have a chance to participate and prosper in their local economies.

In Washington, I was pleased to see our friends in Congress again show their strong support for MCC’s mission to reduce poverty through economic growth.  Legislation introduced by Chairman Donald Payne of the House Subcommittee on Africa, and a letter authored by Congressmen Adam Smith (D-WA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), signed by 36 of their colleagues, place a premium on confronting global poverty with smart, results-based programs.

I had the opportunity to brief many of you following the MCC Board of Directors meeting held earlier this month.  The meeting touched on a number of important subjects, including MCC programs in Georgia.  I was also happy to announce the approval of Threshold programs in Rwanda and a Stage II (second) Threshold program with Albania.  We look forward to public events marking the signing of these programs in mid-October.

As our work with our partners continues, we at MCC are proud to be delivering foreign assistance in the name of the American people in a way that conveys our trust and vision for a more prosperous world.  MCC’s new logo, developed at the suggestion of the U.S. Congress and many of our stakeholders, helps convey this partnership.  It is a partnership that has an impact in the lives of the poor in dozens of countries, and is a smart use of hard-earned taxpayer money.