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June 16, 2006
The MCC Leading by Saying No
Posted by Sheila Herrling at 08:53 PM
Those of you who regularly read my blog will know I was delighted to hear that the MCC Board suspended The Gambia's eligibility today.
“The Board's decision was necessary given the disturbing pattern of deteriorating conditions in eight of the 16 policy categories used to evaluate all candidate countries including The Gambia,” said Ambassador John Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer of MCC. “Continued participation in the Millennium Challenge program requires our partner countries to maintain good policies and is contingent upon adherence to fundamental principles necessary to make progress in their own development."
I applaud the MCC Board for taking this tough decision and maintaining a standard worthy of the hard work countries are undertaking to gain eligibility. The courage to say no to countries -- to cut them off from funding due to non-performance -- is an innovation worth supporting.
Congressman Jim Kolbe even took the time to publicly support the decision in a statement issued today:
"I applaud Ambassador Danilovich's swift and immediate action regarding suspension of The Gambia from the Compact Program. "This is proof that the MCC is working. Congress' intent was that countries must meet specific guidelines and continue to adhere to them. To continue receiving funding, countries must move forward to improve conditions allowing for true poverty reduction. I hope this sends a message to all countries aspiring for MCC eligibility that it is their performance under scrutiny and not U.S. politics that determines participation."
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Comments
If MCC is working, why is Bolivia still being considered?
Posted by: bob rabatsky at June 20, 2006 09:33 AM
Bob, as far as I understand, Bolivia is in a holding pattern while the MCC awaits the new government's growth and poverty reduction strategy, submittal of a specific proposal for use of MCC funding (or endorsement of the prior government's proposal), and gauges the support of that strategy by civil society. While some of the recent policy decisions by Morales fly in the face of MCC principles, it will be interesting to see this Fall how they effect Bolivia's performance indicators. Remember, The Gambia experienced slippages on half of the indicators, quantifiable grounds for suspending eligibility.
This question, however, of the tension between decisionmaking based primarily on quantified performance indicators vs. government actions that run counter to the democratic principles underlying the MCC but have not yet impacted the performance indicators is an interesting one. Any views from readers?
Posted by: Sheila Herrling at June 20, 2006 03:34 PM