Before leaving for August recess, Senators John Kerry, Marco Rubio, and Benjamin Cardin released the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review Act (S.3341), requiring a QDDR every four years. In theory, this bill makes good sense.
On the eve of the Fourth of July holiday, the administration quietly issued a joint message on the Global Health Initiative’s “next steps,” effectively sounding a death knell for the GHI. CGD's Amanda Glassman breaks down what this means for the GHI experiment and for U.S. global health agencies seeking to integrate and coordinate their efforts.
Yesterday the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) approved the FY2013 Foreign Relations Authorization Act that it hopes will be the first authorizing bill to pass Congress in a decade. The bill aims to provide direction and guidance to appropriators and the administration as they fund and execute U.S. foreign affairs. But before you pop your confetti canisters and congratulate HFAC on a bipartisan job well done, check the fine print. The bill excludes foreign assistance—all of it.
“Can you help us PFG this country?” is not yet a common query heard throughout the U.S. government, but CGD had the opportunity to discover why “PFG-ing” a country could be the next phase in the evolution of U.S. development efforts.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) board of directors suspended Malawi’s $350 million compact and approved a $355 million compact with Zambia at its quarterly meeting last Thursday. It also halted compact operations in Mali following news of a military takeover. And there is still no news on the two vacant board seats.
Malawi and Zambia: Parallel Paths, Opposite Outcomes
If a Millennium Challenge Corporation country changes income groups and no one is around to give it a compact, does it make a sound? In FY2010, the MCC adopted a useful approach to evaluate countries that transition from low income country (LIC) to lower middle income country (LMIC) status. But recent history suggests the approach is only being applied to countries already in the compact pipeline.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) shook the budget Magic 8 Ball and got a new response this year: outlook not so good. The administration requested $898.2 million for the MCC in FY2013, a decent number given today’s budget pressures and the same level appropriated in the FY2011 omnibus and FY2012 megabus. Despite this, I’m concerned Congress will make further cuts and puzzled that, while the MCC leads U.S. development rhetoric, it continues to get short shrift in the budget.
This is a joint post with Owen McCarthy.
The development community breathed a sigh of relief on December 23 when President Obama signed a nine-bill spending package that included healthy funding for the International Affairs budget. But there is more in this behemoth than topline funding numbers. Tucked away in the State, Foreign Operations portion are new income definitions for the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) low income and lower middle income country categories.
At first glance, this may seem like news only for MCC wonks and income data nuts, but the new specifications will have far-reaching effects. The new income definitions will create new low income country (LIC) and lower middle income country (LMIC) groups with new indicator medians that could change a country’s passing/failing status. MCC legislation also dictates that only 25% of MCC funds may be used for LMICs; the new income definitions will alter the countries that fall under this cap by altering the income country groups.
