The annual selection process for country eligibility in FY2009 brought some remarkable decisions by the outgoing MCC Board of Directors. This was the final meeting of the Board as it is currently composed – the five government representatives will change as the new administration takes shape in the coming months.
Notable decisions included:
November municipal elections have sparked a series of events that could affect the compact underway in Nicaragua.
In the most recent MCA Monitor newsletter, we noted that the Namibian Compact was stalled due to pending ratification by the National Assembly.
With hugest of apologies, we had an error in our data sheet which changes the blog I posted yesterday on this year's passing countries. Please use this update and disregard yesterday's. Many thanks.
MCC released its annual Report on the Criteria and Methodology for Determining the Eligibility of Candidate Countries, starting the legislatively-mandated 60-day clock until the Board meeting. This notice serves to announce any changes in the performance indicators used to determine country eligibility in annual selection process.
On September 27th, the Senate passed the Continuing Resolution (CR) approved by the House on September 24, funding most of the federal government at FY08 baseline levels through March 6, 2009. Passage of the Continuing Resolution ensures that the International Affairs Budget will be funded at the present FY08 base level of $34.3 billion through the first part of 2009 and will not be considered until after a new Administration and Congress takes office in January 2009.
We've just posted our annual overview of how MCA countries fared on the control of corruption indicator that will be used in the FY09 eligibility selection round. Recall that the MCC treats this indicator as a "hard hurdle" meaning a country must pass to be selected as eligible for MCC assistance.
A local newspaper reported the resignation of Juan José Llort, the Executive Director of Fomilenio, with accusations that U.S. Ambassador Glazer had a hand in his dismissal. Deserved or not, Llort’s departure, 2 months prior to breaking ground on the largest component of the compact, the Northern Longitudinal Road, may cause implementation delays El Salvador cannot afford.
I am so happy to announce that we are able to revive our Reports from the Field series. I have always believed they were invaluable insights, even if just snapshots in time, into the opportunities and challenges facing design and implementation of MCA programs. Read and give us feedback on Amy's terrific report from El Salvador, the first country we have visited where the focus has been more on implementation progress than the compact design process.
MCC kicked off the annual selection process with the release of its FY2009 candidate country report (pdf). This year, 64 lower income countries (LIC) and 29 lower middle income countries (LMIC) are eligible, compared to 67 and 28 respectively in FY2008. These numbers exclude the 9 LIC countries and the 2 LMIC countries ineligible due to legal prohibitions.
Notable changes in the LIC category: