MCC Board Approves Jordan Compact, Moves Ahead with Revamped Threshold Program

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) board of directors approved a $275.1 million compact in Jordan at their September 15^th meeting.  The board also discussed the near-completion of MCC compacts in Honduras and Cape Verde, the future of the MCC threshold program, and FY2011 selection criteria and methodology.Quick recap:

• The new $275.1 million compact with Jordan aims to address severe water shortages.
• Honduras will be the first MCC country to reach the end of its five-year MCC compact this week, and MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes and others were on hand to mark the occasion. Cape Verde will follow suit in October.  Impact evaluations will soon be conducted to “assess the full extent of the impacts that can be attributed to MCC’s investments, including actual increases in household income.”
• The board adopted the selection criteria and methodology for FY2011 country selection, the second report in the country selection series.

The Threshold Program will continue assisting countries to become compact eligible by supporting policy and institutional reforms. However, the program will no longer aim to boost a country’s indicator scores within a two to three year period, but rather focus on the broader policies, captured by the MCC indicators, that are constraining a country’s ability to reduce poverty through economic growth. USAID will remain the primary administrator of MCC threshold programs.