May 23, 2019
MCC Turns Research into Learning
In its 15 years of operation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has, in many ways, set a new standard for evaluation and learning.
Views from the Center
July 15, 2016
Building on the Momentum: Focusing on Adolescent Girls through MCC Country Scorecards
In CGD’s last blog post on the new strategy, we commended the US government for leading the charge for adolescent girls—by issuing the first-ever country strategy specifically focused on the demographic. But how do we make sure that this articulated commitment continues to get translated into concrete action? What can MCC specifically contribute? One opportunity may lie in MCC’s country scorecards.
March 22, 2016
Gender Equality as a Donor Priority: CGD and MCC at the Commission on the Status of Women’s 60th Session
How do we make sure aid investments are efficient, services provided are accessible and affordable, and results are sustainable? These are all tall orders to be sure, but one clear solution emerged from our event in New York last week: donors need to make gender equality a central priority.
April 27, 2015
MCC’s CEO Shines a Light on the Way Forward for MCC
Our celebration of MCC’s tenth birthday continued last week with a thought-provoking open conversation with MCC CEO Dana J. Hyde. The well-attended public event, co-hosted by CGD and the Brookings Institute, was a fantastic opportunity to hear, from MCC’s own leadership, a reflection on the agency’s first ten years and a vision for the agency’s future. (If you missed it, you can watch it here.)
July 24, 2014
MCC Success Story Is a Failure (spoiler alert: n=1)
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of MCC. I once declared the organization the biggest experiment in impact evaluation and praised them for their commitment to independent high quality evaluations.
March 17, 2014
Is COD Aid on the Horizon for the Millennium Challenge Corporation?
The President’s Budget Request for FY 2015 proposes flat funding for international affairs but it contains priorities and policy reversals that have led at least one observer to describe it as edgy! And indeed, it is edgy on a number of fronts, including a proposal by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to pilot Cash on Delivery Aid (COD Aid).
February 25, 2013
Policymakers in Developing Countries Say: “Try COD Aid”
In a recent survey, 640 development policymakers and practitioners in 100 developing countries were asked about the best ways to improve foreign aid so that it can have the most beneficial impact possible.
April 11, 2011
The $3 Billion, $30 Billion, & $300 Billion Questions for the Future of Philanthropy in Development
I had the honor to speak yesterday at the Council on Foundations annual conference in Philadelphia about the future of global poverty and what it means for philanthropy. I like to think in 3s, so here are my three 3s to frame the big questions:
March 3, 2011
“When Will We Ever Learn?” Mexico and Britain Take the Question Seriously
This is a joint post with Christina Droggitis
This May will mark the five-year anniversary of CGD’s Evaluation Gap Working Group’s final report, "When Will We Ever Learn: Improving Lives Through Impact Evaluation". The report noted a large gap in evidence about whether development programs actually work and recommended creating an independent international collaboration to promote more and better impact evaluations to close this gap. The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) was formed as a result of this recommendation. The report also stressed the need for countries, both donors and recipients, to make larger commitments towards high-quality evaluation work. These commitments, it argued, should include supporting 3ie financially, as well as generating and applying knowledge from impact evaluations of their own development programs.
December 27, 2010
Steve Radelet to USAID: Shah Snags Another CGD Alum
USAID Administrator Shah has taken another step in his ambitious program of making USAID not only a premier development agency (as Hillary Clinton promised it would be back in her January 2010 development speech) but premier in economic analysis, and in macro as well as micro. Shah could not have been smarter than to recruit Steve Radelet from his job as a senior advisor on development to Secretary Clinton.
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