Millennium Challenge Corporation selected Moldova as eligible for 2007 compact assistance

Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Board of Directors selected the R. of Moldova, Ukraine and Jordan to join those 22 countries which are now eligible for development assistance of the Millennium Challenge Fund. Last month, MCC’s Board of Directors approved the decision to offer the R. of Moldova a grant of USD 24.7 mln, within the frameworks of a preliminary program of MCC, in order to support anti-corruption activities. Since 2004 when it was founded, MMC approved agreements estimated at USD 3 bln with 11 countries: Armenia, Benin, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Nicaragua and Vanuatu. Every year, in November, the MCC’s Board of Directors chooses countries eligible for submitting proposals of assistance within the frameworks of MCC. The assistance program is meant to appreciate good performances and stimulate countries to adopt poverty reduction and economic growth strategies. MCC estimates the policies of the candidate-states being based on 16 independent and transparent standards, which are in a direct connection with poverty reduction and economic growth. This indicators measure the commitment of a state to implement strategies promoting values like economic and political liberty, investments in education and healthcare, control over corruption, the respect for civil liberties as well as the supremacy of law. Once chosen as eligible, countries start a consultation process which includes citizens, NGOs, representatives of the private sector and those of the Government in order to identify impediments that oppose the poverty reduction and economic growth processes. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a US Government-owned corporation, designed to work with countries among the poorest.