Prime Minister of Moldova Vlad Filat addresses the audience at today’s compact signing ceremony. Also pictured (from left to right): His Excellency Iurie Leancă, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration; Daniel W. Yohannes, MCC CEO; Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State.

We’re off to an exciting 2010 here at MCC. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton started the New Year with a groundbreaking speech on development in which she highlighted the promising role MCC is playing to help countries build their own future. The Secretary said, “Under MCC compacts, we provide funding and technical support; the country provides the plan and leads the way toward achieving it… This approach points to the difference between aid and investment. Through aid, we supply what is needed to the people who need it… But through investment, we seek to break the cycle of dependence that aid can create by helping countries build their own institutions and their own capacity to deliver essential services. Aid chases need; investment chases opportunity.”

Today, Secretary Clinton and Prime Minister Vladimir Filat of Moldova presided as Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs Iurie Leancă and I signed Moldova’s $262 million MCC compact. This is an investment in opportunity, designed to reduce poverty and stimulate growth. Moldova’s compact will rehabilitate irrigation systems, help farmers diversify into high-value agriculture, and build modern and safe roads to markets that will generate new opportunities for private sector investment, which is the engine of growth and jobs. The Moldovan people are working toward the complete realization of this compact’s potential to increase their incomes and create a better future. MCC is proud to partner with Moldova.

Over recent weeks, I have been meeting with colleagues throughout the development community. Listening to stakeholders from the Center for Global Development, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, ONE, InterAction, and the Corporate Council on Africa, as well as ambassadors from partner countries worldwide, is proving incredibly valuable in assessing the key constraints we face at MCC and how we can effectively address them. I’m committed to deepening our dialogue by listening to and learning from those who share our determination to improve the lives of the world’s poor.

At the end of the month, I’m looking forward to visiting Cape Verde and Ghana. I am going to these MCC partner countries to see the progress underway and gain perspective on the challenges of program implementation.

I’m very excited about what lies ahead for MCC, and I look forward to deepening our impact through increased innovation, private sector engagement, partnerships, and focus on results. That’s how we will raise the standard of living for the world’s poor in sustainable and meaningful ways.

President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are committed to expanding opportunities for the world’s poor.  As I shared with the Senate Foreign Releations Committee during my recently-concluded confirmation process, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to their efforts to fight poverty through MCC.

Daniel W. Yohannes is sworn in as chief executive officer of MCC by Meredith Cabelka of the Office of the General Counsel on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

My first week on the job as MCC’s new CEO has been even more rewarding than I anticipated.  Before being confirmed, I had heard many times about the professionalism, dedication, and talents of the men and women who work at MCC.  Now that I’m onboard, I can attest to this.  This new challenge is energizing, and I look forward to working with these accomplished professionals to make a difference in the lives of the poor around the world.

As I begin my work at MCC, one of my most important tasks is to listen.  Listening closely to those not only at MCC headquarters, but also in partner countries, in Congress, and in the development community will provide insightful feedback on what works well and what could be tackled with more innovation.

Listening will inform action.  It will continue to position MCC as a vital part of the future of foreign aid.  As I shared in every one of my conversations this week, I am committed to action that will broaden and sustain opportunities for the world’s poor.  Sound policies, grounded in good governance, will create an environment that nurtures opportunities.  Building the capacity of countries to lead their development in close cooperation and coordination with other U.S. Government and international donors will empower partners to expand opportunity.  Fostering pro-growth strategies will attract greater participation from the private sector.  This is the engine of innovation, opportunity, and jobs that powers long-term, sustainable development.

Next week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who chairs MCC’s Board of Directors, has graciously agreed to preside at my swearing-in ceremony.  We will be together again a day later for my first MCC Board meeting.  I will be sharing the outcomes of that meeting with you at our outreach event next Thursday.  Join us then, and always feel free to contact us with your thoughts on MCC.  I’m listening and want to hear from you.

The Obama Administration sent another strong signal of its commitment to fight global poverty by unveiling a $1.42 billion fiscal year 2010 budget request for the Millennium Challenge Corporation.  This figure represents an impressive increase of almost 63 percent in funding for MCC from the amount Congress provided in fiscal year 2009. 

As a “smart power” resource for positive U.S. global engagement, MCC is an innovative, country-led, results-driven approach to reducing global poverty through sustainable economic growth.  Looking ahead, MCC’s fiscal year 2010 budget provides funding for a strong pipeline of countries, including Jordan, Malawi, and the Philippines, that are working with their civil societies to develop homegrown compact proposals that will overcome barriers to economic growth.  The budget also supports MCC’s threshold program, which helps countries not eligible for compacts improve their policy environments.

The fiscal year 2010 budget request will allow MCC to build on its successes to date.  MCC’s signed commitments so far of $6.4 billion will raise the incomes of individuals in partner countries worldwide by nearly $12 billion over the life of our investments.  These gains will benefit more than 22 million people, as improved national and regional infrastructure, agricultural systems and practices, and other community services spur investment and raise local incomes. 

We look forward to working with Congress to fully support the President’s budget request for MCC.

For details on how MCC will allocate the $1.42 billion fiscal year 2010 budget to fight global poverty, read MCC’s just-released Congressional Budget Justification.

Today, Transparency International-USA, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, issued a statement welcoming MCC’s release of a comprehensive policy to prevent, detect, and remediate fraud and corruption in MCC-funded activities.  Transparency International-USA and other stakeholders provided valuable recommendations to us in developing this policy, drawing from best practices in corruption risk management.  With TI and other organizations, we recognize that corruption is one of the greatest barriers to long-term development and to the effective use and accountable management of development dollars. Through the ongoing implementation of MCC’s comprehensive policy, we will continue to combat corruption in every facet of our work in partner countries that are striving to reduce poverty through economic growth in sustainable ways.

Yesterday, I participated in my last Board of Directors meeting as Chief Executive Officer of MCC. The MCC Board, comprised of both government officials and private sector members, reached important decisions that are core to MCC’s model and mission to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth.

I invite you to read about the countries the Board selected as now eligible to apply for an MCC compact (Colombia, Indonesia, and Zambia) or threshold program (Liberia). True to MCC’s innovative approach to development assistance, it is now up to these newly-selected countries to consult with their citizens, prioritize their development goals, and work toward developing their compact or threshold proposal to generate the opportunity and growth essential for reducing poverty. The Board also made an important decision regarding our partnership with Nicaragua. These types of decisions are ones that MCC’s Board takes very seriously and only after close consultation and intense deliberation. You can read more about the Board’s decision regarding future collaboration with Nicaragua, and other concerns voiced during yesterday’s meeting, on our website, www.mcc.gov.

It has been an enormous privilege to work with such an outstanding Board of Directors, whose sage advice and reasoned decisions have served MCC extraordinarily well in realizing our impressive $6.7 billion portfolio of compacts in 18 countries and threshold programs in 19 countries. These grants are training farmers, registering property rights, building roads, educating and immunizing children, and supporting business development. The transition to the next administration means that a new slate of public servants will replace Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab, and USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore. The new appointees will join the four private sector members who will continue serving on the Board—Lorne Craner, Bill Frist, Ken Hackett, and Alan Patricof. The ongoing leadership of these private sector Board members ensures continuity and provides valuable institutional memory that will be of tremendous benefit to MCC moving forward. The participation of these private sector Board members is one of the most unique elements of MCC’s management, reaffirming that the fight against poverty involves not just the resources of government but also the ingenuity and innovation of civil society and private enterprise.

Year’s end is always a time of reflection, a time to ponder the milestones achieved and the goals still ahead. While we have made measurable strides in reducing poverty through MCC’s partnerships, there is still more to do. The year ahead marks an exciting new chapter in MCC’s history. Our partnerships and programs will continue. Implementation progress will continue to multiply as more projects come to fruition. Our way of awarding development assistance will continue to draw interest and attention as discussions intensify about the future architecture of foreign aid. Poll results released yesterday through the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network confirm that 70 percent of engaged opinion elites favor “reforms to improve the effectiveness of foreign aid by shifting aid dollars from less effective programs to programs that help hungry and poor people in developing countries provide for their families.” More than eight in ten “favor cutting federal programs that don’t work and making those that do more efficient.” They make the case for modernizing foreign assistance by stressing strategy, efficiency, and accountability. These are the principles we stand by here at MCC.

With change upon us, the permanence of MCC’s principles equip us well to make further progress in the fight against global poverty in 2009 and beyond. My hope for you and yours this holiday season is the same one I have for those benefitting from MCC programs in partners countries worldwide: peace, health, prosperity. Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year.

It was a thrill for me personally, and a great honor to the MCC, to see more than 400 people pack the prestigious Russell Senate Caucus Room of the U.S. Congress today to celebrate MCC’s fourth anniversary. The standing-room-only event among MCC friends on Capitol Hill – where MCC was brought into existence through an act of Congress in 2004 – was tangible evidence of the strong bipartisan support that our work enjoys.

It was particularly important that some of MCC’s friends from the Congress, including Chairwoman Nita Lowey, Congressman Jim Knollenberg, and Senator Norm Coleman, made time to attend the event, as well as MCC Board members Ken Hackett, Henrietta Fore, and Alan Patricof.

MCC’s main message for today was that in four short years we have accomplished an astonishing amount. I am proud to tell people that what started as a great concept has become, in the span of four short years, a great reality. What was once a group of eight people in borrowed offices is now a first-rate organization with a robust portfolio of work. We are not only one of the newest, but with fewer than 300 staff, we are definitely one of the smallest U.S. government agencies. And yet, with $5.5 billion committed in 16 compacts worldwide, we are moving ahead at great speed with much more on the way.

Events like this one today are not only a chance for us to show our progress, they are also an opportunity for us to listen to our colleagues. We want to know about their experiences, challenges, and successes in the countries where we are presently working or might work in the next few years. It is an opportunity to listen to how our programs might benefit from the insight of other groups or how together we can leverage private sector resources to build another kilometer of road, provide additional infrastructure, or strengthen community services for the poor of our partner countries. I took part in some of these conversations today and observed scores more of them taking place. People who follow MCC are, for the most part, not shy about sharing their ideas. These are often constructive inputs – which we welcome – and many times they are stories of success that we are achieving together.

Africa in particular has been an important theme this week. The Africa Society hosted its Andrew Young Lecture Series on Tuesday, where I was pleased to deliver the keynote address. Other presenters spoke at length about how more than half of MCC’s compacts and resources are dedicated to Africa. This should come as no surprise given the amount of need on the continent and the range of partners who are willing to enact policy reforms in order to secure MCC funding. I answered some tough but thoughtful questions during the event. They gave me reason to reflect on how the organization, moving from a focus on compact development to compact implementation, has a responsibility to help African countries build capacity to complete the complex task of putting MCC resources to work.

On Monday night I was also on Capitol Hill – this time as a guest of the First Lady during the President’s State of the Union Address. I was happy to hear the prominent mention of the MCC in the President’s speech and, like many of you, noted his call for full funding of the MCC program. The applause came from both sides of the aisle for good reasons. There has been a great deal of comment on the MCC and its work since this remark and I welcome the chance to talk about our programs to those who may not have been aware of MCC before the speech. On a night when all parts of our government come together united in purpose, the State of the Union underlined what I have known since joining MCC: this work matters to America. It matters to our partners. It matters to the taxpayer, and MCC will help shape the future of our country’s credibility and legacy overseas. Even though many of the people who watched the State of the Union will never visit our compact countries, the work of poverty reduction is relevant to each of them. Poverty anywhere threatens security and prosperity everywhere. This is why MCC matters and why I am proud to be a part of these short four remarkable years