MCC and the latest Development Assistance Committee peer review

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Sherri Kraham, Managing Director for Cooperation and Policy Improvement

Many people in the development community are digging into a new “peer review” of the U.S. Government’s foreign assistance programs that was released this week (you can read the whole thing here). After reviewing the report from the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), we are thrilled at the positive feedback MCC received in the review.

The DAC puts peer reviews together regularly. The United States was reviewed this time, but every OECD country gets a turn. The idea is to help governments improve their approach to development assistance by providing a comprehensive, fair-minded assessment of their current efforts.

The DAC identifies MCC as a “leader” in the effort to measure the results of development assistance, calling the agency’s commitment to transparency “commendable.”

Here’s an excerpt: “Through the MCC, the US has shown that it can deliver development co-operation that is in line with the principles on effective aid. In particular, ownership, predictability, untying, unearmarked funding, and a strong emphasis on results are key characteristics of MCC’s approach. MCC also provides an incentive model that supports partner countries in their reform: it allocates aid based on a country’s policy performance, employing objective indicators to determine a country’s eligibility for funding.”

At MCC, we are always looking for ways to improve our effectiveness. Input from fresh-eyed outsiders like the DAC is critical in that effort. This new peer review makes clear that if we can continue to stay true to our founding principles, MCC will put the best practices in aid effectiveness to work in our partner countries.