|
The Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a United States government-owned
corporation responsible for the stewardship of the Millennium
Challenge Account (MCA).
The MCC is:
Purposely designed as a small corporation to promote,
support and ensure accountability for the innovative
foreign aid strategies it administers;
Managed by a Chief
Executive Officer appointed by the President of
the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate;
Overseen by a Board
of Directors.
The Millennium Challenge Account
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is the mechanism
proposed by President George W. Bush to implement a
new model for providing foreign aid to the world's developing
nations.
In this new model, aid is provided to those countries
that:
Rule justly;
Invest in their people;
Encourage economic freedom.
Origins of Both the MCC and MCA
President Bush, calling for a "new compact for
global development," proposed this new foreign
aid model in 2002. In January 2004, with strong bipartisan
support, the U.S. Congress established the MCC.
Congress provided nearly $1 billion in initial funding
and $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion in the following years
for the MCC and its assistance
programs.
Ukraine
Ukraine’s two-year, nearly $45 million Threshold Program
aims to reduce corruption in the public sector by strengthening
civil society’s monitoring and exposure of corruption,
judicial reform, increased government monitoring and
enforcement of ethical and administrative standards,
streamlining and enforcing regulations, and combating
corruption in higher education.
Strengthening Civil Society’s Monitoring and Exposure
of Corruption - Despite substantial progress in
recent years, Ukrainian civil society and media are
not meeting their full potential as effective monitors
of government and advocates for reform. This program
component aims to reduce opportunities for corruption
by enabling civil society to be more effective monitors
of government and advocates for reform.
Judicial Reform - Critical to efforts to fight
corruption is increasing the level of transparency in
the delivery of justice by introducing permanent improvements
in key legislation, procedures and institutions. The
proposed activities will also contribute to fostering
a more professional cadre of administrative judges,
court personnel, and notaries.
Government Monitoring and Enforcement of Ethical
and Administrative Standards - Ukraine currently
has no general conflict of interest legislation for
government officials except for certain provisions that
limit business opportunities for family members of officials.
Although there are requirements that candidates for
public office and civil servants declare their assets,
the methodology has flaws and omissions; submitted declarations
are rarely checked, and even more rarely are sanctions
imposed for falsification. This component will create
systems to strengthen accountability for government
officials.
Streamlining and Enforcing Regulations - Complicated
and overlapping systems for providing construction permits,
delivery of municipal services, land and property ownership,
and customs clearance at borders are sources of significant
corruption. The process is not transparent, and there
is clear evidence of corruption at all steps. This component
will change the legislative and regulatory framework
for property transactions, reform the permit system,
and streamline lines of responsibilities and procedures
in order to reduce corruption.
Combating Corruption in Higher Education - Recognizing
the importance of reducing corruption within the educational
system, a national testing center, the Ukrainian Center
of Evaluation of Education (UCEE), has been established.
Assistance is required, however, to fully implement
the external testing system as well as to ensure its
integrity. The goal of this component is to reduce corruption
in higher education by establishing a legal framework
requiring a minimum test score for admission to universities;
developing a functioning security system for test results;
and ensuring that 100 percent of students are tested
and the test centers are fully operational.
|