John Hewko '79, vice president of operations for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, addressed the United Nations on Sept. 18. He spoke at a meeting about social and economic development of least developed countries. Hewko said, "In Monterrey, President Bush announced a path-breaking program, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, or MCC. The MCC's single focus is to provide support to those poor countries which are indeed taking steps to invest in their own people, to promote economic freedom and opportunity, and to encourage accountable and inclusive governance, where individual rights and free expression are respected.
MCC's mandate is to reduce poverty through sustainable growth. We work with partners whose own performance makes reaching that goal a real possibility. The MCC is already engaged with 23 countries whose policy performance, measured by independent, objective indicators, has made them eligible for MCC funds. Among them are 12 Least Developed Countries."
According to the Millennium Challenge Web site: "In March 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico, President Bush called for a 'new compact for global development,' which links greater contributions from developed nations to greater responsibility from developing nations. The President proposed a concrete mechanism to implement this compact -- the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) - in which development assistance would be provided to those countries that rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom. With strong bipartisan support, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was established on January 23, 2004 to administer the MCA. Congress provided nearly $1 billion in initial funding for FY04 and $1.5 billion for FY05. The President requested $3 billion for FY06 and pledged to increase annual funding for the MCA to $5 billion in the future."
