The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was set up in January 2004 to reduce global poverty through the promotion of sustainable economic growth by providing foreign aid in such a way that it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and investments in people. MCC evaluates the eligibility of potential aid recipient countries based on a series of indicators, and the country evaluations for 2009 have just been published.
The indicators used by MCC are civil liberties, political rights, voice and accountability, government effectiveness, rule of law, control of corruption, immunization rates, public expenditure on health, girls’ primary education completion rate, public expenditure on primary education, business start up, inflation, trade policy, regulatory quality, fiscal policy, natural resource management, and land rights and access.
According to the East African, the MCC has found Tanzania eligible for a grant of US$700 million, but Kenya has failed to qualify because it falls short of the required anti-corruption standard and Uganda has failed to qualify because of its low scores on political rights, civil liberties, immunisation rates, health expenditure, girls’ completion of primary education, and fiscal policy.