Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is an
innovative foreign assistance program
created by the Government of the United
States of America (USA) to reduce
poverty by promoting sustainable
economic growth. The MCA provides
incentives for policy reforms by
rewarding eligible countries with
additional resources so that they
achieve their aspirations. Countries are
selected on a competitive basis through
a set of 16 indicators designed to
measure a country’s effectiveness at
ruling justly, investing in the people,
and having Economic Freedom. The focus
of the MCA is to promote economic growth
in the recipient countries. The
announcement made in 2004 by the
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) –
an independent corporation established
to administer the account indicated that
Lesotho is among the seventeen eligible
countries. Eligibility of Mountain
Kingdom accorded it an opportunity to
submit a proposal which involved a five
year investment in Water Sector, Health
Sector Infrastructure and Private Sector
Development. The total costs for
Lesotho’s Compact proposal amounts to
US$362.5 million, equivalent to about
M2.5 billion.
Program Management
Each country with a signed Compact
establishes a government entity
responsible for overall management and
implementation of the program. These
entities are called MCA Entities. In
Lesotho an independent government entity
called the Millennium Challenge Account
– Lesotho (MCA-L) governed by a board of
directors with an independent decision
making authority with respect to
implementation and management of the
Compact has been formed. Among its
responsibilities the Entity:
Serves as central point of contact for
Government of Lesotho, Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC), other
donors, contractors, consultants and the
country’s citizens;
Establishes financial and reporting
systems and manages procurements;
Drafts and executes, with MCC
assistance, work plans for Compact
programs;
Creates website for posting project
status, news and procurements; and
Develops a unique logo to identify
projects as both MCA and as a grant from
the U.S.
Composition of Board of Directors: The
Compact provides for 11 voting members
representing: the Ministry of Finance
and Development Planning; the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare; the Ministry
of Local Government; the Ministry of
Natural Resources; the Ministry of
Justice, Human Rights and
Rehabilitation; the three members from
the private sector and two members
representing non-governmental
organizations. A representative of MCC
and the chief executive officer of
MCA-Lesotho serve as non-voting members
of the MCA-Lesotho board of directors.
(Please refer to annex 1-3 of the
Compact for more information on this
issue).
This web site was made
possible through a grant given by the people of
the United States to Lesotho through the
Millennium
Challenge Corporation
under the terms of a
compact signed between
the two countries. The information provided on
this Web site is not official U.S. Government
information and does not represent the views or
positions of the U.S. Government or the
Millennium Challenge Corporation.
