MCC Report to Congress: Consultative Processes as a Key to Effective Development

摘要

In an effort to ensure viable, sustainable development programs, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) requires eligible countries to consult broadly within the country throughout the development, implementation and evaluation of country Compacts. An effective consultative process not only enables civic groups, elected officials and ordinary people to ask questions, offer suggestions and provide feedback on Compact development, but can set or reinforce precedents for public participation in governance. Thus, it serves to strengthen transparency and accountability within each country, contributes to the MCC criterion of good governance, and provides opportunities for domestic discussion of how best to achieve national priorities of economic growth and poverty reduction. MCC recognized from the outset that requiring eligible countries to rely on broad-based, consultative processes to develop their Compact proposals would likely increase the complexity of Compact development and therefore had the potential to significantly lengthen the time needed for Compact development. Asking countries to undertake public consultations enhances country ownership and serves as a check on the practicality of proposed programs, but, to be effective, they must also draw on the outcomes of any previous participatory planning experiences.