Greening U.S. Foreign Aid through the Millennium Challenge Account

Brookings Institution POLICY BRIEF #119 (June 2003):

"ABSTRACT: Congress will soon take up President Bush's Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) proposal, which would dramatically increase U.S. foreign aid. The MCA represents a tremendous opportunity to fight global poverty and make U.S. development assistance more effective. In the form proposed by the president, however, the MCA would needlessly harm the environment and hinder long-term economic development. To guard against this, Congress should build the MCA's mission around the broader concept of sustainable development rather than economic growth alone, make environmental protection a priority, and require the MCA to analyze the environmental consequences of its activities. These steps would foster stronger, wiser international development, advance broader U.S. security interests, and bring the MCA in line with longstanding, bipartisan U.S. policy and international norms."