Attendance
Kathy Martinez, Chair and Facilitator
Joan Durocher, NCD Staff
Jeff Rosen, NCD Staff
Pam O’Leary, NCD Staff
Yerker Andersson, former NCD council member
Susan Siegal
Cappie Morgan
Bruce Curtis
John German
Brian Mueller
Roseangela Berman-Bieler
Judy Heumann
Jerry Mindes
Eric Rosenthal
Alicia Contreras
Nora Groce

Guests
Clay Lowery, Vice President, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Sherry Kram, MCC
Judy Barsalou, U.S. Institute of Peace
Patricia Karam, U.S. Institute of Peace

I. Roll Call and Welcome
Ms. Martinez welcomed participants and asked that they introduce themselves.

II. Amend/Approve the Agenda
Ms. Martinez asked if there were any amendments to the minutes or additions to the agenda. Mr. Anderson asked members to identify themselves before making comments. The agenda was approved.

III. Millennium Challenge Corporation Presentation
Ms. Martinez welcomed Mr. Lowery, his colleague, and the guests from the U.S. Institute for Peace. Ms. Martinez then asked Mr. Lowery to provide a brief overview of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and explain how he was planning on protecting disability rights in the countries receiving funds from the organization.

Mr. Lowery began by thanking everyone for inviting MCC representatives to the conference, and mentioned how helpful and educational it had been working with the NCD in the past year. He then apologized on behalf of his colleague, CEO John Applegarth, who was unable to attend the conference due to his travel schedule.

Mr. Lowery replied that in 2002 President Bush asked a group of people to examine development assistance and its effectiveness. The group recommended rewarding countries for sound policy and asking countries what projects they most wanted funding for. In 2003 Congress authorized the founding of the MCC with a $1 billion starting budget.

The selection process to choose which countries would receive MCC funds began by placing the seventy poorest countries in a competition. The nations were examined through the use of three indicators designed to judge policy performance: ruling justly, investment in people, and encouragement of economic freedom. The board of directors, consisting of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the USAID administrator, the U.S. trade representative, the MCC CEO, and two new members, Christy Todd Whitman and Ken Hackett, chose sixteen countries to receive funds this year. Eight of these are in Africa, three are in Latin America, two are in the former Soviet Union, and two are in Asia.

Two weeks after the decision was made, five teams of people went to the selected countries and talked to governments, NGOs, other private sector organizations, academics, and donors. After congratulating each country, the teams explained that the country is responsible for informing the MCC about what kinds of programs would support economic growth and poverty reduction. This direction is not to come from just the governments, but also from the private sector.

Additionally, countries are responsible for establishing progress-monitoring systems, as the MCC and the community will hold them accountable. Failure to produce progress will result in the MCC withdrawing investment funds, but will have no effect on USAID funds or other assistance programs.

Thus far, the selected countries have demonstrated a range of responses. They are proud of being chosen, excited about articulating development priorities, and fearful that their projects might not reach completion.

Mr. Lowery concluded his statement by saying that because no data comparing the way countries treat people with disabilities exists, the MCC examines information on health care, political rights, and human rights provided in the State Department’s Human Rights reports.

Ms. Martinez noted that although the State Department is providing the best information they can, the reports are very weak.

Mr. Lowery continued by explaining the consultative process. Rather than allowing the selected countries’ governments to allocate how all funds are spent, the MCC funds a wide variety of programs demanded by society. Since people with disabilities are a part of the community, they will have the opportunity to make suggestions during this process.

Mr. Lowery added that people with disabilities would also benefit from the projects themselves. Funds can be spent on a range of programs from policy changes to the creation of a building. The MCC wants to be sure that the programs it is associated with will be accessible.

Mr. Lowery finished his presentation and asked if there were any questions.

IV. Question and Answer Period
Ms. Berman-Bieler asked (1) if poverty was one of the indicators determining who would receive funding, and (2) whether the MCC works directly with governments or citizens.

Mr. Lowery explained that poverty is not one of the indicators, but rather an initial test. Seventy-five of the poorest countries (based on data from the World Bank) were chosen, checked for foreign assistance eligibility, and run through the indicators. Once the countries are selected, the MCC signs a compact with the government. This compact means that the government agrees that this is a program they should be participating in. At this point, governments may enter a tendering process with the private sector. Thus, although the MCC works closely with governments, they are not the only actors in the process.

Ms. Berman-Bieler responded that in Nicaragua she is trying to get people with disabilities involved in development and design discussions regarding poverty reduction strategies. She suggested that MCC’s approach be one of total inclusion, of involvement in more than disability-specific strategizing, so that people with disabilities benefit from all monies received by their country.

Ms. Heumann asked (1) whether the MCC is working independently or with organizations such as regional development banks and other major donors, and (2) how the MCC establishes operate indicators in the PRSP and cast.

Mr. Lowery responded that once countries propose a project, the MCC wants to know what donors are doing, as well as what areas donors are particularly interested in funding. When the MCC went to all sixteen countries, it made sure it met the bilateral donors, the U.S. institutions, the World Bank, the regional banks, and the International Monetary Fund where appropriate. Approximately one month ago, the World Bank met with the MCC to discuss their areas of interest. The MCC welcomes working with other development institutions and is open to co-financing.

Mr. Lowery said he did not have sufficient information to answer Ms. Heumann’s second question, but USAID should be contacting her next week to schedule a meeting.

Ms. Heumann asked if disabilities is one of the areas Mr. Lowery is working on, and he replied that the MCC does not make suggestions to countries. The MCC is interested in hearing the countries’ priorities, and does not want to influence them by making suggestions regarding disabilities, education, health, infrastructure, etc.

Mr. Mindes stated that he felt MCC funds were going toward infrastructure programs rather than those that would directly benefit people with disabilities. He asked what this meant in terms of future spending if the economically and socially disenfranchised were not being reached.

Mr. Lowery responded that the MCC is fine with funding projects, whether they are related to infrastructure or health programs or another alternative, so long as society is the beneficiary. Currently many countries are asking for funds to support rural development, and several countries have submitted proposals for projects totaling over $1 billion. The MCC wants to take into account population subgroups, including people with disabilities, and determine who is actually benefiting from proposed projects. Thus, the MCC might be required to make certain changes to countries’ proposals.

Ms. Contreras commented that in Mexico, aid programs failed to make projects, including ecological bathrooms and public transportation, accessible for people with disabilities. In Nicaragua, $500,000 was set aside by the IDB specifically for disabilities. When the IDB realized the organization controlling the funds was incapable of managing a budget, the money was given to a different organization that was completely unaware of disability needs. She proposed that in the future programs like the MCC provide technical assistance to the countries receiving funds so that accessibility concerns are addressed from the beginning.

Mr. Curtis asked for further information regarding the use of the MCC’s qualitative indicators.

Mr. Lowery replied that the MCC wants the indicators to be as objective as possible, and for this reason third parties have been brought in. Quantitative data is also collected to demonstrate objectivity. Once data is collected, trends, missing data, and possible lags must all be taken into account. MCC board members are given this information, as well as opinions from U.S. embassies, before final decisions are made.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that in the U.S. the government will not fund a program unless it is accessible to people with disabilities. He referred to NCD’s foreign policy report that recommended the MCC not fund programs unless they are accessible to people with disabilities, and asked Mr. Lowery whether this suggestion is consistent with the MCC mandate. He suggested that this way of thinking might establish a basic civil rights principle that would deter all types of discrimination.

Mr. Lowery responded that he had read the report but was not prepared to mandate anything at this time.

Ms. Martinez encouraged meeting with the World Bank and other development organizations working to make access a part of the process.

Ms. Heumann said that as she understood it, the U.S. recently imposed a set of regulations requiring oversees construction paid for with U.S. funds to be accessible to people with disabilities. She asked Mr. Lowery if this regulation is applicable to MCC projects.

Mr. Lowery said while that is the intention of the MCC, he was not familiar with the regulation and could not comment on it.

Mr. Curtis stated that the MCC should evaluate proposed countries’ education systems in order to see whether people with disabilities are fully integrated, as education is one of the major factors in poverty reduction.

Mr. Lowery asked if any organizations had statistics of this nature.

Ms. Heumann replied not at this time, although the World Bank is working to find a uniform way of collecting this information.

Ms. Groce mentioned the importance of collecting data on subgroups within the disability community.

Ms. Berman-Bieler told Mr. Lowery that the Lake Tahoe Latin American countries would be willing to share the statistics they have collected, and proposed a future partnership. Ms. Martinez offered to call interested offices about such a meeting.

Mr. Lowery offered his contact information:
www.mcc.gov
LoweryC@mcc.gov

Mr. Lowery asked if anyone present had information about NGOs or civic groups involved with people with disabilities in any of the sixteen selected countries.

Ms. Martinez asked if Mr. Lowery would be interested in serving as a conduit between NGOs and the governments, and Mr. Lowery declined.

Ms. Heumann offered to send Mr. Lowery a copy of a World Bank report reviewing PRSP and the involvement of disability groups. At a future meeting, Ms. Heumann will provide a list of international disability groups with particular emphasis on those that are in the selected countries.

Mr. Lowery proposed a meeting during which someone from the NCD would talk to MCC staff about disability. Ms. Martinez replied that NCD was willing to meet, and she expected other organizations have a similar desire.

Ms. Siegal offered Mr. Lowery foreign contacts she could provide, as well as an updated version of a report on disabilities in international development. She also suggested that the MCC add a board member with disability expertise.

Mr. Lowery explained that Congress nominates individuals to serve on the board and they are the appropriate party to direct such questions toward.

Ms. Martinez asked about adding people with disabilities to the staff. Mr. Lowery replied that he would be willing to accept resumes, although the MCC was trying to keep a small staff.

Ms. Siegal asked what happens in the event that a country submits a proposal in which the issues of people with disabilities are clearly neglected.

Mr. Lowery said the MCC would not support a discriminatory program. The MCC includes the private sector in order to see what societal priorities actually are.

Mr. German said he would like to do a follow-up meeting with Mr. Lowery and any other interested organizations.

Ms. Martinez thanked Mr. Lowery and his colleague for their time.

The U.S. Institute of Peace gave a brief overview of their organization. Ms. Barsalou provided contact information for herself and Ms. Karam. She explained that the U.S. Institute of Peace has a grant available for work in Iraq and is interested in including and fostering the participation of people with disabilities.

V. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m. EST.