TCG Congratulates MCC on Ranking First among Federal Agencies in Transparency

We always knew they would make a better window than door

Congratulations to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for ranking first among U.S. federal agencies and seventh in the world for aid transparency according to the Aid Transparency Index. The Index is an independent measure of foreign aid transparency among the world’s major development and donor agencies and is released every two years.

“Working with MCC for over 7 years now, we’ve seen their commitment to transparency, accountability, and accessibility on a daily basis,” said Daniel Turner, TCG president, “and it’s fantastic to see them recognized as the leading US aid agency inspiring similar organizations across the world.”

MCC was also the highest ranked US agency in 2018. Even with this high ranking, MCC improved its overall score by five points from 2018 to 2020, moving from a score of 87 to 92.1. The Index measures donors’ level of transparency using a robust methodology comprised of 35 indicators grouped into five different aid transparency components, including performance, project attributes, finance and budgets, joining up development data, and organizational planning and commitments.

Performance of US Agencies in the 2020 Index

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a grant-making agency that is helping to lead the fight against global poverty. MCC provides grants that promote economic growth, poverty reduction, and helps to strengthen institutions. By forming partnerships with the world’s most disadvantaged countries MCC promotes good governance, economic freedom, and investment in the citizenry.

The Index highlights two new reporting projects that MCC initiated since 2018 to increase transparency around its work. Working with independent reviewers, MCC publishes four-page Evaluation Briefs that summarize key findings. In addition the agency produces Star Reports that provide comprehensive data on results, starting from initial country selection through final project evaluation. These are open to policymakers, think tanks, NGOs, and businesses for their own use.

The 2020 Aid Transparency Index includes five U.S. agencies and 47 major donor agencies. The 2020 Index shows significant improvement in overall aid transparency compared to the 2018 Index, along with key contrasts in scores among major donor agencies. MCC has now been ranked in the “very good” category and number one among U.S. federal agencies in five consecutive Aid Transparency Index reports.

Since 2013, TCG has supported MCC’s mission by providing operations, maintenance, and enhancements of mission-critical databases, applications, and systems.