We understand USAID's strategy to provide assistance to fragile states and states on the path to transformational development. Further we understand that reversing the decline of fragile states and advancing their recovery to a stage where transformational development is possible is our shared goal. Millennium-IP3 recognizes that fragile states will also require careful monitoring and analysis and the development of new measurement tools. The Millennium/IP3 Team brings a wealth of expertise in this area and can assist USAID to develop early warning indicators to recognize fragility and to propose programmatic integrated and well-sequenced approaches to assistance that will promote greater transparency and good governance. See also Links and Publications

The Millennium-IP3 Partners Team also understands that a unique opportunity and responsibility exists to help recovering fragile states get on the path to transformational development that involves fundamental changes of a country's governance institutions that allow countries to sustain further economic and social progress without foreign aid. The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), a new US Government foreign assistance program, can provide assistance to countries that are committed to ruling justly, promoting economic freedom and sound investments in people. The transition however, to this new assistance, can be made possible under the BRDG contract by USAID providing assistance to recovering states that are on the ‘threshold' of MCA assistance.

See also: www.mca.gov and www.mca.gov/countries/threshold/

Our approach recognizes that reform is not enough. Follow-through implementation to ensure that fragile states have the institutional and human capacity to deliver reforms will be critical under the BRDG IQC contract. We agree with USAID's policy implementation framework that will be critical to the success of task order projects under the BRDG IQC contract and will adopt this six point approach of creating legitimacy, building constituencies, accumulating resources modifying organizational structures, mobilizing action and monitoring impact and readjusting for results.

USAID has set an ambitious goal for its Fragile States Strategy to reverse the decline in fragile states and advance their recovery to a stage where transformational development is possible. USAID under the BRDG RFP has presented an integrated approach to addressing the underlying causes of fragile states, proposing areas for technical assistance while recognizing that there is a continuum of assistance from fragile to transformational.

USAIDs, White Paper , US Foreign Aid: Meeting the Challenges of the 21 st Century ,(see also: http://www.usaid.gov/policy/pdabz3221.pdf ) defines transformational development as “development that does more than raise living standards and reduce poverty. It also transforms countries, through far-reaching, fundamental changes in institutions of governance, human capacity, and economic structure that enable a country to sustain further economic and social progress without depending on foreign aid.” USAID has further indicated that the primary determinant of progress in transformational development “is political will and commitment to rule justly, promote economic freedom, and make sound investments in people”. These determinants of transformational development are at the core of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

A collaborative relationship exists between USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The MCC is charged with implementing the Millennium Challenge Account. Crossing the point from vulnerability to threshold is a state on the path from fragility to stability and the potential of transformational development. The MCC applies the term “threshold” to countries on the cusp of being eligible for MCC assistance that just miss one or more of the MCC performance indicators of ruling justly, investing in people, encouraging economic freedom and the corruption indicator. The BRDG contract will allow USAID to commit technical assistance to support threshold states to become eligible for MCA assistance. Threshold states encompass all of these possible states that have the political will to reform and where limited technical assistance funded by USAID under BRDG and MCC will raise performance in one of the three areas of ruling justly, investing in people and encouraging economic freedom (see Table). It is the MCA assistance under negotiated “compact agreements” with eligible countries, that fall within the transformational category of the assistance continuum. MCA eligible countries must present a coherent program to identify development impediments and propose a well-designed program of projects, vetted with major stakeholders in their countries that are then negotiated with MCC staff to form a multi-year “compact agreement” of assistance. A number of compacts have been signed with MCA eligible countries including: Armenia , Cape Verde , Georgia , Honduras , Madagascar , Nicaragua , and Vanuatu . See also www.mca.gov/compacts/index.shtml

We view the MCA as an essential assistance program for transformational states. The BRDG IQC contract provides a comprehensive and integrated solution to addressing all of the different needs of fragile and threshold states while recognizing that our end goal is transformational development.

The Millennium-IP3 Team understands the USAID strategy for assistance to fragile through threshold states and has the knowledge and experience to lead highly complex task order engagements under the BRDG IQC contract. Our Team will provide USAID Washington and Missions with the highest quality of services that will lead to success in fragile and threshold states.