The Millennium Challenge Corporation hosted its quarterly town hall meeting on the 20th December 2012. At this meeting, the Board selected Niger for the first time as a country eligible for a Compact program with MCC. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004 is a U.S. foreign aid agency that is fighting against global poverty. MCC has two forms of grants: Compacts which are large 5 year grants awarded to countries that meet the criteria and Threshold which are small grants for countries close to meeting the criteria.

Niger scored 12 green MCC performance indicators and has maintained green the Governance indicators for the last 2 years.

The MCC Board recognized the country’s efforts in good governance, the engagement and commitment of the Government of Niger in the fight against corruption, the respect of political rights, civil liberties, freedom of information and the adoption of policy reforms to strengthen economic freedom. The Board was particularly impressed and congratulated the authorities of Niger for their engagement in environmental protection.

The MCC report on Niger concludes:

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world but has relatively strong policy performance, as indicated by two consecutive years passing the MCC indicators. Scorecards for Niger can be found athttp://www.mcc.gov/scorecards. In 2011, Niger was the first country to demonstrate that with sufficient political will, countries can restore their MCC eligibility. Niger’s constitutional reform, clean and competitive elections, and peaceful transfer of power to civilian government prompted MCC to reinstate Niger’s threshold eligibility last year. Since that time, Niger has pursued reforms related to democratic and economic governance and contributed to efforts to promote stability in the region. Niger has been a strong MCC partner in its threshold program, operating a dedicated program and policy analysis unit through both elected governments and even during its period of suspension. Niger is currently finalizing its constraints to growth analysis, an exercise that forms the basis of MCC’s compact development process, and this will now shift from a threshold program assessment tool to part of the compact development process. Capacity constraints may impact the timeline for the compact development process.

Special Thanks

Many thanks to James T. Thomson, Niger RPCV ’64 and FON member, who has worked on many development projects all over Africa. Jamie led the charge in drafting a letter to the MCC for the FON board, urging the MCC to approve the compact grant. His efforts will have positive impact for years to come.

Additional Media Coverage

The Patriotic Vanguard:
http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/spip.php?article6850

African Manager:
http://www.africanmanager.com/site_eng/detail_article.php?art_id=19476

Special notice for former Peace Corps volunteers.

The National Peace Corps Association is assisting the group Health Justice for Peace Corps Volunteers in circulating a survey which seeks to assess both the scope of debilitating injury or illness over the years, and the challenges Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have faced in receiving the care, attention, and support they need and deserve.

The group is interested in hearing from all RPCVs, including those who had no medical concerns during service. After you have taken the survey, please share it with 5 – 10 other fellow RPCVs and ask them to do the same.

Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet is expressing her commitment to ensure that sick or injured RPCVs receive the help and support they deserve. Read her statement on the NPCA site.

Direct link to survey: http://www.healthjusticeforpeacecorpsvolunteers.org/survey/survey.html

Reporters Without Borders has released its 2011-2012 ranking of Press Freedom around the globe, with Niger showing the biggest improvement of any country in the world.

From the full version of the press release:

Niger (29th) rose 75 places in the index, the biggest leap by any country in the world this year. The economic environment for Niger’s media is very precarious but they are free and benefit from favourable legislation. Media freedom violations have virtually disappeared. The improvement has been seen in both concrete and symbolic measures. At the end of 2011, Mahamadou Issoufou, who was elected president in the spring, became the first African head of state to sign the Declaration of Table Mountain, thereby undertaking to promote media freedom.

Full URL: http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=classement&id_rubrique=1043

With causes ranging from policy failures to marginal help from development agencies, The Economist argues in a July 7, 2012 article that even inadequate irrigation in the region can be overcome through long-term planning:
Read more:

Full URL: http://www.economist.com/node/21558315

A recent story from the Washington Post highlights how the current food crisis leads to more child marriages in Niger, where the rate of child marriage is already the highest in the world.

From the author, Sudarsan Raghavan:

Niger has the world’s highest rate of child marriage, with roughly one out of two girls marrying before age 15, some as young as 7. As a hunger crisis affects millions here and across the Sahel region of West Africa, aid workers are concerned that struggling parents might marry off their daughters even earlier for the dowries they fetch, including animals and cash, to help the families survive.
Read more:

Full URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/in-niger-hunger-crisis-raises-fears-of-more-child-marriages/2012/07/09/gJQA8xD9YW_story.html

Full URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/in-niger-hunger-crisis-raises-fears-of-more-child-marriages/2012/07/09/gJQA8xD9YW_story.html

Although Peace Corps’ presence in Niger is on hold at the moment, 2011 still marks 50 years of promoting peace and friendship around the world by volunteers in dozens of countries.

The National Peace Corps Association is coordinating all kinds of events throughout 2011 to honor the past and inspire the next generation of volunteers. Come check out the calendar of events to find some near you.

Full URL: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/50/

In January of 2011 we informed you that Boston University had suspended its program in Niger. We just learned that Boston University has made the decision to definitively close its long-standing International Development Study Abroad program in Niger.

The January 2011 announcement: http://www.bu.edu/abroad/2011/01/11/niger-program-announcement/

For more information about Boston University’s Study Abroad programs, please contact the university directly.

The previously announced Friends Of Niger strategy meeting will be held at the Niger Embassy in Washington, DC, on Friday, September 23, 2011. Currently there are about 15 people in all that will be attending the meeting, where we plan to meet with the Ambassador, Her Excellency Aminata Maiga Djibrilla Maiga Touré, and her staff.

Date:	Friday, September 23, 2011
Time:	3:00pm to 5:00pm, EST
Location:	Embassy of Niger  2204 R Street, NW Washington DC 202.483.4224

The Embassy is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the Dupont Circle Metro Stop on the Red Line. Exit at the north side and walk up to R Street, then walk west to the Embassy. We will be welcomed by the Ambassador, or her staff if she is not in town; there will be a presentation of FON activities and funded projects, and we will discuss what we can do to reinstate Peace Corps in Niger.

If you would still like to join us, please contact Penni St. Hilaire so that we can finalize our plans with the embassy staff.

Contact: Penni St. Hilaire,

tommyt@erols.com