Unmet global challenge

The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Editorials - News: "THE MILLENNIUM Challenge Corporation was established to combat poverty around the world just over a year ago, but already Congress and President Bush are exhibiting compassion fatigue. The innovative foreign aid program needs enough money to convince poor nations that the arduous application process is worth the effort.

Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves of Cape Verde, the island chain off West Africa, was happy to get a $110 million, five-year grant from the corporation last week. On a visit to Boston, he explained that the grants ''reward countries for their good performance."

Intended to reduce poverty permanently, the money is disbursed only after the corporation vets the applicant government for honesty, a commitment to invest in health and education, and a belief in economic freedom. The governments are expected to consult with citizens to make sure the money will go where it is needed most. Once a nation receives a grant, it can expect to spend it without micromanagement by the corporation.

Cape Verde is the third country to receive a grant, after Madagascar and Honduras. The fourth, Nicaragua, followed last week. The corporation has come under criticism for the slow pace. But after the president proposed it in March 2002, with a commitment to a $5 billion annual appropriation, the enabling legislation wasn't approved until early 2004. The corporation then had to create itself. And the application process is supposed to be thorough to obviate the need for constant scrutiny later. The time lag is not excessive.

Now would be the time for the corporation to add staff and speed up the approval process. But just when the corporation should be taking off, it is facing a leadership vacuum and inadequate financing. Paul V. Applegarth, the chief executive, has just announced that he is quitting. Bush recommended only $3 billion for the corporation over the next year, a figure slashed to $1.75 billion in the House. The Senate Appropriations Committee last month recommended $1.8 billion.

RELATED STORY: Bush, Blair differ on Africa

In 2002, the president said, ''Greater contributions from developed nations must be linked to greater responsibility from developing nations." Thirteen other nations are going through the application process in the hope of winning a Millennium Challenge grant. All are bigger than Cape Verde, with its population of less than 500,000. These nations will need much more than $110 million.

If the countries meet the stringent criteria, the United States needs to keep its word and give them grants big enough to make a lasting impact on their societies. The Millennium Challenge Corporation requires strong new leadership and the $5 billion that Bush initially promised."