Lesotho is among the sixteen Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of the world that have qualified for assistance in the newly established United States of America (USA) Millennium Challenge Account  (MCA). The Assistant Minister of Finance and Development  Planning, Mr. Popane Lebesa told LENA on Tuesday.

Mr. Lebesa further clarified that Lesotho and the 15 other countries were selected out of 77 Least Developed Countries of the world, adding that in order for a country to qualify for this assistance, it had to pass a selection criteria put in place by the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) Board of Directors, a body in charge of implementing the Millennium Challenge Account assistance for LDC's.

He further explained that among the critical points that were assessed during the selection of the LDC of which Lesotho has passed by virtue of having been selected included; the issue of good governance, government  investment in its people as well as the quality of the Economic Policy.  He said falling under these major issues were the issues of, Political  stand of a country, level of corruption and initiatives in uprooting it, government's effectiveness, accessibility of education to the people, especially at Primary level, level of inflation and policies in place for job creation and poverty alleviation.

The Minister noted that following the qualification of Lesotho in this USA assistance, a Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been established with the aim to thoroughly assess the country's  needs and identify priority areas that the country would like to be assisted with in the years 2004 to 2006.

He said the Millennium Challenge Cooperation has specified that projects to be chosen should make a positive impact on the lives of the people at national level, saying that when identified, a proposal indicating the kind of projects to be undertaken as well as how and when they will be implemented will be submitted to the MCC for approval.

He indicated that during implementation of such projects, they will have to cover a variety of sectors to ensure that Basotho, even those at grassroots level, will benefit from such projects, saying that sectors that range from private companies, cooperatives, Non governmental organizations as well as the public sector need to join hands in order to benefit on the rewards of the Millennium Challenge Account.

He concluded by acknowledging the difference of the MCA from other donations in that countries identify their own priority areas for assistance, while other donors often choose their own fields of interest as conditions for funding.

The USA government has already deposited a total of over M6 billion to be shared for funding of projects among the 16 countries that have qualified for the MCA in the 2004/2005 financial year.