The following is attributable to Acting Spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala:

On November 19, 2019, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green met in Washington, D.C., with The Honourable Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Ph.D., Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

Administrator Green and Vice President Jalloh spoke about Sierra Leone's strong leadership in the health sector, particularly in preventing further outbreaks of Ebola. The Vice President briefed the Administrator on the plans of the Government of Sierra Leone to promote a private sector capable of creating jobs and increasing tax revenue to support investments in the health and education sectors. They also discussed the importance of transparency to create an enabling environment that will attract national and foreign investment and promote self-reliance. The Administrator emphasized that the Sierra Leonian authorities must work with civil society to increase efforts to combat human trafficking.

In his role as a member of the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Administrator Green discussed with Vice President Jalloh the status of the current MCC Threshold program in Sierra Leone, as well as the country's prospects for a potential MCC Compact in the future. The Administrator congratulated the Vice President on the significant progress Sierra Leone has made over a number of years to improve the country's performance on the MCC's Scorecard. He also recognized the Vice President's personal role in this regard, and encouraged him to continue his Government's ongoing, market-oriented macroeconomic reforms.

USAID's Assistant Administrator for Legislative and Public Affairs, Richard Parker, and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa, Cheryl Anderson, joined Administrator Green in the meeting.

Accompanying the Vice President were the Honourable Jacob J. Saffa, Minister of Finance; the Honourable Kelfala Kallon, Governor of the Central Bank of Sierra Leone; the Honourable Nimatulai Bah Chang, Deputy Minister of Water Resources; the Honourable Sidique Abou Baker Wai, Ambassador of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United States; and Ndeye F. Koroma, Chief Executive Officer of the MCC Coordinating Unit in Sierra Leone.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).