is made up of representatives. These include the MCC's CEO, the U.S. Secretary of State who is the chair, the Secretary of Treasury who is the vice chair, the administrator of USAID, the U.S. Trade Representative and other private-sector or development-related officials. Selection indicators A country is considered eligible for a compact (aid grant) if selected as eligible by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors chooses countries based on three factors: policy performance as measured by the selection indicators on MCC's scorecard, the opportunity to reduce poverty in a country, and the availability of funds. In order to pass the scorecard a country must pass 10 of the 20 indicators, pass either the Political Rights or Civil Liberties Indicators, and pass the Control of Corruption indicator. For 16 of the 20 indicators, a country passes if its score exceeds the median score of its peer group. The remaining 4 indicators (Political Rights, Civil Liberties, Immunization Rates (if the median is above 90%, otherwise it is median based), and Inflation) are scored based on a static threshold. All 20 indicators are compiled by third parties with no connection to MCC. MCC grants are made without considering politics. This is perhaps the most innovative aspect of MCC, as previous foreign aid missions were plagued by political considerations. The focus of the MCC is to promote economic growth in the recipient countries. The program emphasizes good economic policies in recipient countries, such as free markets and low corruption. The indicators are: An eligible country must apply for a grant with a specific project in mind. Countries and country tools Compact countries Threshold countries MCC compacts and thresholds programs in recipient countries MCC signs either a compact or a threshold agreement with a partner country. A compact is awarded if the country scores highly on the selection criteria indicators. If the country scores poorly but has a positive, upward trend on the selection criteria, it can still be eligible for a smaller grant, called a threshold program. MCC requires that each partner government creates a special purpose legal entity that will be accountable for implementing the compact program. Eligible countries In the first year (2004), 17 countries were made eligible for an MCC grant: Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Vanuatu. Madagascar and Honduras were the first