GOVERNMENT OF MONGOLIA
ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
FIFTH NATIONAL PROGRESS REPORT
2013
SUMMARY
Millennium Development Goals Fifth National Progress Report 2013
Ministry of Economic Development
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
September 2013
The Report was prepared as part of the project “Strengthening Government Capacity for National Development Policy and Planning” implemented with support from United Nations Development Programme,
Mongolia.
2
CONTENT
Achieving the MDGs: How is Mongolia doing?
4
Millennium Development Goals: Overview
5
Goal 1:
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
8
Goal 2:
Achieve universal primary education
13
Goal 3:
Promote gender equality and increase women’s
participation in political decision-making
14
Goal 4:
Reduce child mortality
16
Goal 5:
Improve maternal health
17
Goal 6:
Combat STIs/HIV/AIDS and TB, reverse
other diseases
18
Goal 7:
Ensure environmental sustainability
21
Goal 8:
Develop a global partnership for development
25
Goal 9:
Strengthen human rights and foster democratic governance
28
The Unfinished Agenda of the MDGs: Looking towards Post-2015
32
Data on MDG Progress in Mongolia
35
3
4
Difficult to
achieve
Note: x – Data not available; xx – Target not defined
MDG 1: ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is below the minimum
living standard
Target 2: Reduce by six times, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from
malnutrition
Target 3: Increase employment rate, reduce youth unemployment rate who are newly entering to the labour
market
Target 4: Reduce negative effects of population concentration and migration, provide migrants with basic
õ
social services
MDG 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION
Target 5: Provide primary education for all children by 2015
MDG 3: PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND INCREASE WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING
Target 6: Achieve appropriate sex ratio in primary and secondary education preferably by 2009 and in all
levels by 2015
Target 7: Ensure gender equality in wage employment
Target 8: Increase participation of women in politics and decision-making
MDG 4: REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY
Target 9: Reduce by 4 times, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
MDG 5: IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH
Target 10: Provide access to all individuals to required RHS and reduce by 4 times, between 1990 and 2015,
the MMR
MDG 6: COMBAT STIs/HIV/AIDS AND TB, REVERSE OTHER DISEASES
Target 11: Limit and prevent the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by 2015
Target 12: Reverse the spread of tuberculosis by 2015
Target 13: Reverse the spread of caries among children
õ
MDG 7: ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Target 14: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into policies, eliminate air pollution in urban
areas
Target 15: Reduce the shrinking process of rivers and streams by protecting and rehabilitating their sources
Target 16: Reduce the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation
by 2015
Target 17: Improve the housing condition of population by 2015
MDG 8: DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
Target 18: Create favourable condition for achieving MDGs through developing trade and financial system
Target 19: Address special needs of Mongolia as landlocked country through negotiation for favourable
terms
Target 20: Develop a debt strategy to ensure sustainability of external and internal debts
Target 21: Development of new ICT and build an information society
MDG 9: STRENGTHEN HUMAN RIGHTS AND FOSTER DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
Target 22: Fully respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ensure freedom of media
õõ
Target 23: Mainstream democratic principles and practices
õõ
Target 24: Develop a zero tolerance environment to corruption in all spheres of society
õõ
MDG Target
ACHIEVING THE MDGs: HOW IS MONGOLIA DOING?
Achievable
with more
effort
On-track
Fully
achieved
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: AN OVERVIEW
The Millennium Declaration, endorsed by 189 governments at the United Nations
General Assembly in September 2000, was an unprecedented commitment among
world leaders to work together to ensure a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.
Aiming to advance a global vision for improving the human condition and strengthening efforts to reduce poverty, enhance human rights and democracy, and promote protection of the environment, these commitments were translated into the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2001.
MDGs are strongly embedded at the policy level in Mongolia. The Parliament adopted the MDGs as development benchmarks in 2005 and then as the framework for
the MDG-Based Comprehensive National Development Strategy (CNDS) of 2008-21.
Mongolia is one of the few countries to have a 9th MDG on ‘Strengthening Human
Rights and Fostering Democratic Governance’ that emphasizes democratic governance
and human rights as necessary conditions for the achievement of all the MDGs. The
targets were revised in 2008 and there are a total of 24 targets with 67 indicators for
the nine MDGs.
Mongolia has witnessed significant economic progress in recent years. GDP growth
averaged nearly 9 percent annually in 2004-08 largely on the back of high copper
prices and new gold production. Recovering quickly from the global financial crisis in
2008-09, the economy recorded double-digit growth in 2011 and 2012. GNI per capita
increased from USD 1,300 in 2006 to about USD 3,035 by the end of 2012, and Mongolia is now classified as a lower-middle income country.1
Still the economy has a narrow base. Mineral commodities account for about 80
percent of the country’s exports and mining provides around 40 percent of total
government revenues, though the sector employs only 3 percent of the total workforce. The manufacturing sector contributes only about 11 percent to the GDP, about
half of the mining sector’s contribution. High dependence on mining revenues exposes
the country to fluctuations in the external environment.
Mongolia is classified as a medium-human development country with human development index (HDI) of 0.675 and a rank of 108 out of 187 countries.2 The average
HDI of the countries in the Asia and Pacific Region is 0.683, which is slightly greater
than that of Mongolia. However, Mongolia’s HDI is greater than the average HDI of
countries with similar level of development.
Poverty head count declined by more than 11 percentage points from 38.7 percent in
2010 to 27.4 percent in 2012. The sharp decline in poverty in recent years is mainly
attributed to effective government policy on social welfare, labour market, food supply and maternal and child health.
The income categories follow the World Bank’s classification of countries by GNI per capita: low-income
(less than USD 1,005); lower middle-income (USD 1,006-USD 3,875); upper middle-income (USD 3,976-USD
12,275); high-income (above USD 12,276).
2
UNDP Human Development Report 2013.
1
5
The poverty rate is unacceptably high for a country undergoing rapid economic growth.
Insufficient access to health and other basic services, natural disasters, lack of employment opportunities, inequalities in regional development, and a mismatch between
education and the demand of the labour market have been identified as some of the
underlying causes of poverty in Mongolia.
The fifth MDG Progress Report 2013 assesses the progress made against the specific
indicators and targets of the MDGs, the status of the current policy environment, as
well as the challenges to overcome in order for Mongolia to achieve the MDGs by
2015. It demonstrates the commitment of the Government to meeting the targets and
improving the welfare of its people.
The Report undertakes an analysis of trends and inequalities, including differences
in rates of change, and the geographic variations in progress; reviews lagging and
off-track indicators; and identifies key implementation bottlenecks constraining progress, their prevalence across sectors and goals, and provides indications on what the
government is doing to address them.
Process of Report preparation
The Report was prepared in a participatory and consultative way under the leadership
of the Ministry of Economic Development (MED). All key stakeholders were involved
at various stages of its preparation. To start the process, MED organized a series of
technical consultations in February-March 2013 to address issues of data.
A National Consultation on “Accelerating Progress on the MDGs by 2015” was
organized in March 2013 for which a Background paper was prepared by two national
consultants to initiate the discussion.
A national workshop was organised in August 2013 to discuss the draft report. Before
finalization, the report was shared with all relevant Ministries and UN agencies to get
their comments and suggestions.
Key features of the Report
The fifth MDG Progress Report has a number of key features. One, an objective analysis has been undertaken to assess progress in achieving the MDG targets. Assessment
of progress has been classified into four categories. One-third of the targets (8 out
of 24) are either on-track or have been fully achieved. Seven more can be achieved
by 2015 with some additional effort. Four targets across three MDGs are unlikely to
be achieved, and it is difficult to assess progress on five targets because of data or
measurement issues.
Another key feature of the Report is that a number of field visits, covering both
prosperous and poor soums, were undertaken by the team preparing the report to
get a ground-level understanding of the challenges in achieving the MDGs. A sample
qualitative survey was also conducted in 12 soums of 4 aimags in Khangai region with
the highest rates of poverty. These local-level perspectives helped complement the
aggregate data analysis and provide an improved understanding of the bottlenecks in
programme implementation.
6
The Report needs to be understood in a context that recognises that factors external
to Mongolia will also have an impact on the pace with which the MDGs are achieved,
notwithstanding the very committed efforts made to attain them.
The economic transition witnessed in recent years has led to a decrease in donor funding and a shift in donor priorities, even as Mongolia’s development challenges remain.
This is having an impact on resource mobilization for implementing development
projects, and may affect Mongolia’s progress on the MDGs.
Even as discussions are taking place globally to design and agree on a framework to
succeed the MDGs, the impetus towards achieving the Goals by 2015 must be sustained over the remaining period.
7
GOAL 1
ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER
Target 1 Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is below the minimum living standard
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Poverty incidence has been regularly estimated in Mongolia since 1995. For more than
a decade (during 1995-2007/08) Mongolia’s poverty headcount ratio remained in the
35-36 percent range. But because of differences in survey designs, it is not possible
to compare the poverty numbers prior to 2007/08. With the resolution in 2012 of the
debate over poverty data, there is consensus that poverty in Mongolia has declined
steadily from a high of more than 38 percent in 2010 to 27.4 percent in 2012.
More than a quarter of Mongolians live in poverty which, in the light of the country’s
recent rapid economic growth, is unacceptable. The pace of poverty reduction lags
behind economic growth suggesting that higher economic performance has not translated into reducing poverty in a significant way.
The poverty gap ratio remained constant at about 10 percent until 2010, after which it
has been reduced to 9.2 percent and 7.1 percent in 2011 and 2012 respectively. While
there is considerable regional variation in the poverty gap, declining poverty gap ratio
suggests clustering of the poor close to the poverty line.
The share of poorest quintile in national consumption increased from 7.5 to 7.9 percent during 2002-10 but since then has shown little change and is 7.7 percent in 2012.
It is unlikely to meet the target of 11 percent by 2015. The proportion of poorest quintile in total national consumption is high in rural areas, particularly in the Western and
Khangai regions which also have high poverty headcount rates.
Nature of poverty in Mongolia
As in previous survey years, rural poverty (35.5 percent) is far higher than in urban
areas (23.2 percent) in 2012. But with a high level of urbanization in the country,
there are more poor people in urban than in the rural areas. Rural areas and the soum
centres have witnessed the sharpest declines in poverty in the period 2010-12. The
overall low growth of the agricultural sector and slow recovery after the last dzud, is
encouraging rural-to-urban migration as people move to the cities in search of alternative livelihoods. Data from the 2011 Agriculture Census suggest that more than 61
percent of rural households feel that their agricultural products fetch very low prices
in the market, and 47 percent have limited access to the market due to their remote
and isolated locations.3
3
National Statistical Commission, 2013, Report of the Agricultural Census 2011, Ulaanbaatar.
8
Aimags with poverty headcount rate higher than 40 percent in 2011 are located mostly
in Khangai and Western regions. Nearly half the people in Uvurkhangai aimag (45.1
percent) are below the poverty line, followed closely by Gobi-Altai, Arkhangai, Khuvsgul, and Khovd aimags all of which have more than 40 percent poverty. At the other
end, Umnugovi has the lowest poverty headcount rate (11.8 percent), followed by
Dornogovi (16.9 percent), Uvs (17.7 percent), and Bayan-Ulgii (19.7 percent) aimags,
and Ulaanbaatar (23.4 percent).
Livestock ownership is a key determinant of household wealth in the rural areas. The
proportion of households with less than 100 heads of livestock constitutes 30.8 percent of the total number of herder households but own only 6.2 percent of the total
livestock. Herder households with more than 500 heads of livestock are considered
wealthy households while those with less than 100 heads of livestock belong to poor
households4. Field survey respondents identified vulnerability of the livestock sector to
natural disasters, droughts and dzuds as a major cause of poverty. Lacking alternative
sources of income, poor households migrate to the cities putting additional pressure
on the local city administration to provide services.
More than 60 percent of households with eight and above members, 48 percent of
households with the head without any education, and about 35 percent of households
where the household head is engaged in agriculture are poor.5 The most vulnerable
members in poor households are children, who have no income of their own. There
is evidence that children living in poverty have an elevated probability of experiencing
poverty in adulthood.
Conclusion
Mongolia is vulnerable to sharp fluctuations in the food prices, food shortages, earthquakes and other natural disasters which have a negative impact on welfare, and
require continuous risk assessment and monitoring.
In spite of the problems of poverty estimation that have seriously affected the design
of a poverty reduction policy in the country, the MDG target of reducing poverty to
18 percent by 2015 can be achieved but requires considerable additional effort in the
next two years.
Diversification of the economy, supporting of alternative livelihoods, and promotion
of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) particularly in rural and remote areas, to
create jobs can help reduce poverty and economic vulnerability.
In the past the government relied on social transfers as a means to reduce poverty.
However, international evidence suggests that social transfers alone rarely provide a
sustainable pathway out of poverty.
Poverty reduction is a slow and arduous task. It requires consistent and joint effort of
all partners. In line with the objectives of its Action Plan (2012-16), the Government
needs to develop a poverty reduction strategy that places strong emphasis on employment creation as a means to reduce poverty and inequality.
4
5
WB, 2008, Mongolia: Livestock sector study, Volume I-Synthesis Report, Washington, D.C.
National Statistical Commission, 2011, Household Socio-Economic Survey Results, Ulaanbaatar.
9
Target 2 Reduce by six times, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from malnutrition
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
The prevalence of underweight children aged below five accounted for 11.6 percent in
2000 and it fell to 5.3 in 2005 and to 3.3 percent in 2010. This indicator is on the rise
for children aged below 6 months. Still good progress was achieved in rural areas and
Mongolia is on track to meet the 2 percent target by 2015.
The prevalence of stunting (height for age) for children aged below five was 29.9
percent in 2000. It declined to 27.5 percent in 2005 and has almost halved to 15.3
percent in 2010. In addition, the proportion of stunting among under-five children has
declined across all age groups, rural and urban areas, gender, income quintiles, and
education level of mothers. Consequently, the target of 13 percent for the prevalence
of stunting is likely to be achieved by 2015.
The prevalence of wasting among under-five children (weight for height) accounted
for 7.1 percent in 2000, which reduced to 2.7 percent in 2005 and to 1.6 percent in
2010. However, there is some regional variation and the Western and Eastern regions
were above the national average in the prevalence of wasting. The prevalence of
wasting among rural children has reduced significantly. The target on prevalence of
wasting is likely to be achieved by 2015.
Target 3
Increase employment rate of population, reduce youth unem
ployment rate who are newly entering to the labour market
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
The MDG target for labour force participation rate is 70 percent and the unemployment rate for 15-24 year old youth is 2.5 percent. Unfortunately, due to changes in
the methodology used to estimate these parameters, it is difficult to undertake a
comparative assessment over the entire period. Comparable figures are available only
for 1998-2008 and 2009-12.
In 2009 the population employment rate was 88.4 percent, which later increased to
92.3 percent and to 91.8 percent in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The expansion of mining and services sectors in the economy has helped increase formal employment rates
in recent years.
Labour force participation rate is higher in rural areas as compared to Ulaanbaatar
which is possibly because of the high levels of rural-to-urban migration. During 200910
12 the unemployment rate among youth declined steadily which could be because
of successful organisation of employment support measures and other employment
promotion programmes.
Unemployment rate stood at 11.6 percent in 2009, and dropped to 9.9 and 7.7 percent
in 2010 and 2011 respectively. In 2011, the Law on Employment Support was amended,
which enabled to implement a number of job creating interventions through the various programs. In addition, special measures were introduced for some target groups
who experience difficulties to find jobs. These measures have had a positive impact
on reducing unemployment rate in 2011 as compared to previous years. However, in
2012 it has grown to 8.2 percent. The unemployment rate for males was always higher
than the female rate in 2009-12.
The unemployment rate of youth aged 15-24 increased to 22 percent in 2009, possibly due to a change in methodology. From the next year it started to decline steadily
and by 2012 it had reached 14 percent. This declining trend in youth unemployment
rate could be attributable to the implementation of various programs such as ‘Preemployability Program for Youth’, and ‘Sub-program to support youth and students’
employment’.
As of 2012, the youth unemployment rate is high in Eastern region and Ulaanbaatar
and in 11 aimags as compared to the national average. Youth unemployment is major
issue in Darkhan-Uul (30.9 percent), Orkhon (26.2 percent), Khentii (21.6 percent),
Govisumber (19.8 percent), Bulgan (19.3 percent), Khuvsgul (18.8 percent) aimags
and Ulaanbaatar (17.1 percent).
In spite of methodological limitations, additional effort will be required to increase the
employment rate and achieve the target by 2015.
11
Target 4: Reduce negative effects of population concentration and migration, provide migrants with basic social services
x
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
The rate of urbanization is very rapid in Mongolia. As per 2012 estimate, urban residents make up 67.2 percent or two-third of the total population. Internal migration
towards cities and urban settlements has increased since 2000, mainly caused by the
harsh winter that results in the loss of animals which are the main source of income
for many herder families. Herders who lose their livestock in the severe winter (‘dzud’)
migrate to urban areas in search of alternative livelihoods.
Universally, population migration is considered to have a positive influence on economic development and reduce regional imbalances. However in Mongolia, the
urbanization process is accompanied by negative effects such as, over concentration
of population in Ulaanbaatar City, sharp decrease in the rural population making it
difficult to provide services in rural areas, declining economic activity in rural areas,
increasing dependency of local economy and social services, and growing disparities
between urban and rural areas.
Mongolia faces challenges associated with unplanned urban growth, management
and provision services to the migrant population. Specifically, there are constraints in
delivery of services caused by the overload of hospitals, schools, roads, water supply,
engineering facilities, as well as a shortage of housing and socio-cultural amenities.
Additionally, air pollution, soil degradation and water contamination have impacted
adversely on peoples’ health.
However, non-availability of accurate records of the number of people who migrate to
urban settlements makes it difficult impossible to track achievement of this indicator.
12
GOAL 2
ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION
Target 5
Provide primary education for all children by 2015
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
All three indicators to track progress on this target have witnessed similar trends. The
net primary enrolment ratio, primary completion rate, and the literacy rate for the 1524 year olds declined in the 1990s after the transition but have been increasing since
2000.
The net enrolment ratio increased during the period 1997-2012 in all aimags except
Ulaanbaatar. The Western region showed maximum improvement compared to the
other regions. More girls than boys are enrolled in primary education in all aimags,
except in Orkhon. To increase enrollment of boys will require targeted attention.
Ulaanbaatar has lagged behind other aimags in primary completion rate because of
the high dropout rate. Students with poor performance are unable to advance into the
next grade. School dropouts that take place in the first grades of the primary school
comprise the majority of total school dropouts.
The last three rounds of Population and Housing Census results indicate that increased
attention is required in the Eastern region where the literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds is
among the lowest in Mongolia. However, it is difficult to regularly track this indicator
as the data is collected only from the Population and Housing census every decade.
The aimag reports review suggests that extensive rural-to-urban migration leads to a
decline in the number of pupils in soum schools and a low utilization of school capacity in the soums. Also, this frequent transfer of children to the new places of study
makes it difficult to cover all children and to accurately track progress.
Mongolia already had very high levels of primary enrolment and youth literacy rates
at the start of the transition in 1990 (97.5 and 99.0 percent respectively), and moving from this high base level to universal primary education can take a very long time.
So, extra effort will be required to achieve the target of universal primary education
by 2015.
13
GOAL 3
PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND INCREASE WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING
Target 6
Achieve appropriate sex ratio in primary and secondary education preferably by 2009 and in all levels by 2015
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Since 1995 Mongolia has had more girls than boys enrolled at all educational levels.
This situation has begun to change gradually over the last 20 years.
By 2000 an almost equal number of girls and boys were enrolled at the primary level
but since then girls’ enrolment has declined slowly. By 2012 the girls to boys enrolment
ratio at the primary level was 0.95. Disparity in the ratio of girls to boys at the primary
education level varies by region and across rural and urban areas. In the Eastern region
there are only 94 girls to 100 boys whereas in the settlements of the Western and
Khangai regions the ratio of girls to boys is fairly equal.
A similar trend has been observed for secondary and tertiary education levels as the
enrolment of boys has picked up in recent years. So even though more girls than
boys continue to be enrolled in secondary and tertiary levels, the ratios are declining
gradually. A greater desire by the boys to enter the labour market without completing secondary education seems to be a probable reason for this imbalance. The target
needs more effort to be achieved by 2015.
Target 7
Ensure gender equality in wage employment
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
In 2012, the labor force participation rate was 69 percent for men and 58.4 percent
for women. The 11 percentage point differential is influenced by factors such as high
enrolment rates of female students in tertiary education, the larger number of women
engaged in household activities and childcare, and the fact that women retire earlier
than men. Overall, the share of women engaging in non-agricultural paid jobs has decreased. This decline is associated with the economic crisis of 2008. The rapid growth
of the mining sector, with a predominant male workforce, has had a negative impact
on gender parity.
14
The share of women engaged in non-agricultural sector varies by aimags. More
than half the employees who engage in non-agricultural employment are women in
Arkhangai, Uvs and Bayankhongor aimags while this share amounts to 30 percent in
Umnugovi aimag. On the other hand, men outnumber women in Dornogovi, Govisumber, Darkhan-Uul, Sukhbaatar and Orkhon.
The target to increase the female employment share in non-agricultural wage employment is close to 50 percent already and so is on track to be achieved by 2015. Still,
additional interventions that encourage women to remain in wage employment are
necessary to ensure that the target is achieved by 2015.
Target 8
Increase participation of women in politics and decision-making
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Although there are more women than men with tertiary education, the proportion of
women at the political, managerial and decision-making positions is still relatively low.
This has been attributed to factors such as culture, tradition, political environment of
the country.
The proportion of female candidates nominated by political parties or independently
nominated to the State Great Hural has been rising since 1992. The target of 30 percent of women candidates to be nominated to the State Great Hural election by 2015
was achieved in the 2012 elections.
However, the proportion of women elected had declined since 2000. A Gender
Equality Law was approved in February 2011 setting gender quota for civil service
management positions at central and local levels. The Election Law, approved in December 2011, proposed a mixed member system for 76 seats in the Parliament, 48 of
which will be elected from local districts and 28 from a national list, with a 20 percent
quota for women candidates.
In 2012, out of 76 members of the newly formed Parliament of Mongolia 11 were
women, making up less than 14.7 percent of the total number of MPs. Still, it is still
lower than the global average and of many Asian countries. Barriers to women’s
political participation remain include high campaign costs, gender stereotyping and
the political environment.
Women’s representation at the decision-making levels has been declining since the
1990s. Since 2003, women’s ratio in the senior officer or top positions in the government executive organizations has declined steadily.
The MDG target of 30 percent of parliamentary seats held by women is unlikely to
be met by 2015.
15
GOAL 4
REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY
Target 9
Reduce by 4 times, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Mongolia recorded a decline in under-five mortality rate from 97.2 deaths per 1000
live births in 1990 to 18.9 in 2012. In terms of the actual number of infant deaths,
there has been remarkable decline of 76.1 percent from 4,789 deaths in 1990 to 1,143
in 2012.
Despite the remarkable overall decline over the last 22 years, the under-five mortality
rate is higher than the national average in 11 aimags and the infant mortality rate is
higher than the national average in nine aimags. This suggests a need to ensure uniform access to health care across the country.
The main causes of high under-five mortality rate are neonatal disorders, respiratory
diseases, child injures, and poor provision of pediatricians in aimags and their low
skills, lack of parental knowledge in looking after infants and under-developed infrastructure.
The coverage of infants immunized against measles has been above 90 percent
throughout the past decade indicating that overall infants have good access to health
services.
Thus, Mongolia has achieved the target of 4 times reduction in under-five mortality
rate by 2012.
16
GOAL 5
IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH
Target 10
Provide access to all individuals of appropriate age to required reproductive health services and reduce by 4 times, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
The maternal mortality rate (MMR) peaked in 1993 at 259 per 100,000 live births
before declining to 143.5 in 1997. It has declined steadily since then despite a slight
fluctuation between 1997 and 2000, an accelerated decline in 2001-06, and again a
slight decrease in 2007-10.
MMR was high in the early 1990s after which it declined in 2001-06 due to introduction and implementation of Maternal Mortality Reduction Strategies (MMRS) between
2001 and 2010. The Government has formulated and implemented the national program on “Maternal and Child Health for 2011-15“. This program has contributed significantly to achieving the MMR target by 2015 as outlined in MDG 5.
In 2012, Western and Eastern regions exhibit higher MMR than the national
average. Notable wide variations exist among aimags. For instance MMR has not been
recorded in eight aimags while Bayan-Ulgii, Bayankhongor, Zavkhan, Tuv, Sukhbaatar
and Khentii aimags have higher MMR than the national average.
It is likely that Mongolia will meet the MDG target of 50 maternal deaths per 100,000
live births prior to 2015. The target of the proportion of births attended by the medical
professional personnel has already been achieved.
17
GOAL 6
COMBAT STIS/HIV/AIDS and TUBERCULOSIS, REVERSE OTHER DISEASES
Target 11
Limit and prevent the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by 2015
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Mongolia is a low HIV-incidence country. Less than 0.1 percent of the adult population
is infected and in 2012, there were 127 registered persons infected with HIV. About
98 percent of the HIV cases in Mongolia are transmitted through sexual intercourse.
Men constitute 81 percent of the total number of HIV cases, most of whom are of
men having sex with men (MSM). Nearly half of the women with HIV infection are
sex workers.
However, reported numbers of HIV infections are on the rise, particularly among the
risky groups, namely among men having sex with men. Moreover, spread of STIs,
especially syphilis has increased among female sex workers and the general population. High level of HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination is still observed.
Of the people infected with HIV/AIDS in 2012, 75 percent comprise persons aged
between 25 and 44 years old, and one-fifth are belong to the age group of 15-24
years old. The reported numbers of persons with HIV infection varies by aimags. In
2012, out of total HIV positive people 74 percent were in Ulaanbaatar while the other
26 percent were from rural areas. The majority of rural cases are from Darkhan-Uul,
Dornod, Khuvsgul, Selenge and Uvs aimags.
Mining and infrastructure sector workers and people in the surrounding communities
are vulnerable to getting infected and potentially transmitting HIV, yet these communities have limited access to appropriate prevention activities, opportunities for timely
testing, counseling, or access to treatment.
Mongolia has achieved the target (<0.1 percent) of HIV prevalence among pregnant
women and youth population aged 15-24 for all the years for which records are available. The Government of Mongolia follows the principle of ‘Three Ones’ and places
an important focus on coordinating interventions to prevent and surveillance the STIs,
HIV/AIDS, and mainstreaming the actions against the STIs, HIV/AIDS into the multisectoral polices and joint programs with the civil society organizations.
18
Target 12
Reverse the spread of tuberculosis by 2015
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Good progress has been observed in reducing the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB),
which fell rapidly from 435 cases per 100,000 population in 1990 to 68 in 1997. Since
1997, the prevalence of TB is lower than the target of 82 cases per 1000,000 population, except in 2004-06. TB prevalence has declined in all aimags in 2012 as compared
to 1990.
The share of people aged 16-44 constitute 69 percent of the total number of people
with TB, and it is high for men (56 percent) than women (44 percent). Half of the
people with TB are unemployed and 70 percent are poor or extremely poor people.
The highest incidence of TB was in 2006 with 186 cases per 100,000 population.
Since then it has declined continuously reaching 139 cases in 2012. Despite this overall
positive trend in reducing TB prevalence, progress is mixed among aimags in terms
of TB incidence TB incidence increased in 19 aimags in 2012 as compared to 1990,
while it reduced only in two aimags. TB incidence is higher than the national average
in Darkhan-Uul, Umnugovi, Khentii, Dornod, Govisumber, Sukhbaatar aimags and
Ulaanbaatar city in 2012.
Mongolia’s National Tuberculosis Control Program has made significant progress in
detecting and treating drug susceptible and drug resistant TB. Nevertheless, increasing incidence of TB is an indication of deficiencies in TB detection and treatment
approaches. Disease relapse in previously treated TB patients, delays in seeking healthcare, and high default rates leading to the development of multi-drug resistant TB
result in disease prevalence in the country.
While the target of TB prevalence of 82 cases per 100,000 populations has already
been achieved, it is unlikely that the target of TB incidence of 100 cases per 100,000
populations will be achieved by 2015. The target of 100 percent of the proportion of
TB cases detected and cured under DOTs will also not be achieved by 2015.
Treatment failure and default rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
patients have increased due to insufficient treatment monitoring at the soum level.
This maybe because of significant shortage and high turn-over of staff at TB-related
institutions. There is an urgent need to improve the capacity of family practitioners
and expand public health services.
There is often only a limited supply of first and second-line TB drugs, and drugs for
the management of adverse effects in TB treatment. It is vital to allocate funding
from the state budget for the procurement of MDR-TB drugs. In addition, political
commitment to TB control is weak among decision-makers due to the lack of provision
of TB-related information.
19
Target 13
Reverse the spread of caries among children
x
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Unavailability of data constrains the assessment of achievement of the target of 75 percent spread of caries among children by 2015.
20
GOAL 7
ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Target 14
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into policies, eliminate air pollution in urban areas
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Climate change is already a real fact in Mongolia. The country’s annual mean air temperature has risen by 2.10C between 1940 and 2007, as compared to the global mean
air temperature rise of 0.70C in the last 100 years.
Mongolia, as any other country in the world, has been subject to global warming. The
vulnerability of the country’s economy, livelihood and traditional nomadic culture is
potentially very high under future climate changes.
Mongolia ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and the Kyoto Protocol in 1993 and 1999 respectively, and is committed to tackling
climate change by supporting global efforts in reducing GHG emissions. In this regard,
Mongolia has been implementing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) created
under the Kyoto Protocol since 2004. It currently has five CDM projects and programs
in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency that have reduced 76,950 tons
of CO2 emissions so far.
Deforestation has intensified, covering 70 percent of total territory of Mongolia, and
a number of rivers, lakes and springs are shrinking. Diversity of grasses in the pasture
is deteriorating, and it has negative impact on livestock breeding sector, and herders
as well. Intensified development of mining and quarrying industries in Mongolia in the
recent past years serve as a major cause for environment deterioration. This calls for
special attention to ensure environmental sustainability, and rehabilitation of the environment damaged as a result of the development of mining and quarrying industries.
Percentage of the forest areas
According to the information from the Ministry of Environment and Green Development, 12.5 million hectares (mha), or 8 percent of Mongolia’s total land area is covered by forest.
In order to achieve this target, to increase the proportion of forest areas up to 9
percent by 2015, current covered areas of forest fund needs to be increased by more
than 1.6 million hectares. It is not feasible to reach the target by reforestation action
on these areas in the remaining period due to climate condition, current condition of
forest fund, funding difficulty of the country, and constraints in time and finance.
Specially protected areas
The Government of Mongolia has continuously taken measures to expand the network
of specially protected areas to improve knowledge, study ever changing evolution
legitimacy, ensure ecological sustainability, reduce loss of biodiversity, create a condi21
tion for natural restoration, and protect the natural, historical, cultural singularity and
topology of natural beauty.
Although the proportion of special protected areas increased from 3.6 percent in 1990
to 13.1 percent in 2000, in the next decade there was no further increase. According
to MONE, 15 areas with 1.3 million hectares (mha) of land were announced by the
State Great Hural as protected areas in 2012. The proportion of special protected new
areas increased to 17.4 percent in 2012. Around 10.3 percent of the total area is under
local protection. Thus, the target to increase the proportion of special protected areas
up to 30 percent by 2015 is achievable if the government increases the areas under
State or local protection.
Adoption of policies on specially protected areas by the Mongolian Parliament such as
the Law on State’s specially protected areas of 1994, Law on specially protected areas
buffer zones of 1997 and National program on Special Protected Areas of 1998, have
established a legal environment for regulating the establishment of specially protected
areas and developing management for special protection.
Air pollution
In the past 3 years, the average concentration of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide
in the atmosphere of Ulaanbaatar has increased substantially. Currently apart from
Ulaanbaatar, air pollution has become an issue in aimag centers and in large settlements as well, thus requiring serious attention.
In recent years, a number of activities have been undertaken to reduce air pollution
in the capital city. These include implementation of necessary projects to revitalize the
ger districts into housing, reduction of local air pollution, provision of energy efficient
products to households located in “Air quality improvement zones”, and development
of regulations and standards to promote citizen involvement as well as providing
information on air quality to the public.
In the zones of air quality improvement, the Mongolian Millennium Challenge Account
and Clean Air Fund have provided 120 thousand improved stoves, 21,000 ger coverings,
5,100 chancels, 15 thousand tons of processed coals and other fuel substitutes, 1,500
insulators, 1,000 smoke filters, and other energy efficient products at discounted price
or free of charge. For example, 80-90 percent discount was provided for citizens and
households to encourage them to buy improved stoves, and 40 percent discount was
provided to 7,500 households to buy processed coals and other fuel materials.
Still, in 2012 the average daily concentration of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in
the atmosphere in Ulaanbaatar city during winter was 2.6 times and 3.1 times higher
than the target level for 2015 respectively. Thus, the target to reduce air pollution in
urban areas, especially in Ulaanbaatar, is also unlikely to be met.
Even though it has been targeted to reduce CO2 emission to 4 tons per person by 2015,
it is highly unlikely that this target will be achieved in the near term. This is because
with the development of Mongolian economy and industrial sector, there is an almost
inevitable tendency for fuel combustion activities and for CO2 emissions to increase.
However by taking concrete actions for reducing GHG emissions, it is possible to
decelerate the GHG emissions growth.
22
Target 15
Reduce the shrinking process of rivers and streams by protecting and rehabilitating their sources
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Due to climate change and global warming in past years there has been an increasing
negative trend of intensified permafrost melting, drought of headstreams, decrease,
drought in surface run offs, dropped and dried mineral headwater.
The target to increase the percentage of protected headwater for river formation up
to 80 percent by 2015 has not been achieved yet and requires more effort. However,
the target for the number of protected headstreams and water sources (by incremental records) was achieved in 2012.
Target 16
Reduce the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
The target to reduce the proportion of population without access to safe drinking
water sources to 40 percent by 2015, is not only completely achieved by 2012, but
exceeds the target. The proportion is declined from 45 percent in 1990 to 27.4 percent
in 2010.
However, there is considerable variation across aimags. In 2010, the proportion of
population without access to safe drinking water was 86.5 percent in Bayan-Ulgii
aimag, whereas only 3.4 percent of the population in Ulaanbaatar was without access
safe drinking water.
The implementation of the target to reduce the proportion of population without
access to improved sanitation to 60 percent by 2015 is slow. Nevertheless, there has
been an increase in Khangai region and Ulaanbaatar city.
Improved data for this indicator suggests that people who migrate from rural areas
and settle in ger districts do not have access to improved sanitation in short-term. The
target for reducing the proportion of population without access to improved sanitation can be achieved if the housing programme is intensified and implemented by the
Government in the remaining period.
23
Target 17
Improve the housing condition of population by 2015
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
As shown by the 2010 Population and Housing Census data, the implementation of
the target to increase the proportion of population living in comfortable housing with
connection to engineering facilities to 30 percent by 2015 was slow. Nevertheless, this
target is likely to be attained as a result of the recent intensive efforts to provide affordable housing to the people.
The proportion of population living in housing with connections to engineering service
networks is 30.5 percent in urban areas, 14 percent in rural areas. The proportion of
population living in houses and apartments with connections to engineering service
networks is low in Zavkhan, Gobi-Altai, Khuvsgul, Arkhangai, Bulgan, Uvurkhangai and
Bayan-Ulgii aimags of the Western and Khangai region compared to other aimags.
Overall only 2.4 percent of the population lives in houses connected to engineering facilities in the Western region.
In order to implement Mid-term targeted program “New Redevelopment” and the
Government’s Action Plan for 2012-16, the Government approved 135th resolution
“Several measures to improve citizen’s housing”. The Government has also decided
to establish a State Housing Corporation to be fully owned by the state. The main
responsibility of the Corporation, under the supervision of Prime Minister, will be to
provide opportunities to purchase housing at relatively cheap prices, and to develop
low rent public housing units for targeted community such as government officers,
young couples with or without children, disabled and elderly who cannot afford to
purchase housing.
24
GOAL 8
DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
Target 18
Create favourable condition for achieving MDGs through developing trade and financial system
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
In 2012, Mongolia engaged in trade with 146 countries, up from 126 countries that it
traded with in 2010. Its exports amounted to USD 4.4 billion US$, or about 51 percent
of the country’s GDP and is likely to reach its target by 2015.
Mongolia’s exports have increased enormously in recent years. Exports in 2012 were
more than 4.1 times compared to the 2005 level. Much of it is because of the increase
in export of primary products such as coal, copper, iron ore, and crude oil. Although
Mongolia’s export is predicted to increase in terms of value, it is unlikely to increase
in terms of diversity.
Mongolia imported goods and services worth USD 6.7 billion from 139 countries in
2012. Mineral products were dominant with oil products constituting more than 88
percent. The proportion of ODA to Mongolia to help build trade capacity, reached 0.13
percent of GDP, the highest level compared with previous years.
The target to increase the proportion of ODA to 10 percent by 2015 is unlikely to be
achieved. In contrast, the proportion of ODA to basic social services equals to 26.3
percent in 2012 and the target has already been achieved.
There are 13 banks operating in Mongolia. The financial sector is represented mainly
by the commercial banks, which is a common criterion in most developing countries.
In recent years the number of entities listed at the Stock Exchange has increased, and
the overall envelop has expanded. However, due to its small size the secondary market
is not yet visible.
25
Target 19
Address special needs of Mongolia as landlocked country through negotiation for favourable terms
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Railways carry 90 percent of all freight transport of the country. In recent times, the
share of transit transportation in the total railway transportation has been constantly
declining and in 2010, it had dropped to 14 percent.
The negotiations on transit transportation through territories of Russian Federation,
Mongolia and People’s Republic of China, which had started some ten years ago with
support of the UN Trade and Transportation Facilitation Council, has not reached yet
an agreement. Upon conclusion of this agreement, as a landlocked country Mongolia
could enjoy transportation tariff concessions.
To transport goods and products, Mongolia pays high tariff and transportation fee.
To transport goods to South Asia and European countries, goods go for 4000 km over
Russian territory and to transport goods to South East Asia and other countries, the
goods go for 1700 km to reach Tianjin port.
The Government, through its Action Plan 2012-16, is keen to undertake modernization
of its border posts and has made border management a priority. It is restructuring
the national structures related to border management (such as border guards, police,
customs, drug enforcement, etc.), and investing in infrastructure at key border crossing points that will also support economic diversification and local economic activity
along the borders. The main purpose is to enable trade and transit and in this way to
make Mongolia a ‘land-linked’ country, rather than a ‘landlocked’ one.
The government has prepared a draft law for improved border management and supporting foreign trade. One of the objectives of the law is to establish a new singlewindow administrative body that will help reduce bureaucratic procedures. The draft
law is currently under discussion in the national Parliament.
Mongolia is a member of regional initiatives such as the Central Asia Regional
Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme and the Great Tumen Initiative (GTI).
The main emphasis is on trade facilitation and improving collaboration among border
agencies to ensure trade flows through borders faster and more efficiently.
Government of Mongolia is keen to develop a border port policy and strengthen
national capacity for integrated border management that will help reduce the constraints on trade imposed by Mongolia’s landlocked status.
26
Target 20
Develop a debt strategy to ensure sustainability of external and internal debts
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
In 2012, the proportion of Government external debt in GDP equaled 32 percent
(including the US$ 1.5 billion available from the sale of the Bond) which exceeds the
target of 30 percent. However, overall the rate is still within acceptable range, and it
falls under “low risk country” according to the IMF/World Bank ratings. The interest
on the US$ 1.5 billion Chinggis Bond and other payments create additional burden to
the budget. The system of on-line payments of government bond was introduced,
which enabled the shareholders to obtain information immediately about the transactions.
Target 21 Development of new ICT and build an information society
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
The information and communication technology sector in Mongolia is very active and
introduces new technologies at a relatively fast rate. It can be seen from fast growth
of numbers of internet users and cellular subscribers. The number of internet users
per 1.000 population achieved its target 2009, and in 2012 there were nearly 700,000
internet users. This is likely to continue to increase. The number of cellular subscribers has been increasing year by year, and in 2012 there were 3.4 million accumulated
cellular subscribers out of a total population of around 2.8 million. The cellular network has an extended coverage over 90 percent of Mongolia.
‘Triple play’ service has been expanding widely in the world and this package service
based on internet protocol was introduced in Mongolia in 2011. At the beginning there
were 14,000 users of this package service. By 2012 the number had nearly doubled to
27,700.
Because of this intense penetration, the target to increase the number of internet
users and cellular subscribers has been achieved much before the target date and
contributes greatly to developing an information society.
27
GOAL 9
STRENGTHEN HUMAN RIGHTS AND FOSTER DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
Target 22
Fully respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ensure freedom of media and provide the public with free access to information
xx
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Since ratifying the Constitution in 1992, Mongolia has undertaken many important
reforms and established new, independent organizations such as the National human
Rights Commission, the Council of State Service, and the Independent Agency Against
Corruption. There has also been considerable focus on creating and improving the
legal environment.
With an HDI of 0.675 Mongolia ranks 108th among 175 countries as per 2013 UN
Human Development Report. The average HDI for the Asia-Pacific Region (0.683)
is slightly higher than that of Mongolia in 2012. The target is to increase the HDI to
0.830 by 2015 and the country is on-track to achieve this target. However, the index’s
two components, namely income per capita and life expectancy, are lagging behind.
Expert evaluation of conformity of Mongolian laws and regulations with international human rights treaties and conventions
Mongolia is party to seven out of nine UN international conventions and treaties on
human rights, and has signed one of them. The percentage of domestic laws and
regulations conforming with international human rights treaties and conventions was
3.4 percent in 2008, which increased to 3.9 percent in 2011. There has been no further
change in this percentage.
There are many cases of human rights violations in Mongolia. It has been estimated
that 43 percent of the children have been exposed to domestic violence, 52 percent
in schools, and 5 percent in public institutions. The National Human Right Commission stresses the lack of educational opportunities for children residing in temples and
for the children with disabilities. The safety of children driving horse in horse races is
often neglected. Social stigma against homosexual individuals, both lesbian and gay,
and among transsexual and bisexual people is strong. Irresponsible mining causes
environmental degradation and serious violations of human rights to a healthy and
safe environment, to possession and ownership of land, and to private farming.6
Percentage of implementation/enforcement of court and judicial decisions
Prompt and full enforcement of judicial decisions and compensation of damages is
an important guarantee for reinstating violated rights. However, the process takes
too long for a victim, and many cases are neglected. The percentage of implementation/enforcement of judicial/court decisions considerably increased in the past two
National Human Rights Commission, 2013, 12th Report on the State of Human Rights and
Freedoms in Mongolia.
6
28
years from 52 percent in 2010. Nevertheless, only three of four judicial decisions are
enforced, and one remains unimplemented violating the rights of citizens.
Number of attorneys that provide services to poor citizens
About 80 percent of offenders convicted of criminal charges are poor and unemployed
persons. Legal aid to indigent persons at all levels of the adjudication process is vital
in eliminating human rights violations and establishing the rule of law. The number of
attorneys that provide services to poor citizens decreased significantly in 2007-09, and
stabilized in the past three years although not reaching the level of 2004.
The National Program on Legal Aid to Indigent Citizens has institutionalized Legal Aid
Centers in all aimags and districts of the country to provide free legal aid to indigent
citizen, legal counseling and information provision to the local population, and legal
education and awareness building. Centers have been established in 21 aimags, and 9
districts and capital city Governor’s Offices within the framework of the UN-supported Project on Access to Justice and Human Rights. In 2012 MNT 240 million was spent
from the state budget for this purpose. The Law on Legal Aid to Indigent Citizens was
adopted by the Parliament in 2013.
Public perception of political, economic and financial independence of mass
media
According to 2012 survey only 12.6 percent of the 3744 randomly selected adults
agreed that the media was free from political influence Furthermore, a majority of the
survey respondents considered media was not financially independent. This indicates
growing public dissatisfaction with the state of media independence.
Number of state organizations that regularly place reports of their budgets and
expenditures on their websites
The number of state organizations that regularly present reports of their budgets and
expenditures on their websites has continuously increased in the past three years. As
of the end of 2011, there were about 4,000 organizations (excluding State-Owned
Enterprises) financed from the state budget. Of them, nearly 8.7 percent regularly
placed reports of their budgets and expenditures on their websites. The Ministry of
Finance of Mongolia maintains ‘Budget Transparency’ website, where information on
integrated budget is made available to the public. However, it is unclear whether the
information provided is understandable for the public and user-friendly for the clients.
29
Target 23
Mainstream democratic principles and practices
xx
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
During the last two years there has been notable progress in enhancing democratic principles, particularly reforming the election system, decentralization of political
power and ensuring wider participation of citizens, improving accountability of public
services, and strengthening justice in the country.
A new Law on State Great Hural Election, passed in 2011, changed the election structure
from the majoritarian system to a mixed system7 and set the minimum quota of female
candidates as 20 percent. Reforms were introduced in organizing the Parliamentary
Election of 2012 and the Presidential Election in 2013 to enhance democratic participation
of the citizens. These measures enabled to eliminate violations regarding the voting lists,
and organized the casting of the ballot in fair and efficient manner, and ensured voters rights. However, voter turnout was low for both Parliamentary and the Presidential
Elections.
In order to support development at local level, the new Budget Law established the
‘Local Development Fund’ to promote civic participation in identifying the development
priorities and subsequent allocation of the local budget. From 2013, every investment
proposals shall be discussed by local communities and presented for implementation
to the local administration. Local communities will also have power to monitor execution of the project.
To promote e-governance and provide public service in a fast, efficient, and nonbureaucratic way, ‘Public Service E-machines’ or ‘Automated Machines’ have been
introduced from 2013. Citizen complaints lodging system was streamlined, and hotline 11-11 was introduced where people can express their opinions. The President has
initiated and established the Citizens’ Hall.
Target 24
Develop a zero tolerance environment to corruption in all spheres of society
xx
Difficult to
achieve
Achievable with
more effort
On-track
Fully achieved
Mongolia’s Corruption Index was 0.63 in 2011, which decreased by 0.01 points compared to 2009. In other words, in 2011 the corruption status has worsened. This diminishing trend was mainly caused by 0.02 points decline in de-composite of the index
- the “form of corruption”, which explains about severity of the existing forms of
7
48 out of 76 seats to be won by majoritarian system and 28 by proportional system.
30
corruption in the country. The major factors affecting this increase are associated with
political nominations, conflict of interest and affiliation with business lobby groups,
and financing mechanisms of political parties and electoral processes.
A large-scale reform was undertaken in the past two years to combat corruption,
reduce bureaucracy and injustice in public service, and accelerate decentralization and
remove conflict of interest. In compliance with the Law on Anti-Corruption and the
Law on Conflict of Interest a new system has been fully implemented so that officials
who submit their information to the Independent Agency against Corruption send
their declaration of income before the deadline. From 2012 the candidates for public
service positions have been monitored by relevant organizations on status of their
conflict of interest.
The Law on Information Transparency and Freedom (2011), the Law on Combating
Money Laundering and Terrorism Finance (2013) were newly ratified and amendments
were made into the Criminal Code (2011, 2012). These reforms have contributed significantly to advance fight against corruption.
There are still challenges related to establishing a highly capable civil service free from
politics. After every election the new government replaces civil servants with its own
people with a strong negative impact on functioning of the government. Unfortunately this situation was repeated after the 2012 Parliamentary elections as well.
The youth targeted program on building awareness on democracy, anti-corruption
and justice and increasing civic education is under design and a curriculum on anticorruption will be included in the secondary schools programme.
31
THE UNFINISHED AGENDA OF THE MDGs: LOOKING TOWARDS
POST-2015
Since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration 13 years ago, Mongolia has notched
up an impressive list of achievements. It has (i) created national awareness on the
MDGs and built national ownership; (ii) adapted the MDG indicators and targets to
the national context; (iii) added a 9th Goal on democratic governance and human
rights; (iv) developed the MDG-based Comprehensive National Development Strategy;
(v) channeled budgetary resources and development aid for achieving the MDGs,
and (vi) strengthened its statistical system to monitor implementation of the MDGs.
Mongolia’s progress on MDGs needs to be analysed within this context.
Mongolia’s progress on the MDGs has varied across goals and targets. Of the 24
targets, eight are either on track or have been fully achieved; seven more are likely to
be achieved by 2015 but require additional effort; four targets across three MDGs are
unlikely to be achieved; and it is difficult to assess progress on five targets because of
data or measurement issues.
Achieving the MDG targets by 2015 will signify progress on the specific indicators,
but not the end of the challenges. For instance, even if the target of halving poverty
is achieved by 2015 (with extra effort), 18 percent of the population would still be
below the national poverty line.
Thus, poverty reduction along with the targets unlikely to be achieved by 2015 such
as increasing employment, providing universal primary education, promoting gender equality, improving environmental sustainability and eliminating air pollution,
and strengthening governance constitute the unfinished agenda of the MDGs. These
require consistent effort that will extend to the post-2015 period.
Challenges
Mongolia today faces many development challenges. Many of these were also
discussed during the series of Post-2015 National Consultations on “The Future We
Want” organized by the Ministry of Economic Development in partnership with the
United Nations Country Team in December 2012-May 2013.
Driven by the mining sector, Mongolia is growing at a rapid pace and has graduated
to lower middle income country status. While economic growth is central for future
development, Mongolia’s main policy challenge is how best to utilize the mineral revenues to benefit its people and ensure that the rapid growth is inclusive and shared
widely by the Mongolian people.
Reducing poverty and unemployment has remained the most pressing challenge of
development in Mongolia for the last 20 years. The government needs to articulate and
implement a strategy to reduce poverty and promote inclusive economic growth. There
is a strong need to focus on building resilience and on social protection to reduce vulnerability of the poor and the marginal populations. Past experience has demonstrated that
non-targeted welfare measures, such as cash handouts, while having some short-term
benefits, do not result in sustained poverty reduction.
32
Economic diversification and development of the private sector and local businesses are
essential. It is imperative for Mongolia to diversify its economy and create alternative
employment sources, especially for the youth. The tertiary education sector is characterised by a mismatch between the demand and supply of skills. A key challenge for
Mongolia is to create a skilled workforce to improve its international competitiveness.
Improving children’s access to education, health, water, sanitation and nutrition
are central for Mongolia’s future. At the same time, child poverty, child protection,
adverse impact of climate change on children, and their vulnerability to disasters are
persistent problems and need additional attention, especially using an equity lens.
Balancing environmental sustainability with economic growth is a particular challenge
for Mongolia as the main engine of the economy, the mining sector, puts heavy pressure on the environment. Rapid expansion of mining activities, extraction of minerals
and inadequate rehabilitation by some mining companies cause irreversible damage to
the environment.
Environmental factors such as climate change, natural disasters, CO2 emissions, water
scarcity, land degradation, desertification, and loss of biodiversity have a particularly
strong impact in Mongolia, increasing the vulnerability of those dependent on the
environment for their livelihoods, especially herders and arable farmers. An additional
emphasis is required on sustainable development, with a move towards responsible
mining, a green economy, and increasing use of renewable energy.
Sixty seven percent of Mongolia’s population lives in the capital Ulaanbaatar. Within
the capital more than 65 percent of the people are estimated to live in slums or ‘ger
districts’ with limited access to social security, environmental infrastructure such as
safe drinking water, improved sanitation, and electricity, and insecure employment.
Sustainable urbanization and urban poverty reduction formed part of the discussions
at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development and on the post-2015 development framework. A key challenge for Mongolia is to analyse the barriers to, and
devise suitable policies for, economic growth and investments for sustainable urban
development.
As a landlocked country, Mongolia relies on regional trading networks and active
encouragement of south-south and triangular cooperation can help expand the knowledge base to increase resilience.
Governance, the legal environment, capacity of institutions and human rights are critical
for the achievement of the MDGs. The over-riding challenge in improving governance in
Mongolia is to ensure the rule of law and trust in public services through judicial reform
and more targeted, visible, and fair anti-corruption measures.
33
Conclusion
Since 2001 the MDGs have contributed at the national level to shaping the development dialogue and galvanising action on achieving a common set of global goals. As
we approach the timeline for achieving the MDGs, there is considerable interest in
assessment of progress and consideration of a post-2015 development agenda.
With some extra effort, Mongolia is expected to achieve 71 percent of the global
MDG targets by 20158. Lack of full achievement of MDG targets does not signify
lack of progress. As outlined in the report, Mongolia has shown considerable progress
on many MDGs since 2001. But a lot more needs to be done.
MDG progress depends on partnerships and participation, and it is clear that there is a
need to pay more attention at the policy level, to improve inter-sectoral coordination
and alignment, and ensure more robust participation and cooperation of civil society
organizations, citizens, local government institutions and the private sector in achieving the MDGs and addressing the development challenges in the post-2015 period.
Implementation of the MDGs is only a work in progress. Even after the timeline of
2015 is reached, development challenges will remain. MDGs are thus an unfinished
agenda and the work to extend the benefits of economic growth to all Mongolian
people will continue.
8
Progress on the 9th MDG is not included in this assessment as it is a Mongolia-specific Goal.
34
DATA ON MDG PROGRESS IN MONGOLIA
Goals/Targets/Indicators
Progress
1990
2000
2010
Target
2011
2012
2015
MDG 1: ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is below the minimum living
standard
36.3
35.6
1. Poverty headcount ratio (percent)
38.7
33.7
27.4
18.0
(1995)
(1998)
10.9
11.7
2. Poverty gap ratio (percent)
11.5
9.2
7.1
6.0
(1995)
(1998)
3. Share of the poorest quintile in national
7.5
–
7.9
7.8
7.7
11.0
consumption
(2002)
4. Per capita GDP (at current prices, thou6.0
490.6
3,072.5
3,979.3
4,883.3
6,800.0
sand MNT)
Target 2: Reduce by six times, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from malnutrition
5. Prevalence of underweight children
12.0
11.6
3.3
–
–
2.0
under age five
(1992)
6. Prevalence of stunting (height for age)
12.0
29.9
15.3
–
–
13.0
children under five
(1992)
7. Prevalence of wasting (weight for
height) children under five
–
7.1
1.6
–
–
1.0
wasting
Target 3: Increase employment rate, reduce youth unemployment rate who are newly entering to the labour
market
8. Labour force participation rate (percent)
–
62.9
61.6
62.5
63.5
70.0
9. Unemployment rate of 15-24 year-old
6.5
4.4
19.5
15.6
14.0
2.5
(percent)
(1998)
Target 4: Reduce negative effects of population concentration and migration, provide migrants with basic
social services
10. Proportion of unregistered people in
–
–
–
–
–
0.0
urban population
MDG 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION
Target 5: Provide primary education for all children by 2015
11. Net enrolment ratio in primary educa95.9
95.0
94.7
94.8
95.2
100.0
tion
(1997)
12. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1
91.0
83.6
92.9
93.2
94.5
100.0
who reach grade 5
99.0
13. Literacy rate of 15-24 year-old
97.7
98.5
–
–
100.0
(1989)
MDG 3: PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND INCREASE WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL DECISIONMAKING
Target 6: Achieve appropriate sex ratio in primary and secondary education preferably by 2009 and in all
levels by 2015
14. Ratio of girls to boys in primary educa1.03
1.01
0.96
0.95
0.95
1.00
tion
(1995)
15. Ratio of girls to boys in secondary
1.33
1.20
1.07
1.06
1.07
1.00
education
(1997)
16. Ratio of female to male students in
–
1.72
1.48
1.43
1.40
1.00
tertiary education
Target 7: Ensure gender equality in wage employment
17. Share of women in wage employment
51.1
50.4
47.5
46.5
47.8
50.0
in non-agri sector
Target 8: Increase participation of women in politics and decision-making
18. Proportion of seats held by women in
24.9
11.8
3.9
3.9
14.7
30.0
Parliament
35
Goals/Targets/Indicators
19. Proportion of women candidates in
Parliamentary election
MDG 4: REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY
Progress
Target
1990
2000
2010
2011
2012
2015
7.7
(1992)
10.9
18.5
(2008)
18.5
32.0
30.0
Target 9: Reduce by 4 times, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
20. Under five mortality rate (per 1,000
97.2
44.5
25.6
20.2
18.9
21.0
live births)
21. Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live
65.4
32.8
20.2
16.5
15.5
15.0
births)
22. Proportion of children immunization
82.3
92.4
96.9
98.1
98.8
99.0
against measles
(1991)
MDG 5: IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH
Target 10: Provide access to all individuals to required RHS and reduce by 4 times, between 1990 and 2015,
the MMR
23. Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000
121.6
166.3
47.4
48.7
51.5
50.0
live births)
24. Proportion of birth attended by skilled
100.0
99.6
99.8
99.8
99.7
99.0
health personnel
MDG 6: COMBAT STIS/HIV/AIDS AND TB, REVERSE OTHER DISEASES
Target 11: Limit and prevent the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by 2015
25. HIV prevalence among pregnant moth0.005
–
0.003
0.004
0.002
<0.1
ers (percent)
(2005)
26. HIV prevalence among population aged
0.0007
–
0.0012
0.0005
0.0012
<0.1
15-24 years (percent)
(2007)
Target 12: Reverse the spread of tuberculosis by 2015
27. Prevalence of tuberculosis (per 100,000
435
60
65
60
59
82
population)
28. Incidence rate of tuberculosis (per
79
125
154
143
139
100
100,000 population)
29. Death rate associated with tuberculosis
5
3
3
2
2
2
(per 100,000 population)
30. Proportion on tuberculosis cases diagnostic and treated with
31.0
81.0
85.0
83.0
83.0
100
international standard diagnostic and treat(1994)
ment methods (DOTS)
Target 13: Reverse the spread of caries among children
31. Prevalence of caries among children of
80.1
–
–
–
–
75.0
5-6 years
(2004)
MDG 7: ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Target 14: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into policies, eliminate air pollution in urban
areas
32. Proportion of forest areas
–
–
8.26
8.03
8.03
9.0
33. Proportion of specially protected areas
34. Carbon dioxide emission per capita
(ton/person)
35. Avg daily concentration of NO2 in the
atmosphere in Ulaanbaatar (mkg/m3)
36. Avg concentration of SO2 in the atmosphere in Ulaanbaatar (mkg/m3)
–
13.1
14.56
16.41
27.69
30.0
5.3
3.5
4.4
5.7
6.6
4.0
–
–
47.0
78.0
80.0
30.0
–
–
41.1
50.0
52.0
20.0
Target 15: Reduce the shrinking process of rivers and streams by protecting and rehabilitating their sources
37. Proportion of protected and rehabili–
–
38.7
45.3
–
80.0
tated water sources
38. Number of protected and rehabilitated
–
–
1,049
1,230
1,518
1,000
water sources
Target 16: Reduce the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation
by 2015
36
Goals/Targets/Indicators
Progress
1990
2000
39. Proportion of population without access to safe drinking water
45.0
33.8
sources
40. Proportion of population without access to improved sanitation
77.4
77.0
facilities
Target 17: Improve the housing condition of population by 2015
41. Propn. of population living in houses
and apts. with connection to engg. service
–
22.7
networks (electricity, water, sewage and
heat)
MDG 8: DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
Target
2010
2011
2012
2015
27.4
–
–
40.0
76.8
–
–
60.0
21.2
–
–
30.0
Target 18: Create favourable condition for achieving MDGs through developing trade and financial system
42. Proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided
0.05
0.03
0.03
0.01
0.13
10.0
to help build trade capacity
43. Proportion of ODA to basic social
4.4
11.9
19.5
25.9
26.3
5.0
services
(1991)
44. Percentage of export in Gross Domestic
33.4
54.0
54.7
62.3
50.9
70.0
Product (GDP)
(1991)
45. Financial deepening (Ratio of money
44.0
21.1
55.6
57.8
54.6
65.0
supply to GDP)
Target 19: Address special needs of Mongolia as landlocked country through negotiation for favourable terms
46. Proportion of ODA in Gross National
23.2
15.9
2.7
1.4
2.0
20.0
Income
(1991)
47. Proportion of Transit freight in railway
6.7
16.5
13.8
10.2
7.5
40.0
transportation
Target 20: Develop a debt strategy to ensure sustainability of external and internal debts
48. Proportion of Government external
37.3
75.1
27.5
23.9
32.0
30.0
debt in GDP
(1991)
49. Proportion of Government external
24.3
139.1
50.2
38.4
74.8
40.0
debt in export
(1991)
50. Proportion of external debt in govern138.0
265.6
76.3
86.5
90.1
60.0
ment revenue
(1991)
51. Government external debt services as a
percentage of exports of
–
3.9
4.0
1.5
2.0
3.9
goods and services
52. Proportion external debt services in
1.6
7.4
6.1
3.4
2.4
7.5
government revenue
(1991)
Target 21: Development of new ICT and build an information society
53. Telephone lines (per 1,000 population)
47
53
100
54. Internet users (per 1,000 population)
–
2
73
164
55. Cellular subscribers (per 1,000 popula–
31
925
1,056
tion)
MDG 9: STRENGTHEN HUMAN RIGHTS AND FOSTER DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
31
47
52
245
30
1,207
350
Target 22: Fully respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ensure freedom of media
56. Human Development Index
57. Expert evaluation of the conformity of
Mongolian laws and regulations with the
international human rights treaties and
conventions (percent)
58. Percentage of implementation/enforcement of judicial decisions
59. Number of attorneys that provide
services to citizens who are
not able to pay such service
–
0.667
0.756
0.768
0.778
0.830
–
–
3.4
(2008)
–
3.9
(2011)
–
–
56.8
(2004)
51.9
72.3
75.1
–
–
507
(2004)
471
405
445
–
37
Goals/Targets/Indicators
Progress
1990
2000
2010
Target
2011
60. Public perception about activities of
state organizations and law enforcement
–
–
28.5
–
institutions
61. Number of state organizations to of70
ficially express their views in the process of
–
88
165
(2008)
developing and approving the state budget
Target 23: Mainstream democratic principles and practices
62. Public perception of activities of state
–
–
–
–
organizations
63. Number of CSOs that have officially
expressed their views in the process of
–
–
1
1
developing and approving the state budget
64. Percentage of voters that have participated in nominating
–
–
–
–
governors of soums and baghs
Target 24: Develop a zero tolerance environment to corruption in all spheres of society
0,64
65. Index of Corruption
–
0.0
0.63
(2009)
66. Perception of corruption in political
organizations, judicial and
–
0.0
4.1
4.1
law enforcement institutions
67. Public perception of corruption in public administration and
–
–
–
–
public services
38
2012
2015
–
–
345
–
–
–
1
–
–
–
0.0
–
3.9
–
–
–
PREPARATION TEAM
Lead Authors
Batmunkh Batsukh, Dr. PhD., Consultant, Head of the Statistics Faculty, SES, NUM
Gereltuya Altankhuyag, PhD., Consultant, Freelance Researcher
Idshinrenjin Osorgarav, Senior Officer, Department of Development Policy, Strategic
Planning and Coordination, Integrated Planning Division, MED
Ministry of Economic Development
Batkhurel Galsandorj, Deputy Director, Department of Development Policy, Strategic
Planning and Coordination, MED
Oyuntsetseg Khorloo, Senior Officer, Department of Development Policy, Strategic
Planning and Coordination, Integrated Planning Division, MED
Editors
Jargalsaikhan Jamba, Freelance Researcher
Saurabh Sinha, UNDP, Senior Economist
Background paper writers
Khashchuluun Chuluundorj, PhD., NUM, Mongolia
Munkhtseren Sharav, PhD., Executive Director, Human Development Training and
Research Center
Coordination and Support Team
Darinchuluun Bazarvaani, Project Manager
Saran Samdantsoodol, Temporary Coordinator
Purevsuren Gombojav, Event Coordinator
Delgermaa Ganburged, Administration and Finance Officer
UNDP Programme Support
Doljinsuren Jambal, Programme Manager, Human Development and Millennium
Development Goals
Tsetsegee Puntsag, Programme Officer
Translators
Tugsdelger Sovd
Ariunaa Dashtseren
Khishigjargal Kharkhuu
39
NOTE
40