Mongolia forges ahead on Sendai Framework

• Date:12 May 2015
• Source(s):United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNISDR AP)

Ulan Bator - The head of UNISDR Margareta Wahlström today met with the Prime Minister of Mongolia, Mr. Chimed Saikhanbileg, as the country embarks on implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan of action adopted in March at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Mongolia is also establishing a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, developing a national disaster loss database and has already translated the Sendai Framework into the national language.

In his dialogue with Ms. Wahlström today, Prime Minister Saikhanbileg emphasised: “We have the clear intention and commitment to integrate disaster risk reduction into our development plans.”

The meeting followed a first High Level National Development Dialogue held in the Government Palace yesterday and jointly chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, Ukhnaa Khurelshukh, and Ms. Wahlström.

Mr. Khurelshukh said policy development for disaster risk reduction must be science-based and called for a collective approach from government and non-government actors.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance of a multi sectoral and multi stakeholder coordination mechanism to integrate disaster risk reduction in to development as the country goes about establishing a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ms. Wahlström was “pleased to see that Mongolia has taken a lead in beginning discussions on how to implement and make use of the Sendai Framework at national level.

“The national system to respond to fight disaster has been built up over the decades and it continues to be strengthened through investment in human capacity and resources for response. The challenge now is to move into managing the risk of disasters, over and beyond managing the disaster event. Prevention is better than cure and definitely more cost effective.”

She said that as a nation Mongolia has learned from severe winter weather or “dzuds” which have highlighted the country’s vulnerabilities. Ms. Wahlström said she was encouraged that the Government is committed to mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into sectoral policies and programmes.

The UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Sezin Sinanoglu emphasized that our development choices today determine whether we are disaster prone tomorrow. “Disaster risk reduction is a cross cutting multi sectoral challenge and can be fully realized if it is integrated through development”, she said.

The High Level National Development Dialogue comprised ministers from environment and finance; parliamentarians; the President of the Red Cross Society of Mongolia; and development partners such as The World Bank. The discussion underlined that the political leadership is crucial for risk sensitive investment and coordination is key for coherence among disaster risk reduction, sustainable development and climate change.

Ms. Wahlström also took the opportunity of her visit to meet ministers from the Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Health and Sports; Ministry of Construction and Urban Development; Vice Minister of Education; Deputy Speaker of Parliament; Deputy Mayor of Ulan Bator city; President and Secretary General of Mongolian Red Cross in order to promote further the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Read More

Ethnic Mongolians Celebrate Spring Ritual at Genghis Khan Shrine

Thousands of ethnic Mongolians from all over China flocked to Ordos to attend the spring ritual. 

A grand spring memorial ceremony was celebrated on Saturday, May 9, at a shrine dedicated to renowned 13th-century conqueror Genghis Khan.

Thousands of ethnic Mongolians gathered in the site of the commemorative shrine located in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, North China, to pay their respects. A white silk ceremonial scarf called "hada" was also offered by other worshippers.

The conqueror is said to be the ancestor of ethnic Mongolians. Born in the land called Temujin,Genghis Khan later founded the mighty Mongol Empire, which went on to become the largest contiguous empire known in the history of mankind. He was crowned as the Great Khan or Emperor of the Mongol Empire in the spring of 1206. He reigned until his death on Aug. 18, 1227.

As a historical figure of great importance, memorial rituals dedicated to the Great Khan are protected and considered as a state intangible cultural heritage. The spring ritual, which lasts for eight days, is one of the most important annual rituals of the commemorative shrine.

For many ethnic Mongolians, the spring ritual is a way to reconnect with their heritage.

"The last time I participated in the spring ritual was in 2008, this time I brought my friends from Shandong Province to experience the Mongolian culture," said Hasiet, a 50-year-old ethnic Mongolian woman.

She came all the way to Ordos from Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Like Ordos, the city is home to several memorials such as the Genghis Khan Monument.

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is home to around five million ethnic Mongolians.

Read More

Bulgaria President: We seek to expand partnership with Mongolia

Ulan Bator. Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev met with his Mongolian counterpart Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. Both officials discussed the development of trade and economic relations between the countries, the press centre of the President’s Office announced.
Mr Plevneliev was welcomed by Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in the capital Ulan Bator at an official ceremony in front of the Government Palace. Rosen Plevneliev’s visit is in the context of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Mongolia. 
The Bulgarian Head of State defined Mongolia as an important partner and friend of Bulgaria in Asia. 
“We will develop bilateral relations in the field of mining, pharmaceutics, and cosmetics, energy, agriculture, and food production, information and communication technologies, defence, as well as building modern infrastructure. We seek all-round partnership and cooperation,“ President Plevneliev commented.
A number of documents were inked at an official ceremony attended by both presidents, including an agreement on the implementation of a programme for technical aid in the agriculture sector; an agreement between the education ministries of Bulgaria and Mongolia on the implementation of a scholarship programme in the field of agriculture sciences to train Mongolian students at Bulgarian state higher education establishments; an agreement between the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences on scientific cooperation; a memorandum of understanding between the Bulgarian and Mongolian foreign ministries. 
Rosen Plevneliev also met with Chairman of Mongolia’s State Great Khural (parliament) Zandaakhuu Enkhbold, and Prime Minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg.

Read More

First monument to Cyrillic alphabet unveiled in Mongolia capital

Ulan Bator. First monument to the Cyrillic alphabet was unveiled in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator in the frames of Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev’s visit to Mongolia. The monument with Slavic alphabet letters was raised in the garden of 118th school in the city and the ceremony at which it was unveiled was attended by the Mongolian culture minister, the Mongolian ambassador in Sofia, teachers and pupils, the press centre of the President’s Office announced.
“We here most clearly realise the grandeur of the deed of holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius and their pupils – 11 centuries after the Cyrillic alphabet was created, it continues being used by over 300 million people from the Far East through Mongolia to the heart of Europe,“ the Head of State said, speaking at the solemn ceremony.
“Our alphabet today brings light and enlightenment to over 50 people, which besides Bulgarians and Mongolians, are the Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Serbian, and many others. We, Bulgarians, are proud as we think the preservation of the deed of holy brothers Cyril and Methodius and spreading the Cyrillic alphabet worldwide is our valuable contribution,“ Rosen Plevneliev remarked.

Read More

China, Mongolia pledge enhanced security cooperation

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's senior security official Meng Jianzhu on Monday called for enhanced law enforcement and security cooperation with Mongolia.

Meng addressed the issue during a meeting with Tsagaandari Enkhtuvshin, secretary-general of Mongolia's National Security Council, in Beijing.

Meng said law enforcement and security cooperation are important to China-Mongolia relationship.

The current international and regional security is changing in a complicated way, he said, adding China is ready to work with Mongolia to crack down on the "three evil forces": terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Meng also urged the two sides to jointly fight transborder crimes, to safeguard trade and personnel exchanges between the two countries.

Enkhtuvshin said Mongolia is willing to work with China to push forward with law-enforcement cooperation.

State Councilor and Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun also attended the meeting.

Read More

Mongolia PM Hopeful for Oyu Tolgoi Deal With Rio Next Week

Talks with Rio Tinto Group to approve the stalled $5.4 billion stage two of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine could wrap up as soon as next week, according to Mongolian Prime Minister Saikhanbileg Chimed.

A Rio delegation is due in the country by next week and “I hope by this time we will finalize all ongoing issues because the principle agreements are already there,” Saikhanbileg said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Mongolia TV in Ulaanbaatar. “We need to go through small technical issues, some procedural steps.”

Rio and the Mongolian government have been locked in talks over a raft of issues related to the copper mine for two years. The focus has been how to fund a $5.4 billion underground expansion of the mine to accompany the open pit operation that went into production in 2013.

Negotiations with the Mongolian government are continuing, Rio Chief Executive Officer Sam Walsh said Thursday at the company’s annual general meeting in Perth.

“We are narrowing down on the issues and I am hopeful that at the appropriate time for all involved that we will be able to bring that project into the board,” said Walsh, who visited the mine in March.

Sustainable Deal

“We don’t want to rush anything just for the sake of doing a deal because it has to be sustainable. It has to stand the test of time and that is seriously important,” he added.

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd., which owns 66 percent of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, has seen its shares soar 44 percent in New York since the start of April amid speculation that a deal is close. Rio controls the project through its 51 percent stake in Turquoise Hill.

Mongolia, which has a 34 percent stake in the mine, has seen investment into the country plummet over the course of the dispute, with inbound foreign direct investment falling from $4.45 billion in 2012 to just $508 million last year.

“When moving and when making solutions on this project, I think big impacts will definitely change the overall picture of Mongolian development and Mongolian economy,” said Saikhanbileg.

Read More

UMSL GRADUATE PURSUING AMBITIOUS STUDY IN MONGOLIA

The Onon Balj National Park administration in partnership with WWF Mongolia is pleased to announce the appointment of recent UMSL graduate Matthew Fox as lead biologist at Onon Balj National Park, Dadal soum, Mongolia.

Matthew will graduate in May with a BIS degree in Wildlife Conservation, and will begin his position at Onon Balj on the first of July.  His duties will include the training of local students and Onon Balj rangers in the use of radio telemetry equipment, mist nets, Sherman traps and bal-chatri traps. He will assist in the development of a master plan for the park, help translate documents from Mongolian to English and begin a series of studies of his own design on the small mammals of the Dadal soum region.

Matthew has been a field biologist since 2006, and has worked at study sites throughout Asia, Africa, South America and Central America. In previous positions he has tracked the Andean spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) in the cloud forests of Ecuador, anesthetized and studied wild argali sheep (Ovis ammon) in the Gobi desert and has served as a safari guide in the Kruger National Park of South Africa.

The small mammals of Onon Balj National Park have never been surveyed before, but it is expected that Matthew's studies will reveal new populations of Mongolian hamster (Allocricetulus curtatus), Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus), Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) and the illusive four-toed jerboa (Allactaga tetradactyla).

To perform his study, Matthew will requires 50x Sherman traps, 200x 3/32" I.D tags, at least two additional GPS devices, various tools including multiple sets of forceps and pliers, bite resistant gloves for the students and bait for all 50 traps over the course of the study.

The Onon Balj National Park is a critical habitat site for wolverine, red deer, demoiselle crane and taimen.  With the conclusion of Matthew's study, Matthew and the Onon Balj National Park administration can begin augmenting the park's master plan to include conservation strategies for Onon Balj's smallest residents.

The GoFundMe page is now live, with a goal of $3000, and can be reached at this location: gofundme.com/u4mtc95d

Read More

Mongolia expects to strengthen strategic partnership with Russia — president

Mongolia expects to sign a medium-term program of developing strategic partnership with Russia on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Ufa in the Urals in July, Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said on Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with TASS news agency, the Mongolian president said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to discuss "specific agreements, which we hope to sign at the SCO summit in Ufa."

"Our relations with Russia at the current stage can be characterized as strategic partnership. We’ll discuss how to strengthen this strategic partnership," the Mongolian president said.

"We have prepared a document - a medium-term program of the development of strategic partnership. On our part, everything has been approved and now the support of the Russian side is needed. Probably, during the Ufa meeting, we’ll sign it," the Mongolian leader said.

"And during a meeting with Vladimir Putin, we’ll specify some issues related to economic and infrastructural development," he said.

Read More

TDBM bond raises questions about Mongolian finances BY DANIEL STANTON

SINGAPORE, May 7 (IFR) - The Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia's proposed bond offering raises questions about the strength of its government guarantee and how Mongolia will meet its coming obligations in US dollars.

TDBM set up a US$500m medium-term-note programme with an irrevocable guarantee from the sovereign, winning it ratings of B2/B+ (Moody's/S&P). However, some investors are concerned that the main purpose of the offering could be to give the government access to dollars, not repay debt.

"When we rate government-guaranteed debt, we also consider the willingness of the government to honour the guarantee. B+ already factors in considerable uncertainty in Mongolia's policy setting," said Robert Zhong, director of sovereign and international public finance ratings at Standard & Poor's.

Under the terms of Mongolia's Debt Management Law, passed this year, the government can only guarantee borrowings of state-owned Development Bank of Mongolia in full, or up to 85% of borrowings of other eligible entities.

However, if the borrower holds government bonds, the sovereign can give a guarantee for up to the equivalent amount of the paper held.

This means TDBM needs to maintain a holding of at least US$500m-equivalent in government securities for the life of the bonds, if it exercises the full amount of the MTN programme.

The lender said it held 1.015trn Mongolian tugriks, equivalent to US$517m, in government securities as of April 28. If any of the government securities mature before TDBM's bonds do, the Ministry of Finance will have to issue and sell more government securities to the bank to make up the shortfall.

Provisional government figures for 2014, cited in the prospectus, show that Mongolia's domestic public debt stood at just US$1.57bn or so, although analysts are uncertain that the figure is exact.

"Mongolia's external debt is more transparent than its internal debt," said Zhong.

It is difficult to find data to confirm the amount of debt that the sovereign issued because the Bank of Mongolia sometimes removes information on government bond auctions from public view, particularly if these fail due to weak bids. This has happened at least six times for longer-dated bonds offered this year.

It raises the question of what will happen if TDBM is forced to sell off government securities - for example, if it finds itself short of liquidity.

The terms of the guarantee, for which it will pay US$10m, suggest that, if TDBM's holdings of government securities fall below the principal amount of its bonds, they would no longer be fully guaranteed.

TDBM will enter into a currency swap with the Mongolian central bank for the full amount of the proceeds from bonds, meaning it will give Bank of Mongolia US dollars and receive tugriks, with the swap to be reversed at the end of the tenor. This will give the sovereign a supply of dollars, without adding to its debt burden.

"I am hesitant to participate," said a bond investor. "It seems the government is utilising them to replenish its US dollar reserves, which have been depleted to critical levels."

TDBM has said it will use part of the proceeds from the bonds to repay debts, with a US$330m redemption of its existing notes looming in September.

However, it will not ultimately receive US dollars from the latest offering, which means it may need to seek dollars from Bank of Mongolia within months of swapping the US currency proceeds.

"BoM is effectively the only market-maker for the FX market," said a Mongolian banker.

"Once TDBM commits all US dollars from this issuance to a swap with BoM, it has limited channels to convert the tugriks received from BoM back into US dollars. Other commercial banks are very unlikely to use their US dollar reserves to help TDBM. The FX market is not liquid at all."

Mongolia and its state-linked entities have several large foreign-currency repayments coming due between March 2017 and January 2018, and the sovereign had around US$1.3bn in its current international reserves at the end of March, according to official figures.

DBM has a US$580m government-guaranteed bond due in March 2017 and a "Chinggis" sovereign bond of US$500m due January 2018.

It also has a Rmb15bn (US$2.4bn) bilateral three-year swap line with the People's Bank of China due in 2017, though it might be extended.

Under a debt management plan submitted to parliament this Spring, the government said it planned to repay the DBM and Chinggis bonds through budget revenues or refinancing from international markets.

The government has this year introduced a more foreigner-friendly investment law, which it hopes will draw FDI and boost the economy.

Still, foreign investors will be aware of the risks involved in taking exposure to Mongolia, which also raise doubts about the enforceability of TDBM's guarantee.

South Africa's Standard Bank is engaged in a legal battle with a company linked to the Mongolian government, after lending to Just Group, a petroleum distributor. The loan, now in default, came with a guarantee from state-backed copper miner Erdenet Mining Corporation.

"Legal proceedings in London against Erdenet Mining Corporation and Just Group are continuing and we are determined to recover monies owed to us. At this stage, we have no further comments as this is a legal matter," said Standard Bank in a statement.

In March, an international tribunal panel, constituted under UNCITRA, a commission that regulates international trade alongside the World Trade Organisation, awarded Canada's Khan Resources US$80m plus interest compounded from July 2009, totalling US$104m as of April 23, after Mongolia's government cancelled Khan's uranium licences in 2009 and awarded them to Russia's ARMZ.

The government indicated it did not intend to comply with the order. Khan's chairman, Jim Doak, died in his hotel room in Ulaanbaatar last month, following meetings with representatives of the government.

"It is, of course, the Mongolian Government's decision as to whether they want to respect the rule of law and honour the award, or join the small group of recalcitrant sovereigns, who make attempts to avoid their international obligations," said Khan's president and CEO, Grant Edey, in a statement last month. (Reporting by Daniel Stanton, editing by Dharsan Singh and Tim Sifert)

Read More

'Democracy and Buddhism bind India with Mongolia': Indian PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed Mongolia as India's 'spiritual friend', adding that shared values of democracy and Buddhism bind the two countries.

The Prime Minister took to twitter to share his views.

"Honoured to get the opportunity to address the Great Khural on 17th May. I reassure India's continued support in all areas to Mongolia," he posted.

"Democracy and Buddhism bind India with Mongolia - our spiritual friend. Looking forward to more trade and investment ties with Mongolia," he added.

"Glad to visit Mongolia on 17th May to commemorate 60th year of our diplomatic relations and the silver jubilee of Mongolia's democracy," he further wrote.

In addition, the Prime Minister also posted his message his Mongolian in the Cyrillic script.

Prime Minister Modi's visit to Mongolia will be the second leg of his six-day, three nation tour, which also includes visits to China and South Korea.

India was the first country outside the Socialist bloc to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia. India supported Mongolia in having UN and NAM memberships. The year 2015 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Ulan Bator.

Read More

Gift of English to woo Mongolia

New Delhi, May 4: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi flies to Ulan Bator next week, he will carry with him an unlikely gift from a government that has made Hindi a linguistic priority: the promise of an English-medium school.

Mongolia has requested India to help set up a secondary school in its capital to feed the growing demand for English in a country where Russian and Chinese were for decades the only major foreign languages learned by the local population.

India has agreed to commit to the school during Modi's trip among multiple soft diplomacy initiatives that New Delhi hopes will help it unlock Mongolia's massive mineral resources, including uranium, and send China a quiet signal.

"This is a truly historic visit and the promise will demonstrate the potential of this relationship," Sanjaasuren Bayara, Mongolia's ambassador to India, told The Telegraph. "There is massive respect in Mongolia for India's education system."

Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Mongolia. He will arrive in Ulan Bator on May 16 from Shanghai and will leave the next day for Seoul, the third leg of his three-nation East Asia trip.

In Ulan Bator, Modi will hold talks with Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj - the country's most prominent post-communist leader -- and Prime Minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg.

For India, the visit is strategically important because Ulan Bator has a relationship with Beijing not very different from the one between New Delhi and other South Asian capitals.

In effect, India is quietly signalling payback -- using the discomfort in Mongolia with "Big Brother" China to create strategic space for itself, just as Beijing has tried to use similar sentiments in South Asia against New Delhi.

Indian and Mongolian negotiators are working on an agreement to try and elevate their relationship to the status of a "strategic partnership" during Modi's trip, officials from the two nations independently told this newspaper.

Mongolia, which shed communism for multi-party democracy peacefully in 1990, has in recent years also begun to open up its mineral wealth. This has drawn western companies and diggers in droves even as Ulan Bator fine-tunes its regulatory framework in the sector.

Apart from uranium, the country has known deposits of gold, coal, copper, tin, tungsten and molybdenum.

Indian and Mongolian defence officers already travel to each other's military schools for training, and this relationship could be expanded during the Prime Minister's visit, officials said.

But for Modi to break new ground with Mongolia, he will first need to correct perceptions in Ulan Bator about a relationship his predecessors ignored.

Mongolia's top leaders have made multiple India trips: President Elbegdorj in 2009, the then Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar in 2004, and an earlier President, Natsagiin Bagabandi, in 2001. But just two Indian Presidents -- Pratibha Patil and R. Venkatraman --- and no Prime Ministers have ever visited Mongolia.

That's where India is counting on soft diplomacy to break the ice.

Modi, officials said, will present Elbegdorj with a sapling of the holy Bodhi tree from Bodh Gaya to signal the centuries-old ties that bind India and a predominantly Buddhist Mongolia.

India, during Modi's trip, will also commit medical equipment for cancer treatment in Mongolia. But it is education where Mongolia is primarily looking for Indian help.

Enkh Batsaikhan, an MBA student in Pune who is among over 200 Mongolian students currently in India, corroborated the view.

"For a country like ours, there's nothing more important right now than modern education that exposes young Mongolians to the world," Batsaikhan said over the phone. "If India can help us with that, Mongolia will remain eternally grateful."

Modi will, during his trip, promise to set up a new information technology institute in addition to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Centre for Excellence in Information and Communication Technology already in Ulan Bator, officials said.

The Prime Minister will commit to upgrading an art design school named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, also in the Mongolian capital.

Yet it is the English-medium secondary school that Mongolia is most looking forward to, the country's ambassador said. Mongolia has already earmarked land for the project, right next to the Rajiv Gandhi design school.

The Modi government has trained greater focus on Hindi than its predecessor, even emphasising the language in diplomacy. The foreign ministry has set up a Hindi division for the first time, under joint secretary Mridul Kumar, to promote the use of the language in official work.

But the language that interests Mongolia is English, the second most popular foreign language in that country today after Russian, and more in demand than even Chinese.

That demand, though, is bumping up against an affordability challenge. Only a clutch of private schools in Mongolia use English as their medium of teaching, catering only to the elite of Mongolian society, ambassador Bayara said.

A public school supported by India through funds, teachers and curricula could serve as a template Mongolia can then replicate, he added.

"What Mongolians respect most about Indian education is its combination of quality and affordability," Bayara said. "That's what we would like to bring to Mongolia too."

Read More

Democracy and Free Speech: The Mongolian Experience at Twenty-Five Years

Tom Malinowski
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

Freedom Online Conference

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

May 3, 2015

Share on facebookShare on twitter

---

I’m delighted to be here with you to celebrate the 2015 World Press Freedom Day. Every year at this time we reflect on the state of press freedom around the world and honor the sacrifices made by journalists who have lost their lives or been threatened or imprisoned for doing their job, for discovering and telling the truth.
So, as we thank journalists for their work, we also call on governments to recognize the universal human right to free expression both online and offline.
A free press keeps people informed and holds government accountable, and the fact is that we can’t govern honestly without it. This is as true today as it has ever been in the past. Now, it’s true that much has changed in our global media environment. In many developed democracies, there are fewer daily newspapers. More and more people get their information from social media. But whenever I hear about a journalist who is attacked or threatened or censored somewhere in the world, it reminds me just how important journalism is – if it wasn’t important, as a means of giving power to ordinary citizens and curbing the power of governments, no one would go to the trouble of trying to restrain it. In this sense, the death of journalists on the job is proof that the death of journalism – something people in my country ocassionally talk about – is a myth.
It is also, of course, a call to action for all countries committed to human rights. At the State Department last week, we launched our annual Free the Press campaign, in which we highlight cases of individual reporters who have been wrongly imprisoned in countries around the world. One of them is Gao Yu, a 71-year-old Chinese journalist; she was arrested last year, coerced into making a televised confession, and sentenced to seven years in jail. In Syria, Mazen Darwish remains imprisoned by the Asad regime for trying to expose the regime’s brutal atrocities. In Vietnam, Ta Phong Tan continues to serve a 10-year sentence for unmasking government corruption. In Ethiopia, Reeyot Alemu, was arrested for writing an article critical of the Ethiopian government, and remains in prison under terrorism charges.
On Friday, we also invited three journalists who have been censored or detained in their own countries, Russia, Ethiopia and Vietnam, to come to the White House and interview President Obama—because we thought that the best reward you can give to a journalist isn’t praise, it’s an exclusive interview with the President of the United States. When governments go after journalists, this is how the U.S. responds.
We’ve included more details about these brave journalists on www.HumanRights.gov. And we tweeted about these cases using the hashtag #FreethePress. I encourage all of you to share their stories with your community, be that through retweeting, drafting articles or blogs, or if you must, revert to that old-fashioned mode of communication—simply tell your family and friends.
I know that many of you in this room experienced the transition from living in a political system in which freedom of expression was not protected to living in a system that guarantees your power to speak and write according to the dictates of your conscience. Arguably more than many of us in the United States and Europe, you know how important these freedoms are.
It’s been twenty-five years now since Mongolia held a remarkable, peaceful democratic revolution. In an era that saw so much violence and upheaval, Mongolia provided an example of a swift and nonviolent transition to a government that seeks to listen to its people in order to, as we often say in America, form a more perfect union. As the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, I wish there were more “Mongolias” in the world.
Mongolia has not rested on this significant achievement either. It has used the last 25 years to enact reforms protecting human rights and expanding social and economic opportunities for its citizens. Though there is still much difficult work to be done, the government has been doing what governments are supposed to do: removing restrictions on people to let them live lives of their own choosing according to their abilities.
Mongolia has also been recognized as one of the countries leading East Asia to a more democratic and free future. It is an active participant in important multilateral institutions, including the Community of Democracies and the Freedom Online Coalition. It recently chaired the Security Forum of the OSCE, it has been a strong partner of NATO and contributes above and beyond its size to UN Peacekeeping efforts in order to promote peace and security worldwide. We are grateful for Mongolia’s participation in those organizations to promote respect for democracy and human rights in the region.
I’d like to share with you a quote from a speech by President Elbegdorj [pron: EL-beg-dorj] before the Community of Democracies in 2013: “Mongolia stands ready to share her democratic lessons, achievements and success. We stand open to discuss our mistakes, the ways to correct them and to be studied by others. We are ready for action and engagement. Look at us as a center of democracy education, a life model for challenges and opportunities of freedom.”
It is important for countries that believe in these issues and share these values to band together. And Mongolia’s voice is particularly resonant. You are a democracy wedged between two countries with troubling human rights records and a history of censorship and suppression. You are the first country in Asia to participate in the Freedom Online Coalition. You may be smaller than your neighbors to the north and south, but your willingness to lead on these issues, to stick out your neck, makes Mongolia distinctive in the region. It increases Mongolia’s voice in the world.
And this, by the way, is good for you, too. It’s good for Mongolia’s future. You are more likely to attract foreign investment if you have a reputation as a stable country that respects the rule of law. Russia may have resources, strength, a sizable market, but its democratic failings have been felt in a powerful way. A smaller country with similar problems of corruption and abuse of power is simply not going to be able to compete. Your comparative advantage is your reputation.
Now, many factors have played a role in the success of Mongolia’s democracy, but there’s no doubt in my mind that a free media has been front and center. You’ve also faced a question every young democracy must answer, when it suddenly finds itself with dozens of new publications and TV and radio channels operating with few rules or traditions to guide their actions: how do you protect media freedom while encouraging media responsibility? This is a hard question. I would just leave you with this advice: Every country has good journalism and bad journalism. Every country has truth and falsehood in its media. But the government should not be the one deciding the difference. And the answer to bad journalism is not to put journalists in prison, even if we think a particular story they’ve published is untrue. Because when governments have the power to do that, they tend to use it against journalists who criticize them – against journalists who are just doing their job. A far better answer is to encourage the media to adopt high standards of its own, and to police them through strong mechanisms of self-regulation.
In your 25th year of democracy, the United States is eager to help you think through these challenges and build on your achievements thus far. We thank you for your commitment to democratic freedoms and for your leadership. You’ve set a powerful example not just in Asia but around the world, and I am certainly not alone in recognizing the value of our partnership. I would like to echo Vice-President Biden’s comments when he visited your country in 2011, which still ring true. He said we are “very proud to be considered a ‘third neighbor.’ And, like any good neighbor should, we’ll continue to do our part to support Mongolia’s political and economic development.”
On our panel today, we have Ms. Narajargal (Director of Globe International, NGO devoted to press freedom), MP Temuujin (former Minister of Justice), MP Batchimeg (human rights activist), Mr. Galaid (Director, Confederation of Mongolian Journalists), and Mr. Jargalsaikhan (famous Mongolian political and economic journalist). Thank you for joining us today and sharing your expertise as we examine the relationship between democracy and free speech in Mongolia.
Now I’m going to turn the floor over to the excellent panel assembled here today to discuss some of these issues. Please join me in welcoming them.

Read More

Mineral-rich Mongolia grapples with ‘resource curse’

Chanting prayers to Tenger, the all-knowing holy sky, Mongolian shamans in fur and feather headdresses protested against a Canadian mining project they say threatens ancient grave sites.
“It’s for our love for Mongolia, to protect our resources and territory,” said Tseyen-Oidoviin Sarantuya, who travelled more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) to demonstrate in Ulan Bator’s main square against the venture.
“I want people to know that Mongolia should remain Mongolian,” she said.
Beneath Mongolia’s expansive, largely empty steppes lie coal, copper, gold, iron ore and other minerals whose worth is estimated at more than $1 trillion — wealth that could transform the lives of its three million inhabitants.
But efforts to extract it have tottered in the face of incessant internal fighting over how much control and profit foreign companies should be allowed, and deep-rooted suspicions of outsiders.
Around the world, naturally endowed countries have failed to fully realise and distribute the benefits of their bounties and Gantumuriin Uyanga, a member of the Great Hural parliament, told AFP: “Mongolia already faces the resource curse. It is reality now.”
Her Mongolian National Democratic Party is part of the ruling coalition, but she said spiritual appeals illustrated authorities’ failure to spread the wealth.
“It seems to me truly unfortunate that people are asking help from the sky because of the poor governance in Mongolia,” she said.
Just four years ago the country led the world in economic growth at 17.5 percent on the back of a minerals boom exemplified by the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in the Gobi desert, controlled by Anglo-Australian resources giant Rio Tinto.
But rising resource nationalism and an increasingly stringent business environment have since dampened investor enthusiasm, while the global commodity bust makes exploiting them less profitable.
In 2014 foreign direct investment into the landlocked country plummeted 74 percent, Mongolian central bank data shows, and economic growth dropped to 7.8 percent.
The Asian Development Bank forecasts expansion will plunge by more than half this year, to a mere 3.0 percent.
Julian Dierkes, an expert on Mongolia at the University of British Columbia, said the country was still finding its way in the capricious world of international finance and was simultaneously “the object of desire and scorn for global capitalism”.
Now authorities are trying to break the logjam.
In February, Mongolia’s president pardoned three foreign former mining executives who had been jailed for tax evasion in a case that spooked investors.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg — who can reportedly bench-press 175 kilograms — announced the government and Rio Tinto had agreed “in principle” to go ahead with Oyu Tolgoi’s stalled second phase, saying that making “historic decisions” was his duty.
Sam Walsh, Rio Tinto chief executive, told the company’s annual meeting last week that discussions were continuing.
- ‘Earth spirits’ -
Ulan Bator has a national dilemma to contend with.
The proud homeland of pan-Asian conqueror Genghis Khan, in more recent centuries Mongolia has frequently been a geopolitical pawn in the power plays of huge neighbours China and Russia, both of which have dominated it in turn.
Sodnomiin Tsetsgee, a kindergarten teacher expecting her first child, was among the many who boycotted a controversial text message referendum that backed stalled foreign resources investment ahead of the prime minister’s Oyu Tolgoi announcement.
“We should use our resources for ourselves,” she said. “It’s not good that only foreigners benefit from them.”
Mongolia’s nomadic heritage, traditional animistic beliefs and nearly seven decades of communism have given it an enduring sense of the land as common wealth — private land ownership was only constitutionally recognised after the country’s 1990 democratisation.
Myagmarjaviin Enkhzaya, vice president of the Institute of Mongol National Shamans, took part in the Ulan Bator protest and says Toronto-based Centerra Gold’s plan would harm culturally important graves.
The company says the burial sites’ locations are known and it will not interfere with them.
But Enkhzaya said: “We want people to understand that while you sleep greedy people will be exploiting Mongolian natural resources as well as the mountains we worship.
“There will be no land to inherit in future because corrupt politicians are selling it away.”
At the same time Mongolia’s $1.3 trillion in mineral riches are a treasure trove in a country with a gross domestic product of just $12 billion.
The result can be conflicting attitudes.
Some shamans have turned down lucrative jobs with mining companies out of spiritual concerns, said Amalia Rubin, a researcher at the University of Washington.
“There’s very much this internal argument between wanting Mongolia to develop and wanting Mongolian people to get the benefits of economic development, with the idea of propitiating the earth spirits and also following traditional Mongolian customs,” she said.

Read More

Turquoise Hill sale of stake in Mongolia's SouthGobi falls through

Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill (TSE:TRQ) said Friday that a signed deal to sell the remainder of its stake in SouthGobi Resources (TSE:SGQ), which was supposed to finally cut ties with the Mongolian coal miner that was once worth over $2.4 billion, has fallen through.

The announced and signed share purchase agreement expired on April 30, 2015 "without the transaction contemplated thereunder having been completed," the company said in a statement.

As a result, the Vancouver-based miner continues to own 56,102,000 shares or about 23.3% of SouthGobi's issued and outstanding shares.

In July last year, Turquoise Hill agreed to sell the majority of its stake in the coal miner to Hong Kong-listed National United Resources Holdings for Cdn$12.8 million. And in February, it said Novel Sunrise Investments was buying the remainder for Cdn$8.5 million.

Both deals were expected to close later this year and they would have left Turquoise Hill walking away with Cdn$21.3 million from the sale process, or less than 1% of the Cdn$2.3 billion the stake was once worth.

The Canadian company, previously known as Ivanhoe Mines and run by mining legend Robert Friedland, spun out its coal assets into SouthGobi in 2006 and received a controlling stake in the firm at that time.

SouthGobi's Ovoot Tolgoi mine, located 25 miles north of the Chinese border, was once billed as a cash cow. Back in 2008 Friedland dubbed the asset the "beluga caviar of coal."

Since then, Friedland and later Rio Tinto have tried to monetize the stake in SouthGobi. An agreement to unload a 60% stake in SouthGobi to Chinese aluminum giant Chalco for about Cdn$889 million in 2012, broke down because of obstacles put in place by the Mongolian government.

Turquoise Hill also has a 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi mine in southern Mongolia.

Read More

Mongolia, 25 years from Soviet satellite to democratic partner

In 1990, like many countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Mongolia began its historic and peaceful transition to democracy. Although the world's media were not focused on events in this Soviet satellite state, the International Republican Institute (IRI) opened an office and started the rewarding work of helping people gain a voice in their system of government.

It was an exciting time for Mongolians and for IRI, and like many countries moving from one-party, authoritarian rule to multiparty democracy, the first elections were won by the formerly communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. However, the democratic opposition did not give up. Over the next few years, with the help of IRI and others, they came together as a coalition, strengthened their platform and voter outreach efforts and campaigned hard.

Looking to the successful Contract with America, members of the U.S. Congress traveled to Mongolia and helped the democratic opposition develop their own Contract with Mongolia, which focused on synthesizing the parties' various platforms and provided a coordinated strategy for grassroots voter outreach. Armed with a strong message that resonated with voters and a platform that addressed the needs of ordinary Mongolians, the opposition headed into the 1996 elections led by Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. Winning 50 out of 76 seats that year, the democratic coalition took power and began to usher in a new era of openness.

From those early days of revolution and then transition, Mongolia has steadily strengthened its democratic institutions, market-based economy and its role in the region. And today, a free and democratic Mongolia faces choices — because they have choices.

Since Mongolia's transition to multiparty democracy and market-based economy, Mongolia's natural resources have offered great potential. In the past few years, the resource boom has helped Mongolia become one of Asia's fastest-growing economies. However, these natural resources have also posed demanding hurdles for sustainable and effective management and many Mongolians have come to believe that development of its vast mining resources has not resulted in broad-based, inclusive growth and benefits across the land — a challenge many other countries face as well.

Today, friends of Mongolia should stand ready to help, much as we did a quarter century ago. And IRI's experience in Mongolia, and our firm belief in the Mongolian people, shows us that much of that needed help doesn't have to mean money. The need we see is a focused effort to build institutions of collaborative development and constructive engagement — between communities and investors, citizens and businesses. For if democracy is to succeed anywhere, it must engage citizens and improve their daily lives.

To make Mongolia's democracy even more vibrant and meaningful for everyday citizens, we must forge and enshrine a dialogue involving government, business and civil society. We must make democracy work not only inside the parliament, but in communities all across the country.

In the business world, people talk about the concept of shared value to measure not just how to improve core business performance, but also how to improve socioeconomic outcomes and support community development. That same concept can be at the heart of new governance in and around Mongolia's resource-driven development — creating shared, value-driven plans and timing those plans with shared victory.

To do this, Mongolia needs to not only engage citizens in community development, but they also need to address a challenge that faces every country: corruption. In economic terms, corruption robs citizens of their birthright, it saps an economy of its potential by diverting resources from their highest and best use and it scares investors from investing, from creating jobs and building a revenue base.

In democratic terms, corruption shakes people's faith in their leaders and destroys their will to fully participate in shaping their country's future. The good news is Mongolia has leaders who understand the evil that corruption presents, and leaders who are willing to take it on, leaders like Capital City Governor and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar Erdeniin Bat-Üül, who has made fighting corruption his No. 1 priority.

And this is another area where Mongolia’s friends, specifically the U.S., need to continue to support the country's efforts. At IRI, we have helped Bat-Üül wage his battle against corruption by providing technical assistance and support. We have helped identify vulnerabilities to corruption within the municipal government in the areas of land allocation, public procurement and permits, and have outlined specific recommendations on how the Ulaanbaatar city government can address those vulnerabilities. To show his commitment to this effort, Bat-Üül publicly signed the Ulaanbaatar Declaration against Corruption during a two-day forum co-hosted by IRI and others. And with IRI's technical support and input, Bat-Üül crafted a five-year strategic plan to fight corruption that passed by the Ulaanbaatar city council this past January.

These are the efforts that need our support if Mongolia is going to grow and thrive, economically and democratically. A democratic anchor in an increasingly undemocratic region, Mongolia is uniquely positioned to be a role model of successful democratic transition as well as a case study in how to address the myriad challenges that a new and consolidating democracy faces. American investment — financial and technical — is the key to meeting that need and doing so in the right way: transparently and in line with sound market principles so that broad-based economic growth can surge once again.

Green is president of the International Republican Institute, former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania and former member of Congress representing Wisconsin's 8th District.

Read More