Mongolia and UNDP to discuss 2017-2021 cooperation

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative Haoliang Xu plans to discuss ongoing and new areas of cooperation between the UNDP and the Mongolian government during his visit to Ulaanbaatar this week.

Haoliang Xu, a United Nations Assistant Administrator and Director of the UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, will meet with Mongolian Prime Minister J.Erdenebat and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ts.Munkh-Orgil and review the context of a new cooperation framework that will be in place until 2021 and the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for ending poverty, reducing inequality, and protecting the planet.

Xu will be in Mongolia from February 21 to 25, for his second visit. On February 22, he will give a lecture at the University of Humanities, speaking to students and faculty about the role of young people in meeting the 2030 SDGs .

On February 23, Xu will leave for Khentii Province for a two-day visit to meet local authorities, including Khentii Province Mayor N.Ganbyamba and the Chairman of the local Citizens’ Representative Council. Their meeting will focus on projects designed to strengthen local governance and civic outreach.

He will also visit the sites of UNDP projects for improving the resilience of rural communities to climate change. These include initiatives that promote management models for locally protected areas, in addition to ecosystem-based adaptation measures for the protection of water sources, forests, and pasture grounds. He will also review disaster risk management operations and the implementation of the UN’s emergency response to Mongolia’s winter conditions.

Xu has arranged to meet with several herder families affected by the ongoing dzud in Khentii Province to get a better grasp of their challenges.

The visit provides rural residents and government officials with the opportunity to discuss key challenges in Mongolia, including how to ensure further advances in human development amidst the recent economic slowdown, and how future growth can benefit all people in Mongolia, while protecting the environment for future generations.