Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The United Nations Resident Coordinator H.E. Mr. Tapan Mishra along with representatives of the UN Agencies had a courtesy meeting with the Prime Minister H.E. U.Khurelsukh and his team on September 23, 2020 at the Parliament House in Ulaanbaatar city. 

Mr. Tapan Mishra congratulated the Prime Minister for his reappointment as the Prime Minister of Mongolia. 

The Resident Coordinator (RC) informed the Prime Minister about the UN-reform as well as extension of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) by one year, which is to be finalized by 2022. In the meantime, the RC also notified about the UN’s new Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), which will be prepared by replacing the current UNDAF (2023-2027), in accordance to the UN-Reform. For the preparation of this new UNSDCF, the UN Mongolia has just began process of the comprehensive country analysis called Common country analysis (CCA). 

The UN Resident Coordinator expressed admiration to the Prime Minister for his leadership on containing the COVID-19 without letting any social transmission and at the same time allowing UN and UN Agencies to provide assistance to the government for taking prompt response measures. Mongolia’s success on fighting against this pandemic at national level is indeed well appreciated and highlighted by global communities, especially by UN.  

The RC emphasized the UN Multilateral Response to COVID-19. As of now, the UN Mongolia mobilized and/or repurposed USD 20 million $ to address COVID-19 related challenges faced by the country. An additional USD 49 million $ will be needed in the next 12-18 months, to respond to the needs identified in the UN socio-economic response plan. This is a funding gap, which require further resource mobilization efforts in close partnership with the Government of Mongolia. 

The RC addressed an issue about localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Mongolia by underlining the following two key points.

First, there is prospective needs of better mainstreaming of SDGs into the government’s short, medium, and long-term policies and strategies, including Vision 2050, Five years of General Guidelines for Mongolia’s development, and Four years of the Government Action Plan. 

Second, alignment between policy planning and financing is emphasized as important. In connection with that, the RC informed the Prime Minister about the UN Joint Program on SDGs Financing, which will support the government in operationalizing the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) in Mongolia.   

In addition, the RC also highlighted the UN’s Secretary General’s initiative called UN75 and successful implementation of this initiative in Mongolia, by including all representative groups of society: government agencies, private sector, civil society, academia, think tanks, youth, local communities, herders, elderly people, people with disabilities, UN colleagues, and media.

He also shared his aspiration on prospective cooperation with government on commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of Mongolia’s full-fledged membership to UN in 2021.

In the end, both parties agreed on closely cooperating on a) Mainstreaming SDGs into the government short, middle, and long-term development policies and b) Multi-Stakeholders Platform for the SDG financing.