A protocol for ‘Accelerating the progress towards the elimination of preventable maternal and perinatal mortality’ project signed
SocietyUlaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The
signing ceremony of the protocol between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and
UNFPA Mongolia for a maternal
and child health project has taken place at UN House, Ulaanbaatar, today, July 29.
Through the signing on the project obligation form, which is based on the General Partnership Framework between both parties, Luxembourg contributes 5 million EUR for the project ‘Accelerating the progress towards the elimination of preventable maternal and perinatal mortality’ for the duration of 5 years from 2022 to 2027.
The Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has supported the
Telemedicine for Maternal and Child Health Project in Mongolia for 12 years
since 2007. The project has been implemented together with the Government of
Mongolia and UNFPA with the aim to promote equitable access to quality maternal
and newborn care.
Building on the experience and expertise of previous 12-year innovative project, the new project is focusing to contribute to ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning and end gender-based violence using innovative technological advances and advocating for family planning and comprehensive sexuality education.
During the signing, Dr.
Justine Coulson, Country Director for UNFPA Mongolia and
Representative for UNFPA China, highlighted, “This new phase of the project will build on past
achievements and continue to address the cause of preventable maternal and
perinatal death with a focus on data driven policy, capacity building amongst
health workers and engagement with local communities to ensure women
proactively seek health services when they need them.”
Minister for Development Cooperation Humanitarian Affairs, and Minister of the Economy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Mr. Franz Fayot said, “I would like to encourage you all to further develop synergies. This new phase of the project is all about how we can find more synergies,” with regard to Luxembourg-funded projects implemented by bilateral and multilateral partners. Minister Fayot also highlighted that the gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights is of particular interest to Luxembourg.
The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Bold Luvsanvandan, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Ms. L.Bolormaa, Officer in charge of Foreign Trade and
Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Franz Fayot, Minister for Development
Cooperation Humanitarian Aid of MFEA, Mr. Christophe Schiltz, General
Coordinator for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of MFEA, Mr.
Manuel Tonnar, Director of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of
MFEA, Mr. Robert de Waha, Deputy Managing Director of LuxDev, Ms. Anika Bruck,
Asia and Gender Desk of MFEA, Mr.
Frederic Rouffe, Programme Officer of LuxDev, Ms. Anne Nicolas, Press Officer to the Minister of Economy of Luxembourg,
Ms. Justine Coulson, Country Director for UNFPA Mongolia and Representative for
UNFPA China (who participated virtually), Dr. Khalid Sharifi, Head of Office of
UNFPA Mongolia, and
Dr. L. Oyunaa, Assistant Representative of
UNFPA Mongolia.
After the signing, Head of Office of UNFPA Mongolia Dr. Khalid Sharifi confirmed the commitment of UNFPA Mongolia to the efficient and effective implementation of the project, before thanking the Government of Luxembourg for their continued support to improve health care in Mongolia.
UNFPA in Mongolia
UNFPA Mongolia began
supporting the Government of Mongolia in the late 1970s providing equipment and
training to the Central Statistics Office to undertake the Population and
Housing Census of 1979 – and again in 1989. Support to maternal and child
health began in the early 1990s and included training for medical personnel and
the provision of modern contraceptives.
The first
comprehensive Country Programme between the Government of Mongolia and UNFPA
officially started in 1992 and focused on the delivery of family planning
services and information and the promotion of population data use to support government
development policies and programmes.
UNFPA’s 6th Country
Programme in Mongolia was launched in 2017, with a specific focus on youth
participation, realizing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of
youth, and addressing GBV. The current Country Programme is supporting Mongolia
to achieve the SDGs and is closely aligned and implemented with other UN
agencies under the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2017-2022.