Ulaanbaatar, December 12, 2023 /MONTSAME. Chairman of the State Great Khural Zandanshatar Gobojav met Stefanie Burri, Head of SDC on December 11, 2023, in connection with the conclusion of the joint project of the Secretariat under the State Great Khural and SDC (Swiss Agency of Development and Cooperation) "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" in 2023.

At the onset of the Meeting, Chairman G. Zandanshatar expressed his deep gratitude to SDC and Ms. Stefani Burri for providing support in many areas that are crucial for Mongolia's development including agriculture, education, health, sustainable development, poverty reduction, strengthening parliamentary democracy, decentralization, and digitalization of public services. He noted that the launching petition.parliament.mn system to receive public petitions on d.parliament.mn digital platform to achieve the goal of being a democratic, consultative, and digital parliament was an excellent example of ensuring citizens' participation in legislative activities.

He pointed out that over the past six years, the I and II stages of the "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" project have been implemented. Chairman G. Zandanshatar expressed his contentment with the "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" project for the enhancement of the implementation of legislative, monitoring, and representative functions of the State Great Khural as well as for valuable contribution to strengthening the capacity of the Secretariat under the State Great Khural.

Head of SDC Stefanie Burri thanked Chairman G. Zandanshatar for taking his time to meet her and noted the importance of visionary leadership of the Secretariat in the successful implementation of the projects aimed to enhance legislative, monitoring functions and strengthen the capacity of the State Great Khural.

"Despite the official decision to conclude the SDC projects and programs in 2024, as the previous projects and programs implemented jointly with the Secretariat of the Great Khural of Mongolia have been successfully implemented, we intend to continue our cooperation in 2024," stated Stefanie Burri.

The two sides exchanged views on the results of stable cooperation in creating a system for assessing the consequences of law enforcement and improving parliamentary monitoring and methodology over the past 6 years and agreed to continue cooperation in the future.

 The Secretariat under the State Great Khural in cooperation with SDC successfully implemented "Capacity Strengthening of Local Self-governing Bodies", "Supporting Legislation with Citizen Participation" and "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" projects aimed to develop democratic parliamentary governance in Mongolia, decentralize, strengthen local self-government, and increase citizen participation.

In 2016-2021 the Swiss Parliamentary Services collaborated with the Secretariat under the State Great Khural to provide technical support for updating the strategic plan of the State Great Khural of Mongolia and implementation of the I stage of the “Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia” project on the Law on the State Great Khural of Mongolia and  Law on the Rules of Session of the State Great Khural of Mongolia, and improvement of the capacity of the parliament to monitor the implementation of laws.

The "Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy in Mongolia" joint project bringing cooperation between the Secretariat and SDC to a new level has been successfully implemented.