Ulaanbaatar, August 16, 2024 /MONTSAME/. MONTSAME Mongolian National News Agency interviewed Ms. Batmunkh Battsetseg, Member of the State Great Khural of Mongolia, Minister of the Cabinet, and Minister of Foreign Affairs on the upcoming World Women's Forum to be held in Ulaanbaatar on August 22-23, 2024.

Global woman leaders, politicians, businesspeople, and social activists are gathering in Ulaanbaatar next week. Why is it being held in Mongolia, and how do you assess the importance of the Forum? 

Foreign relations of Mongolia have been very active in recent years. In line with the principles outlined in Mongolia’s foreign policy concept, we are striving to expand and maintain balanced foreign relations, establishing friendly ties with all countries in the world, and successfully fulfilling this goal. Moreover, Mongolia has become increasingly recognized and draws attention not only in the region but also internationally, in terms of gender equality, and women's leadership. Therefore, we proposed to bring international women together in Mongolia to contribute to solving global issues and express what our country can do on these issues. The United Nations received our proposal with pleasure. Thus, under the auspices of President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, and in collaboration with the UN, we are preparing to host a highly ambitious and responsible forum, called the World Women's Forum for the first time. We are striving to make it a crucial gathering that, while maintaining a feminine atmosphere, will strongly express women’s voices worldwide. For this reason, under the Forum's theme, "Towards Green Future," we aim at providing a crucial platform for ensuring women's participation and leadership and exchanging best practices in addressing pressing issues of humankind, such as climate change and Sustainable Development Goals.

This Forum will have six sessions. Why is women's leadership important, and what best practices does Mongolia intend to share with women worldwide?

Women make up 51 percent of the world's population. Global peace and the health of children depend on women. However, women's participation is still relatively low at management and decision-making levels. So, Mongolia’s contribution, potential, offer, and initiatives for this issue could be of interest to other countries. In my opinion as a woman, Mongolian women’s participation in Mongolia’s unique development, great history, and formation of nomadic culture, and the legacy of our ancestors who brought peace to the world, as well as women’s leadership that has been inherited up to today, can be recognized and have an impact at the decision-making level.

When participating in international events, I observe that Mongolian women exhibit strong leadership. Moreover, Mongolia has long supported women’s rights. In every government, women's voices have been powerful, which is a big success that many other countries want to achieve. This year marks the centennial of the Mongolian Women’s Federation. So, the timing of this Forum is meaningful. To address interconnected challenges such as climate change, economic instability, and gender inequality, participants in the Forum will take part in six thematic sessions that focus on environmental actions, the food system, and issues in the economic, education, sports, art, and culture sectors. The Forum will conclude with the issuance of a final document, outlining the results of the Forum.

Mongolia ranks quite high in gender equality. Particularly, the female participation quota was set at 30 percent in the 2024 parliamentary elections by law. This reflects genuine political leadership. As a result, 32 out of the 126 members of Parliament are women.

In recent years, Mongolia has been actively hosting international conferences and forums. Last year, the Female Foreign Ministers' Meeting was a success. Can this Meeting be regarded as a continuation of those efforts?

Yes, Mongolia's foreign relations have become increasingly recognized, both domestically and internationally. Today, it is hard to find someone who is not familiar with Mongolia’s peacekeepers, as the skills, reputation, and resilience of Mongolian soldiers are highly regarded. Over the past 20 years, Mongolia has deployed more than 20,000 troops in peacekeeping operations, serving in hot worldwide. Hence, in 2022, under the initiative of the President of Mongolia, we hosted the first International Conference on Women, Peace, and Security. This conference will be organized every 4-5 years.

Additionally, at last year's Female Foreign Ministers' Meeting, we discussed how female ministers could contribute to solving the challenges faced by many countries during times of “global transition”, such as wars and the COVID-19 pandemic, which have brought significant changes to international relations and disciplines. Today, about 40 of the 193 UN member countries have female foreign ministers, all of whom are influential politicians. Seven or eight years ago, when I was a Deputy Minister, this number was only over 20. We also plan to host another international conference in Mongolia in 2025. Preparations for hosting the Seventeenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2026 have already begun.

At the opening of the Female Foreign Ministers' Meeting, you stated in your speech that Mongolia is one of the first countries in Asia to legalize gender equality. The World Women's Forum is to be held under the theme "Towards Green Future". Does it reflect the characteristics of Mongolian culture?

Every country has taken a number of obligations and commitments related to climate change, and under the Sustainability-2030 Goals. As for Mongolia, it is among the active countries that are fighting climate change effectively. Climate change brings many consequences, including unexpected diseases, food shortages, and economic crises.

Therefore, the six sessions of the Forum will be organized in a way that is quite pragmatic, inclusive, and covers numerous issues. Why "Towards Green Future", we must love our mother earth and women have been making the biggest contribution to this.

The nomadic lifestyle of Mongolians is amazing. Mongolians lived minimally, nomads protected their environment, did not create garbage, and were economical. I think that this lifestyle and wisdom, which has been handed down since ancient times, is compatible with "For Green Development". It will probably be one of the new, interesting, and must-experience cultures for foreign guests. It is definitely the reason why everyone who has come to Mongolia wants to come back again, and that makes Mongolia positively known internationally.

There is a beautiful Mongolian tradition of welcoming guests from afar with respect. How many countries will be represented at this World Women's Forum, which Mongolia is going to host for the first time? Could you name some of the Honorary Guests?

More than 100 foreign guests including Heads of State, Speakers of parliament,  Foreign Ministers, Ministers of labor and social security, Heads of international women's and non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of art, culture, sports, and business will participate in the WWF. For example, the Deputy Head of the United Nations, the President of Slovenia, and the Deputy Speakers of parliament from two Central Asian countries will take part in the Forum.

What precious qualities of Mongolian women do you cherish?

After becoming the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I realized and more deeply felt that Mongolian women stand out with many precious qualities. Mongolian women are truly resolute, talented, and sane, too. Mongolian women are using all kinds of social platforms around the globe. Mongolia is becoming a digital nation. All these are crucial factors for the development of women.

In anticipation of this Forum, the 40th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, probably, is the centre of attention of women globally. Please, share with us, what qualities do you favor in your work?

I try to see the good side of things and strive to be positive. When organizing any activity, we want to show the advantages of our nation as much as possible, guide as a model in that, and create such a circle and environment. Therefore, I hope that this Forum will take place in a wonderful atmosphere that will leave a great memory for the foreign guests. I would like to note that all the women attending this conference are lucky.