Assessing Democratic Governance in Mongolia Mongolia hosted the Fifth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies (ICNRD-5) The Conference adopted the Ulaanbaatar Declaration and Plan of Action that committed participating governments to implement action plans to strengthen democracy along with concrete tools such as DGI databases to monitor democratic progress over time. A UNDP project on “Follow-up to the ICNRD-5” implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (June 2004 – Nov 2006).

Basic Factors Reflecting Mongolia’s Specificities  Small population, small-scale economy, dependence on external factors, low level of development  Pastoral cattle-breeding, nomadic lifestyle  Gap between urban and non-urban areas, migration from non-urban areas to urban areas  Tendency to depend on “the cult” of the state, state paternalism  Nomadic world view, nomadic mentality  Non-formal factors in social relationships

Specifics of Methodology Based on State of Democracy methodology by IDEA Incorporates participatory approach Poverty and gender sensitive Based on bottom-up approach Reflective of Mongolia’s specificities The assessment includes qualitative evaluation of positive and negative trends and quantitative evaluation. The evaluations and standards are produced by national experts Public opinion is reflected in the process of assessment.

Satellite Indicators  Civil, social and economic rights by migrants  Registration of migrants, number of migrants not registered.  Political affiliation of members of election organization  Fairness of election committees and subcommittees  Is there legislation providing for party discipline of parliamentary parties?  Public perception of internal democracy within parties  Can the growth of mining industry make a real contribution in country development ?

Main products: NPA, DGI, CIN Democratic Governance Indicators: Assessing the State of Governance in Mongolia Country Information Note National Plan of Action to Consolidate Democracy in Mongolia Desk study on the State of Democracy in Mongolia Desk study on the State of Democracy in Central Asia Urban Governance Index (UGI) Civil Society Index (CSI) National and international conferences for validation of methodologies and findings of the studies Assessment: June 2004 – Nov.2006

Key Stakeholders The activities were state-led but broadly inclusive: Parliament National Statistical Office Civil Society Organizations Local Municipalities Academia Media Judiciary

3.6. Sample of Focus Group Discussion Target group for Focus Group Discussion was choosen to reflect views of major stakholders, diversity of social groups with special consideration of marginal and vulnerable people, disparity of urban and rural population Total 1Herders2 2General (in each area mixed people were involved for local overview)8 3Poor (in city and rural areas)2 4Workers (on State and Private Factories)2 5Public servants3 6Gold “diggers” (“ninjas”)2 7Migrants (In capital and provincial town)2 8Small businessmen (in city and rural areas)2 9Unemployed (in city and rural areas)2 1010Journalists1 1Retired (in city and rural areas)2 1212Women (in city and rural areas)2 1313Judicials (in city and rural areas: police, judges, attorneys, etc.)6

Key Lessons Learned Mongolia’s initiative on DGI, Country Information Note and the National Plan of Action to Consolidate Democracy are new steps towards consolidating democracy. Contributed to developing a culture of evidence-based decision- making and awareness raising on governance issues and challenges through public forums, national conferences and individual interviews. Sustainability and institutionalization of the process remains as the main challenge considering the methodological aspects as well as cost implications The success of the pilot was dependent on a few stakeholders, Ownership by the general public, civil society involvement in the governance measurement remains weak, which is the very purpose of DGIs

Millennium Development Goal 9 Parliamentary resolution 2005 on human rights, anti- corruption and democracy MDG9 interventions defined as part of the National Development Strategy and MDGs costing exercise was carried out in , which is unique to Mongolia. Independent monitoring and reporting system on the implementation of MDG-9 is designed, implemented and institutionalized DGIs streamlined and a set of specific target indicators developed and approved by the Parliament of Mongolia