Monday, May 19, 2014

FutureChallenges » What’s happening in Southern Mongolia?

FutureChallenges » What’s happening in Southern Mongolia?


Written by  on Published in Syria - an outcry for democracy on .




FutureChallenges » Mongolia – High Ranking Politicians should not be above the Law

FutureChallenges » Mongolia – High Ranking Politicians should not be above the Law



Written by  on Published in The greater we on .



Улс төрийн содон үйл явдлуудын нэг  байлаа.

FutureChallenges » Mongolian Women’s Participation in Politics

FutureChallenges » Mongolian Women’s Participation in Politics

Written by  on Published in International women's day on .

Эмэгтэйчүүд улс төрд гэсэн сэдвээр 2012 оны сонгуулийн үед үүнийг бичиж байлаа.

ith the parliamentary elections in Mongolia approaching next month, there will be more women’s nominations as woman’s quotas for political participation have now been approved by the parliament. Eleven parties are registered to run in the June 2012 elections, and each party will have to try and reach a target of 20% women in this election as this is the new quota that replaced the previous quota of 15%  of women candidates when the new election law got passed by parliament last year on 15 December.
Even so, in the last two decades Mongolian politics has been increasingly male dominated. According to an analysis by the Mongolian fem.network, women’s representation in parliament has dropped sharply from 24.9 %  in 1990 to a low of 3.9% in 1992, 12% in 2000, 6.6% in 2004 and finally 3.9%  again in the last election in 2008.What this means is that the rate of Mongolian women’s participation in politics is four times lower than the world average and twice as low as that of  Arab countries.The survey shows that
A Mongolian woman in politics
A Mongolian woman in politics, photo from http://www.amjilt.com/
Mongolia ranks 121th out of 134 countries when it comes to women’s participation at the decision-making level.
Participation of woman in social and economic sectors is stronger as women make up 51.7% of the total population. More than 70% of workers in the education, health and social sectors are women and they have shouldered responsibility in these sectors very well indeed.  However, it still remains a paradox that more than 90% of  the people in positions of power in Mongolia are males.
Women’s quotas for a share of seats in parliament were discussed four years ago, but the amendment was not approved by the male dominated parliament at that time. However, after four years and with much difficulty, it has finally come through. The credit for this actually goes to the inspiring examples set by other countries as well as to the force of the opinions voiced by the  world’s most influential organizations which have highlighted the  inappropriateness of  having very few women at decision-making level in Mongolia.
“But quotas alone will not get women elected nor ensure them a seat in parliament. Political parties need to embrace women candidates and actively promote them,” said Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Associate Administrator, in a video address  at a two-day regional conference Charting a Path for Political Equality in Asia organized by UNDP and the National Committee on Gender Equality of the Government of Mongolia, and held at  Ulaanbataar in early April.
In February 2011, the Mongolian parliament passed a law on gender equality, which was the fruit of 16 years work and effort by female members of parliament and NGOs. Nevertheless, some empowering provisions were left out, such as a nomination quota for women and a provision dictating that if the head of a government organization is a man, the deputy should be a woman. Even so, this is still a major advancement in both civil rights and women’s rights.
Decision-makers recently discovered that Mongolian politics is distorted at the decision-making level, and discussions have started  to change this. The Government has initiated workshops and international conferences, and women’s groups have also been active.
Recently several women leaders initiated a women’s club to support women in the  next election. They discussed “other windows of opportunity” such as ways for funding during elections and ways to change  party rules for paying large amounts of money. However, initiating and acting on something new is not easy because influencing  the deep rooted political establishment is indeed a very tough call.
One of the reasons for this is that election campaigns are too expensive. If someone wants to nominate a candidate for election he/she has  to pay a large amount of money to the party by which they want to be nominated. This deters women from approaching these parties as a large part of  finances are only accessible to men and usually controlled by them. Civil society always viewed the elections as unfair and the actions of political parties as dirty. Some women leaders also showed that the Constitutional Law is not enforced equally, and that discrimination against women by age and economic standing has worsened since 1990.
While there is no simple formula that works for every country, all political parties in Mongolia have included many women members since 1990 and women have always been in the forefront of social, economic and political reforms. However, when it came to choosing political leadership, women always lagged behind. The passing of the new election law has been clearly commendable. Let’s hope it helps in getting more women elected this time as there are currently only three female member of parliament. Some major parties will have to do some pretty desperate candidate-identification before they can field 20% female candidates!

FutureChallenges » Mongolian Sportspersons Do their Country Proud!

FutureChallenges » Mongolian Sportspersons Do their Country Proud!

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Монголын тамирчин Олимпийн аварга Н.Түвшинбаярыг Лондонгийн олимдоос мөнгөн медаль авсан тэр баяр мөчийг дэлхийтэй хуваалцах гэж энэ нийтлэлийг бичиж байлаа.

FutureChallenges » Mining Propaganda provokes the People of Mongolia

FutureChallenges » Mining Propaganda provokes the People of Mongolia

 энэ нийтлэл 2012 оны 11 сард дээрх сайт дээр хэвлэгдсэн.

Written by  on November 28. on .

This poster by Oyu Tolgoi mining (OT) – a copper and gold mining company in Mongolia – shows the share of Rio Tinto (29%)  in the form of a loaf of bread. Rio Tinto and the government of Mongolia  are co-owners of the OT mining company. But in reality Rio Tinto actually has 70%  share  which was officially signed into the Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement  made in 2009 between the Mongolian government and OT.
Today the argument is about how this loaf should be  shared out. People want an equal share, but the Agreement with the government says they will get only 34 percent.  No wonder there is disagreement!
The Agreement states that the company will acquire a 66%  stake over the  30-40 year operation period. Oyu Tolgoi (OT) is the world’s second largest copper mining company after the CODELCO copper mining corporation in Chile.
Since 2009 people have been demanding that the government reconsider the Agreement and hold open and transparent discussions.  But both the government and OT  have turned a deaf ear to their demands!
And now this advertisement poster which supposedly depicts an exchange of views has given rise to social agitation and sensitized people about mining operations. It is  also leading to conflict in the community where people say that the mining company has started a propaganda campaign with brain washing adverts (similar to the one shown above)  saying, “people get 71% of the profits” which is a blatant lie.
Why has Rio Tinto started this misleading propaganda campaign? Well, over the last three years, Rio Tinto has had to do something to counteract moves by civil society organizations protesting the widespread total destruction of land caused by mining operations, which have made the Agreement a big tallking point for media and the general public. Hence, this wave of  propaganda in an attempt to  persuade people to believe in what is not true.
The poster is not only provoking, it also carries the implication that spending lots of money can shut the people up!
Mr. S. Ganbaatar, a member of Parliament and one of the leading political figures on the people’s’ side, has criticized the agreement and fought the big mining company and the Mining Association of Mongolia which is financially backed by Rio Tinto. He claimed in  the court of Sukhbaatar district that OT put out misleading information. Refering to the poster he made the point, “If you (OT) really want to give it to us in that way, please put it in writing and put it into the official agreement, then I will stop arguing with you…’”. The war of words continues! The argument  put forward by people like Ganbaatar is  that the  Great Gobi Desert’s vulnerable soil is being destroyed and is gradually losing its fertility because of  the operations of big mining companies like Oyutolgoi and Tavantolgoi.
Conflicts over limited water resources and herding lifestyle are forcing herders off the land where their ancestors have lived for hundreds of years.  Communities are under threat, resulting in widespread insecurity and fears about the future. Even though water is a very rare and valuable resource in the parched Gobi desert, OT will use an astonishing 870 liters water per second from underground wells over its planned 40 year operation in the Gobi.
The recently discovered facts about differences in  salary between Mongolian and foreign workers were another unexpected surprise for the media. While Mongolian officers’ salaries are no more than 1500$ per month, the lowest monthly rates for foreign officers start at 30,000$ – 120000 $ . In other words Mongolian specialists earn 3.3 times less than foreign café workers. Usually OT selected specialized workers,  who are educated  in America and Australia or other developed countries,  still earn much less than café assistants who are foreigners.
It’s  very evidently true that the mining business has led to a  spider’s web of corruption in Mongolia. All  the wealth of country belongs to 2-3 % of the population. The 2010 Corruption Index ranked Mongolia 116th out of 178 countries.
Only a few cases of corruption in mining in Mongolia have come to the fore. Lawyer Sarah Armstrong  who is working in the country for a company (SouthGobi Resources) controlled by Rio Tinto, was detained at the airport in Ulaanbaatar. Rio Tinto is embroiled in another potential Asian corruption scandal with resource-rich Mongolia. SouthGobi Resources  is being investigated for tax avoidance to the tune of 150 billion tugrik ($104 million), and for corruption in the awarding of licences.
Ordinary people have the right to demand transparency.Today, there is a fight on between citizens and huge mining companies. But this combat is not between equal forces. On one hand, the world’s biggest transnational mining company is spending huge amounts of money for brain washing propaganda, while on the other, ordinary people -whose only weapon is words! -are fighting against bribery of public officials, and demanding transparency in national mining revenues. They are trying to make the truth known, raise awareness, and uncover corruption in an effort to save their native land!