Mongolia, 2006

Considerable

progress has been made in implementing the specific

set of actions to ensure peace, development and human

rights that was agreed upon by more than 150 heads of

06-53005 20

State or Government at last year’s World Summit. The

Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights

Council, the Central Emergency Response Fund, the

United Nations Democracy Fund, the United Nations

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and other

achievements speak for themselves.

However, we cannot afford to be complacent

about what we have achieved so far. Redoubled efforts

ought to be made to ensure that people in every corner

of the world feel the benefits of development in their

everyday lives. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his

annual report on the work of the Organization,

observes that

“The words of 2005 have yet to have a direct

impact on the lives of the poor people they are

meant to help. Nor have they produced the

implementation breakthroughs required to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals”.

(A/61/1, para. 27)

That conclusion is sad, but true.

My delegation therefore welcomes the most

timely initiative of the presidency to focus our

attention at this session of the General Assembly on the

implementation of the global partnership for

development. The global partnership for development

was framed as Millennium Development Goal (MDG)

8 and thus cannot be divorced from other development

goals and objectives.

In our view, the global partnership for

development means a global compact between

developed and developing States. It is the

responsibility of developing countries to formulate and

implement sound policies to ensure their sustainable

economic and social development and, to that end, to

mobilize domestic resources. For the developed

countries, it entails an obligation to support such

efforts through the provision of development financing,

including official development assistance (ODA), in a

timely and sufficient manner and to ensure increased

market access for developing countries. Mongolia, for

one, takes its responsibilities seriously and is

committed to its development objectives.

Allow me to describe the policies and specific

actions taken by my country to implement the MDGs,

as well as my views on the need to build partnerships

to achieve them. First, Mongolia attaches particular

importance to its implementation of the MDGs. Our

first progress report was discussed at both the Cabinet

and parliamentary levels, resulting in parliament’s

adoption in April last year of a resolution

institutionalizing Mongolia’s MDGs. Thus, the Goals

have been mainstreamed into the guidelines for the

country’s economic and social development, and the

funds necessary to meet the individual goals are

reflected in the annual State budget.

Secondly, to honour its commitment made in the

2005 World Summit Outcome Document (resolution

60/1), Mongolia is developing an MDG-based

comprehensive development strategy and plans to

submit the first draft to parliament during its autumn

session. The active participation of political parties,

civil society and the private sector in that undertaking

will ensure the sustainable implementation of the

national development strategy over the years.

Thirdly, the adoption of an additional, ninth,

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) — on the

promotion of human rights, fostering democratic

governance and combating corruption — was an

innovative step that reflected the indissoluble link

between development, good governance, human rights

and democracy in our national policy. Within the

framework of working towards meeting that goal, the

parliament recently passed a new law against

corruption, thereby creating a legal environment to

remove the shackles that that phenomenon imposes on

development. In accordance with the new law, a new

anti-corruption body is to be set up to deal with raising

public awareness and to address ways to prevent and

uncover corruption, investigate cases of corruption and

audit the financial and income declarations of public

officials.

Fourthly, the Government of National Unity,

which was formed early this year, is undertaking a host

of quick-impact projects on poverty reduction and

income-generation in the implementation of its MDGs,

in order that the benefits of the social security policy

can reach various strata of the population. Allow me to

cite a few examples.

Salaries in the public sector have been raised by

33 per cent, and the minimum wage by 30 percent. A

monthly allowance is being provided to every one of

the nearly 1 million children in Mongolia, which

accounts for almost half of the entire population.

Married couples and new-born children are provided

financial support on a one-time basis. Mothers with

21 06-53005

five or more children and older persons have seen

considerable increases in their monthly allowances and

pensions. In collaboration with the private sector, this

academic year my Government introduced a free

school-meal programme for elementary school

children. The launching of all those quick-impact

initiatives will contribute to our efforts to reduce

poverty and achieve the MDGs.

Fifthly, on the policy level, my Government is

placing particular emphasis on the human development

dimension of the MDGs, including in such areas as

education and health. For example, a programme on

the theme of “A healthy Mongolian”, which is to be

implemented between 2006 and 2008, will provide for

medical check-ups and diagnosis and carry out surveys

of the prevalent illnesses among the population over

15 years of age. The programme will also include

preventive measures and treatment. Furthermore, the

implementation of our education master plan for the

period 2006-2015, will improve access to education

and the quality and competitiveness of our national

education system, ultimately advancing the level of

human development. The plan will also contribute to

the goal of increasing employment by means of

developing human resources in a way that corresponds

to the economic structure of the country and meets the

demands of the labour market.

In addition, on the initiative of my Government,

amendments have been made to the tax code that aim

at easing the overall tax burden, thereby creating a

favourable business environment, promoting greater

economic growth and generating new jobs.

Although Mongolia is poised to achieve most of

its MDGs by 2015 in the areas of education, gender,

child and maternal health and combating various

diseases, the goals of halving poverty and ensuring

environmental sustainability continue to be a source of

concern. It goes without saying that, like many other

developing countries, Mongolia will not be able to

achieve those goals on its own. Genuine partnership

and effective cooperation between all stakeholders —

including bilateral and multilateral donors,

international financial organizations and the private

sector — is therefore required in order to substantially

reduce poverty and promote development in the

developing world.

The quality of aid should also be improved

through the tailoring of foreign grants and loans to the

implementation needs of the MDGs and MDG-based

national development strategies. That improvement

should also be achieved by providing more predictable

and multi-year aid flows, addressing weaknesses in

institutional capacity and harmonizing the distribution

of aid with the priorities of recipient countries, in

accordance with the principles set out in the Paris

Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

Mongolia is a landlocked developing country

dependent on a few export commodities. We are

therefore highly susceptible to fluctuations in the

world’s commodity and energy markets. I believe that

the establishment of commodity-price stabilization

mechanisms and anti-shock facilities could make a

tangible contribution to poverty reduction measures in

low-income commodity-dependent countries. At the

same time, trade and investment are among the driving

forces of development. The World Trade Organization

Doha Development Round of negotiations should

therefore be revived, with a view to creating a more

favourable and just trade regime that involves market

access and trade and industrial capacity-building

assistance for developing countries, particularly for

economically vulnerable States. For its part, Mongolia

is preparing to host a conference of trade ministers of

landlocked developing countries in 2007.

I should also like to urge the international

community to focus its attention on the declaration

adopted at the first-ever Meeting of the Heads of State

or Government of Landlocked Developing Countries

held last week in Havana. That document reflects the

common position of landlocked LDCs. Its full

implementation will be instrumental in assisting

landlocked LDCs, including Mongolia, as they carry

out their development and poverty reduction efforts.

Democracy plays an important role in bringing

about peace and development. Although democracy is

rooted in the soil of individual societies, it has to be

supported through international cooperation. In its

capacity as Chair of the fifth International Conference

of New or Restored Democracies, Mongolia has

endeavoured to promote democratic values at the

international level. We have undertaken a set of

concrete measures as follow-up to the fifth Conference,

including the development of nationally owned

democratic-governance indicators, a country

information note and a national plan of action to

consolidate democracy. We have also introduced a

tripartite structure in the Conference to include

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Governments, parliaments and civil society. We have

also set up a friends-of-the-chair group and are fully

utilizing the follow-up mechanism in New York. It is

gratifying to note that the international follow-up

conference to the fifth International Conference, which

was held in Ulaanbaátar last June, highly commended

the work done over the last three years. My country is

prepared to report on its activities and to share its

accomplishments and lessons learned with the greater

membership of the movement during the sixth

International Conference of New or Restored

Democracies, which is to be held next month in Doha,

Qatar.

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the

establishment of the great Mongol State — a

remarkable date for my country. The General

Assembly, in resolution 60/16, adopted last year,

invited Member States, international organizations and

academia to take an active part in the commemorative

events associated with the anniversary. I wish to

express our great appreciation to all persons —

including people of Mongol ethnicity, academics and

guests from various countries and organizations — for

their active participation in the many international

conferences organized in the spirit of that resolution.

Those meetings included the international conference

on traditions of Mongolian statehood, the ninth

international forum of Mongolists, the convention of

world Mongolians and the international workshop on

the traditions of nomads. I am also happy to

acknowledge that more than 300 high-level guests

representing more than 30 States and Governments

attended our national day ceremony — Naadam —

which was the main commemorative event of the year.

The year-round celebration of activities and

events are of particular importance, as they help us

modern-day Mongols heirs to statehood preserve and

develop nomadic culture and traditions and to re-

introduce to the world our rich history and culture,

along with the progress and challenges facing us today.

The sixty-first session has special meaning for us,

as it coincides with the 45th anniversary of Mongolia’s

membership in the world Organization. Our admission

to the United Nations as a full-fledged Member, on

27 October 1961, was a historically important event for

the people of Mongolia. Over the years, our

cooperation with the United Nations has expanded in

terms of both content and scope. The Organization’s

support and assistance have been instrumental in

helping Mongolia meet its development goals, build

capacity and consolidate democracy. For its part,

Mongolia has all along supported the United Nations.

We have also striven to participate actively in its

activities and to make our contribution to the efforts of

the international community to find solutions to the

pressing issues facing the world.

This autumn, we are about to select the next

Secretary-General of the United Nations. Beginning in

2007, that person will represent the international

community on the world stage. The next Secretary-

General must be someone who will effectively follow

through with the bold initiatives and reform efforts

carried out by the current Secretary-General, Kofi

Annan, in the areas of peace, development and human

rights. That person must also be committed to making

the world a better place, and possess strong managerial

skills, vision and experience. In short, he or she must

be a genuine leader. I am convinced that such a person

can, and should, come from Asia, which is home to

half of the world’s population.

Mongolia is prepared to participate actively in the

work of the United Nations and of other multilateral

organizations and processes. We reaffirm our

commitment to the world Organization as a central

coordinating instrument of the common efforts of the

world’s nations to maintain peace and promote

development.