Australian Assistance to Mongolia

The assistance of Australia to Mongolia is provided in three major areas:

Governance. The “Capacity building program” has been implemented since October 1998, when the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Governments of Australia and Mongolia. The framework of this program includes long and short-term studies in Australia, projects targeted for improving management of government organizations.

The following are areas of Capacity building program:

Short-term Australian consultants working in Mongolia and providing consultancy services on policy level
Short-term training program (up to 3 months)

Organize trainings which meet needs of the particular organizations in Mongolia

Involve in the trainings organized in Australia

Organize trainings which meet needs of the particular organizations in Australia

Post-graduate degree programs in Austalia (up to 2 years)
Study tours for decision makers from government organizations to Australia to learn from their experience and skills;
Hosting at and working in Australia at organizations of similar nature

During visit of Minister of Foreign Relationship of Australia, the number of students to study at Austalian Universities through government scholarship has been decided to doubl, thus there will be 28 citizens of Mongolia will be studying in Australia each year.

Infrastructure development: Through World Bank and UNDP, projects were implemented in environment and water supply

Small scale projects to support activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

The Austalian Government has provided support and assistance for over 550000USD for herders who suffered from natural disaster.

Dates	Events
1993	During visit of the Minister of Foreign Relations Ts. Gombojav, the “Memorandum of Development and Cooperation” and “Memorandum of Implementation of Small scale project” has been signed. The framework of those memorandums included improvement of general management and mining management as well as improving education, health and water supply.
1994	The first group of six Mongolians commenced their Master’s and Doctorate studies at the Australian Universities through AusAid program
1995-1997	The number of students to study in Australia through AusAid program has increased to 12, studying in management, business, law, government administration, international relationship and others.
August 2003	“Mongolia-Australia Targeted Capacity building and Small Activities Facility” project started with objective to contribute to poverty alleviation by strengthening the human resource capacity of Mongolian Government Agencies for long-term sustainable development, and to assist the transition to a modern market-based economy

Australia’s aid program to Mongolia

DFAT will manage an estimated $5.9 million in bilateral funding to Mongolia in 2015-16. Total Australian Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Mongolia in 2015-16 will be an estimated $8.7 million.

2014/15 Bilateral Budget Estimate
$9.8 million

2015/16 Bilateral Budget Estimate
$5.9 million

2015/16 Total Australian ODA Estimate
$8.7 million

Australian ODA will provide support to meet Mongolia’s development goals.

The website will be updated to reflect priorities following discussions with our partners. These priorities will be detailed further in new Aid Investment Plans which will be finalised by no later than 30 September 2015.

Further information on current investments in Mongolia can be found below.

Education

Australia is promoting education opportunities for Mongolians by:

Strengthening the capabilities of the Mongolian government and the private sector by providing postgraduate scholarship opportunities in Australia
Improving the access of school children to clean water and sanitation facilities in partnership with UNICEF.

Governance

The mining sector has propelled Mongolia to lower-middle income country status. A well-governed, environmentally and socially responsible mining sector can reduce poverty and promote equitable economic growth. Australia’s significant expertise and experience is helping promote a more stable regulatory environment in the mining sector.

Our results

The bilateral relationship with Mongolia has strengthened. March 2014 saw the first visit to Australia by a Mongolia Foreign Minister in over 20 years. Foreign Minister Luvsanvandan Bold announced with Foreign Minister Bishop the Australia-Mongolia Extractives Program (AMEP) and an increase in the annual Australia Awards Mongolia (AAM) scholarships from 38 to 43.
Implementation of the redesigned Australia Awards Mongolia program since July 2013 is showing promising results from the new features of the program—such as new priority study areas, new activities to support alumni and women’s professional development, and a focus on targeting provincial candidates.
The most significant development in 2013–14 is the finalisation of the Australia Mongolia Extractives Program (AMEP) design and tender selection. AMEP represents a concrete escalation in Australia’s engagement with Mongolia. It will help Mongolia progress towards equitable and sustainable economic growth of its extractives sector.