Press Release
Publicado en Octubre 7, 2020

United Nations and Government of Mongolia commence Joint Programme on integrated financing sustainable development in Mongolia


Ulaanbaatar, 7 October 2020 – Today, the UN Mongolia, in partnership with the Government of Mongolia, commenced a Joint Programme on “Rolling out an Integrated Approach to SDG Financing in Mongolia”.

Mongolia was among the first countries to adopt the UN Sustainable Development Goals, aligning with its development goals. By creating its own Sustainable Development Vision 2030, which was recently updated by Vision 2050, Mongolia has exemplified its commitment to advancing SDGs. Mongolia became one of the few countries who received funding from the Joint SDG fund initiated by the UN Secretary-General to accelerate the progress towards realizing SDGs by establishing an integrated national financing framework (INFF) in the country that aims at mobilizing all financial resources – private and public, international and domestic - under one framework. The Programme will be implemented by UNDP Mongolia and UNICEF Mongolia in partnership with UNFPA Mongolia.

“Finance is not an end goal in itself. It is a means to improve people’s lives and achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Without resources, we cannot meet these goals,” UN Mongolia Resident Coordinator, Tapan Mishra said.

“In addition, the COVID-19 crisis brought additional economic and financial challenges. Economic recession and high debt risks have compounded the SDG financing challenges, threatening to derail the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.”

Mongolia like other countries around the world is facing unprecedented socio-economic challenges due to Covid-19, which not only increases the effort needed to achieve the SDGs but also to maintain the current progress.

“In the midst of the global pandemic, Ministry of Finance of Mongolia is working toward with special emphasis on protecting people’s livelihoods, keeping jobs, decreasing poverty, ensuring essential public service delivery and quality, and resolving public debt repayment without causing any negative impact on macroeconomy. Therefore, we are pleased to see the commencement of the Joint Programme to further strengthen Mongolia’s development financing framework” said the Vice-Minister of Finance Ms. S. Mungunchimeg.

Mr. Mishra further highlighted that there is a need for stronger international cooperation and a fundamental shift in the international financial system to align it with sustainable development. At the same time, countries are recommended to adopt integrated frameworks to support and finance their national sustainable development strategies.

Introducing the Joint Programme, UNDP Mongolia’s Resident Representative Elaine Conkievich stated: “The Joint Programme will establish an integrated financing framework covering not only the Government budget but also extensively tapping into new underutilized financing opportunities, particularly the private sector, pulling in potential resources from both domestic and international sources into Mongolia’s development.”

Thus, the commencement of the Joint Programme is highly timely and it will play an integral role in development and adoption of the Integrated National Financing Framework, which will facilitate for the Government and its partners to align financial and development policies and mobilize all sources of financing to achieve the national SDGs. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative in developing a national financing framework in Mongolia that could be exemplary in the Asia-Pacific region and other countries.