Dr. Tsveen Tsetsenbileg is the president and CEO of Operative Research & Consultancy and the head of the Department of Sociology at the Institue of Philosophy, Sociology and Law for the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Tsetsenbileg, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Ms. Tsetsenbileg conducts research and studies the sociological impact of the economic and social programs on the emerging needs of the citizens of the country. The migration of people from the countryside, particularly nomads, has created socio-economic challenges for both Ulaanbaatar and the national government. The snow-drought of 1999-2000 caused many nomadic families to lose their livelihoods when their herds of cattle, sheep, goats and horses died from the lack of food and water. They were forced to move their gers to the tent cities surrounding UB.
Mongolia has limited funds available to create a safety net for these displaced citizens. The city is forced to deal with the social and economic ills that come with the upheaval that displacement creates.
The Millenium Goals Report outlines the challenges facing the people and the government to provide minimal financial and social services to this growing population. The nation's budget does include an increase in the level of support for social programs and there is optimism as the overall levels of income among the displaced citizens has begun to increase.
She identified four primary areas that need to be addressed on a national level:
- Inflation - The booming mining sector coupled with decreased agriculture output has created a disparity of wealth and lack of staple goods within the country. The increase in economic activity has created a lot of pent-up demand for goods. This has led to higher prices and an exhorbinant rate of inflation for staple products placing even more pressure on the low-income sector. The central bank needs to address the problem of inflation.
- Monetary Policy - Since the transition from socialism to democracy, the nation's central bank has not implemented the necessary monetary reforms to regulate interest rates and inflation. Monetary policy is determined by the needs and wants of politicians seeking short-term fixes rather than long-term solutions.
- Social Programs - The social needs of the citizens, i.e. food, clothing, housing and psychological care, are not being met. Although this situation is slowly improving, the migrant population still suffers from the shock of leaving their former lives behind and adjusting to an urban lifestyle. This creates mental stress, emotional discord and increase in alcoholism and domestic violence.
- Lack of Moral Authority - When the country shifted from communism to democracy, the entire social fabric was instantly swept away. For more than 70 years, the social structure was very stable. Community meant something to people. Free market capitalism caused people to change their mindset to a "me-first and me-only" mentality. The sense of community and neighborhood no longer have any meaning. People do not feel obligated to care anything about their communities nor do they feel obligated to work together in a cooperative fashion. It is "every man for himself."
A generation has now grown up knowing only capitalism as their point of reference. The moral authority of "neighborhoods" is not as strong as church or religion. When compared to the U.S., they have no historic context for doing things that are in the public interest, the greater good, volunteerism or charity. For this generation, social trust does not exist.
This does not seem to be meant as an indictment against democracy, free markets or capitalism. Rather, it is indicative of the upheaval that takes place when everything that a country has to understand about its past 70 years is swept away and nothing exists to instill the sense of community and obligation to help one's neighbor.
