DEMO - Democracy Education Center

Ms. Gombodorj Undral is the director of the Democracy Education Center (DEMO) and coordinator of the Civil Society Council (not to be confused with the Civil Servants Council).  The mission of DEMO is to build the civic capacity of Mongolia's non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  NGOs play an important role in building neighborhoods through citizen participation and conduct research to measure the progress of democracy in the country.

 

Ms. Gombodojr Undral, Director of the Democracy Education Center

 

Prior to the 1990's NGOs were created from the top down.  In other words, only one party of government decided that a NGO needed to be created, for what purpose and who ran it.  In 1997, the NGO Law was enacted by the State Great Hural.  The modern NGO is created at the grassroots level by social activists who want to improve the quality of life in Mongolia.  The American Federation of Teachers came to Mongolia in the late 1990's to develop the leadership capacity of NGOs.  The skills that were taught fundamentally changed the way in which NGOs operated as well as their effectiveness in initiating social and economic change.  Over 12,000 NGOs are registered with the Mongolian State Registrar's Office. 

 

DEMO functions as a clearinghouse for research, training, and innovation.  It is much more than a resource center.  DEMO is "boots on the ground" in implementing change.  In 2007, 10-15% of NGOs were active and functioning.  In 2009, the Civil Society Council implemented a program of accountability for its member NGOs.  23 NGOs  monitor the quality of public accounting.

 

The year 2013 will be a watershed year for Mongolia.  For the first time, the national budget law will mandate that tax funds be returned to local communities and that citizens will drive the decision-making process in terms of where the money is spent and on what projects.  NGOs will assist with the process of public input, development of strategic plans and implementation accountability. 

 

One incredible example of the power of the NGOs to implement change comes froma school district in which students were having to share textbooks...sometimes one textbook for three children.  An NGO started asking questions.   Government officials were stymied.  The books had been bought.  The money had been paid.  The principal and teachers had not received the textbooks and no one could find the answer to this mystery.

 

One day local activists (actually parents and citizens of the community) showed up at the school demanding answers.  They conducted their own search of the school.  In a back room down a long hallway, they discovered a locked door.  Lo and behold, textbooks were found stacked in boxes from the floor to the ceiling.  As many as could be stuffed in the room.  What was going on?  They discovered that the school officials had made a deal with a manufacturing firm to sell the textbooks so that the factories could make toilet paper.  Now, isn't that a crock???  The manufacturer was getting cheap paper and the school officials were pocketing the money.

 

Back to the meeting - In the early part of the last decade, over 100 NGOs of the Civil Society Council met to ask one questions - Should we cooperate with the government?  The past tactics of veiled threats and confrontational meetings were accomplishing little so a new approach seemed in order.  In 2008, the Civil Society Council worked with Parliament to pass Resolution 93 that established a cooperative agreement betweeen the government and the society.

 

Over the next five years, the Civil Society Council wants to expand its role as an accountability partner with the government particularly in economic reform.  They have established the Partnership for Social Accountability.  The goal is to establish ten new NGOs working in each government sector (environment, health, education, mining, etc.) 

 

I asked about the state of philanthropy and corporate giving in Mongolia.  Currently, the Mongolian government does not provide any tax break or incentive for charitable giving.  The council is working with Parliament to draft the Law on public Benefit Activities.  The council hopes that providing tax incentives for donors will create new public-private partnership activities and encourage large corporations to take an active role in building a better quality of life for all Mongolians.

 

Ms. Urdral currently works with over 900 NGOs through the Democracy Education Center and the Civil Society Council.  She is passionate about improving community life and building a better quality of life for her fellow citizens.

 

 



 

Mongolian Academy of Sciences - Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law

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:

 

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.