ASIA FOUNDATION CO-HOSTS SECOND ANNUAL MONGOLIAN NAT'L CONFERENCE

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ The Office of the President of Mongolia and The Asia Foundation have co-hosted the second annual national workshop of the Fostering Civic Engagement at the Sub-national Level (FOCE) project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It ran at the President’s Citizen Hall on December 20. The workshop brought together 90 national and local government actors, civil society stakeholders, and locals from the FOCE pilot sites in 17 soums. The discussions focused on sharing experiences in increasing citizens' participation at the local level. Mr. L.Dashdorj, an advisor to the President for Economic Policy and Citizens Engagement, noted:“Given the passing of the 2015 State Budget by parliament last week, this conference is timely to ensure that planning for the prioritization of local development funds include considerable input from citizens". The goal of the program is to increase the transparency and accountability of local governments and to contribute to more responsive local government policy-making and service provision for citizens, supporting the President’s agenda for direct democracy and fiscal decentralization. Local governments are being supported to increase civic participation in decision-making through small grants and technical assistance. This has helped establish fully-equipped Citizen Halls in all sites and supported a regular agenda of public consultations. On the citizens' side, training and support have been provided so that citizens understand better the role and responsibility of local government, how to advocate for their interests, and how to demand better services. The workshop will allow stakeholders to share experiences and learning on participatory practices in the Mongolian context. Representatives from the pilot sites shared their own experiences on social accountability and the use of citizens score card measurement processes, how to effectively disseminate information to citizens living in remote locations, addressing issues of women’s under representation in local authorities, and strategies to reach underserved communities including the youth, persons with disabilities and unemployed, reports the Asia Foundation.