Jonathan Brasnett, MAAPPS // March 29, 2015
Over the past several weeks, our team has tried to come up with different way of engaging Mongolia’s local civil society organizations with regards to the newly-mandated subnational reporting of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). It has become obvious to me that, although Mongolia may have a political climate that is conducive to transparency and civil society participation, many geographical characteristics of Mongolia make it a problematic place to mobilize such activism. Owing to the fact that Mongolia is so sparsely populated (1.92/squared km), as well as the fact that many Mongolians still live a nomadic lifestyle and are constantly moving about the plains with their herds, it is difficult to reach a large percentage of the population. Even those Mongolians who live sedentary lifestyles in cities may feel so separated from the regions of the country where mining is taking place that they feel unengaged in matters of mining revenue transparency. Thus it is our goal to increase awareness of the relevance of such matters to the improvement of all Mongolian citizens’ quality of life.
Our team explored many different avenues for engaging civil society but the three that came out as being potentially the most effective were through the Khan Bank chain, educational programs for vocational, secondary and post-secondary schools, as well as through making pamphlets and EITI resources/literature available at public libraries. The first policy is to reach out to the Khan Bank’s CEO, Kato Norihiko, and explain to him the possible benefits of offering financial education programs that can be briefly explained to the bank’s clients. This program would explain the relevance of subnational EITI reporting to Mongolia’s financial investment and social service sectors, making these clients more financially savvy which will benefit Khan Bank. Next, by developing a basic and more in depth educational curriculum that explains the EITI initiative, subnational reporting and its significance for civil society to students throughout their educations, we can prepare them to engage in civil society activities when they are older. By catering these educational programs to specific audiences of students (whether at vocational schools for mining engineers, policy-makers, etc., or simply basic programs for secondary school students), we can ensure that the students leave with the knowledge that is most relevant to their own future interactions with EITI and resource revenue. Finally, a supplementary policy of making EITI literature/resources and educational materials available at public libraries will offer any Mongolian of any age to access the information necessary to take action or form civil societies that might be able to ensure the accountability of resource extraction companies and the government who receives tax revenue from them. These programs will all play an important role in improving the quality of life for Mongolians as a result of increased transparency and responsibility of the government in providing social services with the revenue from natural resources. With these programs, there is hope for a better and brighter future for average Mongolians.
Our team explored many different avenues for engaging civil society but the three that came out as being potentially the most effective were through the Khan Bank chain, educational programs for vocational, secondary and post-secondary schools, as well as through making pamphlets and EITI resources/literature available at public libraries. The first policy is to reach out to the Khan Bank’s CEO, Kato Norihiko, and explain to him the possible benefits of offering financial education programs that can be briefly explained to the bank’s clients. This program would explain the relevance of subnational EITI reporting to Mongolia’s financial investment and social service sectors, making these clients more financially savvy which will benefit Khan Bank. Next, by developing a basic and more in depth educational curriculum that explains the EITI initiative, subnational reporting and its significance for civil society to students throughout their educations, we can prepare them to engage in civil society activities when they are older. By catering these educational programs to specific audiences of students (whether at vocational schools for mining engineers, policy-makers, etc., or simply basic programs for secondary school students), we can ensure that the students leave with the knowledge that is most relevant to their own future interactions with EITI and resource revenue. Finally, a supplementary policy of making EITI literature/resources and educational materials available at public libraries will offer any Mongolian of any age to access the information necessary to take action or form civil societies that might be able to ensure the accountability of resource extraction companies and the government who receives tax revenue from them. These programs will all play an important role in improving the quality of life for Mongolians as a result of increased transparency and responsibility of the government in providing social services with the revenue from natural resources. With these programs, there is hope for a better and brighter future for average Mongolians.