Harry Li, MAPPS // May 12, 2015
I am extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Mongolia for this project. It was life-changing and broadened my professional and educational viewpoints beyond expectation. I would like to acknowledge the hardwork our teammates contributed. Although not all of us could be physically present in Ulaanbaatar, their dedication was essential. On May 7th and 8th, our team presented and engaged with the following organizations,
· University of Mongolia, mining and technology department
· Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ)
· EITI secretariat, Mongolia
· Ministry of mining Mongolia
· Mongolian national broadcaster
· Mongolian journalists, NGOs, and other stakeholders
· Mongolian mining journal
· IRIM Mongolia
Overall, our comparative analysis on EITI sub-national implementation, and policy recommendation were well-received. The presentation from the paper group and policy group were combined. One of the restraints of our research was that it was primarily a secondary literature review, with limited knowledge on the reality of local situation. However, our team constantly improved the policy analysis and recommendations after receiving updates on local situation, as well as critiques from various stakeholders.
For the policy group, our key recommendation is to disseminate EITI information in a simplified manner. Although each year, EITI Mongolia is one of the firsts to report, over 120 pages of statistical and financial report is extremely difficult to decipher for regular citizens. Therefore, we have finalized the communication venues for simplifying and disseminating EITI sub-national reporting into three aspects: banking system (Khan Bank), schooling system (vocational mining schools) and posters ( Zuom healthcare centers, gas pump stickers, citizen halls and national libraries) . During the EITI seminar, Mongolian NGO representatives, mining journals, GIZ and other stakeholders were highly engaged in our recommendations.
Recognizing the potential conflict of interest, as Khan Bank is a corporate entity, using Khan Bank as a communication venue is suitable because it processes the widest expanding banking network in Mongolia, with 503 branches in total and 409 in the rural areas. Teaching mining students about EITI is a long-term strategy in engaging future stakeholders. The idea of putting posters at various locations seems increasingly plausible due to the expanding use of internet and mobile devices in Mongolia. According to the statistics provided by the Freedom Online Collation, 67% of Mongolians are using internet and every 2 in 3 Mongolians process mobile devices. The president of Mongolian heavily emphasizes on the importance in this trend. Thus with more cyber-engagement, the uses of internet and mobile devices are great potential communication venues for disseminating simplified EITI information, especially on sub-national reporting.