Debbie Prasad, MAAPPS // March 25, 2015
As the semester nears an end, it’s time for a bit of reflection. I had written my first blog post with a lot of excitement and a lot of questions about Mongolia. During the course of the project, I have been able to get some answers to my questions- even despite the fact that we did not get an opportunity to visit Mongolia.
For instance, I had asked what some cultural norms of Mongolia are? Well, I now know that there is a major nomadic and herder culture in Mongolia. I had also asked what Mongolians identify with most, and I’ve learned that Chinggis Khan is a major component of Mongolian identity. When wondering about population demographics, I have learned that approximately 10% of Mongolian society is employed in the mining industry, even though mining contributes to 18% of the GDP. The low numbers for local employment in mining are expected to contribute to a shortage on mining workers in the near future.
I have learned a lot during the course of this semester, mostly about teamwork and about what positive contributions a diverse background of students can make towards such a project as this.
Our task was to look at sub-national EITI reporting in Mongolia, and although we are still trying to find some distinct trends, we have been able to come up with some creative policy suggestions on how to engage local society with the EITI. The key seems to be local engagement, and how this could be more prevalent in Mongolia. In order for sub-national reporting to matter, it is important for all Mongolians to be aware of how significant mining is in their country. Awareness and engagement is key. It is only then that we will be able to engage all of society into caring about transparency in extractive industry reporting.