Considerable
progress has been made in implementing the specific
set of actions to ensure peace, development and human
rights that was agreed upon by more than 150 heads of
06-53005 20
State or Government at last year’s World Summit. The
Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights
Council, the Central Emergency Response Fund, the
United Nations Democracy Fund, the United Nations
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and other
achievements speak for themselves.
However, we cannot afford to be complacent
about what we have achieved so far. Redoubled efforts
ought to be made to ensure that people in every corner
of the world feel the benefits of development in their
everyday lives. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his
annual report on the work of the Organization,
observes that
“The words of 2005 have yet to have a direct
impact on the lives of the poor people they are
meant to help. Nor have they produced the
implementation breakthroughs required to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals”.
(A/61/1, para. 27)
That conclusion is sad, but true.
My delegation therefore welcomes the most
timely initiative of the presidency to focus our
attention at this session of the General Assembly on the
implementation of the global partnership for
development. The global partnership for development
was framed as Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
8 and thus cannot be divorced from other development
goals and objectives.
In our view, the global partnership for
development means a global compact between
developed and developing States. It is the
responsibility of developing countries to formulate and
implement sound policies to ensure their sustainable
economic and social development and, to that end, to
mobilize domestic resources. For the developed
countries, it entails an obligation to support such
efforts through the provision of development financing,
including official development assistance (ODA), in a
timely and sufficient manner and to ensure increased
market access for developing countries. Mongolia, for
one, takes its responsibilities seriously and is
committed to its development objectives.
Allow me to describe the policies and specific
actions taken by my country to implement the MDGs,
as well as my views on the need to build partnerships
to achieve them. First, Mongolia attaches particular
importance to its implementation of the MDGs. Our
first progress report was discussed at both the Cabinet
and parliamentary levels, resulting in parliament’s
adoption in April last year of a resolution
institutionalizing Mongolia’s MDGs. Thus, the Goals
have been mainstreamed into the guidelines for the
country’s economic and social development, and the
funds necessary to meet the individual goals are
reflected in the annual State budget.
Secondly, to honour its commitment made in the
2005 World Summit Outcome Document (resolution
60/1), Mongolia is developing an MDG-based
comprehensive development strategy and plans to
submit the first draft to parliament during its autumn
session. The active participation of political parties,
civil society and the private sector in that undertaking
will ensure the sustainable implementation of the
national development strategy over the years.
Thirdly, the adoption of an additional, ninth,
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) — on the
promotion of human rights, fostering democratic
governance and combating corruption — was an
innovative step that reflected the indissoluble link
between development, good governance, human rights
and democracy in our national policy. Within the
framework of working towards meeting that goal, the
parliament recently passed a new law against
corruption, thereby creating a legal environment to
remove the shackles that that phenomenon imposes on
development. In accordance with the new law, a new
anti-corruption body is to be set up to deal with raising
public awareness and to address ways to prevent and
uncover corruption, investigate cases of corruption and
audit the financial and income declarations of public
officials.
Fourthly, the Government of National Unity,
which was formed early this year, is undertaking a host
of quick-impact projects on poverty reduction and
income-generation in the implementation of its MDGs,
in order that the benefits of the social security policy
can reach various strata of the population. Allow me to
cite a few examples.
Salaries in the public sector have been raised by
33 per cent, and the minimum wage by 30 percent. A
monthly allowance is being provided to every one of
the nearly 1 million children in Mongolia, which
accounts for almost half of the entire population.
Married couples and new-born children are provided
financial support on a one-time basis. Mothers with
21 06-53005
five or more children and older persons have seen
considerable increases in their monthly allowances and
pensions. In collaboration with the private sector, this
academic year my Government introduced a free
school-meal programme for elementary school
children. The launching of all those quick-impact
initiatives will contribute to our efforts to reduce
poverty and achieve the MDGs.
Fifthly, on the policy level, my Government is
placing particular emphasis on the human development
dimension of the MDGs, including in such areas as
education and health. For example, a programme on
the theme of “A healthy Mongolian”, which is to be
implemented between 2006 and 2008, will provide for
medical check-ups and diagnosis and carry out surveys
of the prevalent illnesses among the population over
15 years of age. The programme will also include
preventive measures and treatment. Furthermore, the
implementation of our education master plan for the
period 2006-2015, will improve access to education
and the quality and competitiveness of our national
education system, ultimately advancing the level of
human development. The plan will also contribute to
the goal of increasing employment by means of
developing human resources in a way that corresponds
to the economic structure of the country and meets the
demands of the labour market.
In addition, on the initiative of my Government,
amendments have been made to the tax code that aim
at easing the overall tax burden, thereby creating a
favourable business environment, promoting greater
economic growth and generating new jobs.
Although Mongolia is poised to achieve most of
its MDGs by 2015 in the areas of education, gender,
child and maternal health and combating various
diseases, the goals of halving poverty and ensuring
environmental sustainability continue to be a source of
concern. It goes without saying that, like many other
developing countries, Mongolia will not be able to
achieve those goals on its own. Genuine partnership
and effective cooperation between all stakeholders —
including bilateral and multilateral donors,
international financial organizations and the private
sector — is therefore required in order to substantially
reduce poverty and promote development in the
developing world.
The quality of aid should also be improved
through the tailoring of foreign grants and loans to the
implementation needs of the MDGs and MDG-based
national development strategies. That improvement
should also be achieved by providing more predictable
and multi-year aid flows, addressing weaknesses in
institutional capacity and harmonizing the distribution
of aid with the priorities of recipient countries, in
accordance with the principles set out in the Paris
Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
Mongolia is a landlocked developing country
dependent on a few export commodities. We are
therefore highly susceptible to fluctuations in the
world’s commodity and energy markets. I believe that
the establishment of commodity-price stabilization
mechanisms and anti-shock facilities could make a
tangible contribution to poverty reduction measures in
low-income commodity-dependent countries. At the
same time, trade and investment are among the driving
forces of development. The World Trade Organization
Doha Development Round of negotiations should
therefore be revived, with a view to creating a more
favourable and just trade regime that involves market
access and trade and industrial capacity-building
assistance for developing countries, particularly for
economically vulnerable States. For its part, Mongolia
is preparing to host a conference of trade ministers of
landlocked developing countries in 2007.
I should also like to urge the international
community to focus its attention on the declaration
adopted at the first-ever Meeting of the Heads of State
or Government of Landlocked Developing Countries
held last week in Havana. That document reflects the
common position of landlocked LDCs. Its full
implementation will be instrumental in assisting
landlocked LDCs, including Mongolia, as they carry
out their development and poverty reduction efforts.
Democracy plays an important role in bringing
about peace and development. Although democracy is
rooted in the soil of individual societies, it has to be
supported through international cooperation. In its
capacity as Chair of the fifth International Conference
of New or Restored Democracies, Mongolia has
endeavoured to promote democratic values at the
international level. We have undertaken a set of
concrete measures as follow-up to the fifth Conference,
including the development of nationally owned
democratic-governance indicators, a country
information note and a national plan of action to
consolidate democracy. We have also introduced a
tripartite structure in the Conference to include
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Governments, parliaments and civil society. We have
also set up a friends-of-the-chair group and are fully
utilizing the follow-up mechanism in New York. It is
gratifying to note that the international follow-up
conference to the fifth International Conference, which
was held in Ulaanbaátar last June, highly commended
the work done over the last three years. My country is
prepared to report on its activities and to share its
accomplishments and lessons learned with the greater
membership of the movement during the sixth
International Conference of New or Restored
Democracies, which is to be held next month in Doha,
Qatar.
This year marks the 800th anniversary of the
establishment of the great Mongol State — a
remarkable date for my country. The General
Assembly, in resolution 60/16, adopted last year,
invited Member States, international organizations and
academia to take an active part in the commemorative
events associated with the anniversary. I wish to
express our great appreciation to all persons —
including people of Mongol ethnicity, academics and
guests from various countries and organizations — for
their active participation in the many international
conferences organized in the spirit of that resolution.
Those meetings included the international conference
on traditions of Mongolian statehood, the ninth
international forum of Mongolists, the convention of
world Mongolians and the international workshop on
the traditions of nomads. I am also happy to
acknowledge that more than 300 high-level guests
representing more than 30 States and Governments
attended our national day ceremony — Naadam —
which was the main commemorative event of the year.
The year-round celebration of activities and
events are of particular importance, as they help us
modern-day Mongols heirs to statehood preserve and
develop nomadic culture and traditions and to re-
introduce to the world our rich history and culture,
along with the progress and challenges facing us today.
The sixty-first session has special meaning for us,
as it coincides with the 45th anniversary of Mongolia’s
membership in the world Organization. Our admission
to the United Nations as a full-fledged Member, on
27 October 1961, was a historically important event for
the people of Mongolia. Over the years, our
cooperation with the United Nations has expanded in
terms of both content and scope. The Organization’s
support and assistance have been instrumental in
helping Mongolia meet its development goals, build
capacity and consolidate democracy. For its part,
Mongolia has all along supported the United Nations.
We have also striven to participate actively in its
activities and to make our contribution to the efforts of
the international community to find solutions to the
pressing issues facing the world.
This autumn, we are about to select the next
Secretary-General of the United Nations. Beginning in
2007, that person will represent the international
community on the world stage. The next Secretary-
General must be someone who will effectively follow
through with the bold initiatives and reform efforts
carried out by the current Secretary-General, Kofi
Annan, in the areas of peace, development and human
rights. That person must also be committed to making
the world a better place, and possess strong managerial
skills, vision and experience. In short, he or she must
be a genuine leader. I am convinced that such a person
can, and should, come from Asia, which is home to
half of the world’s population.
Mongolia is prepared to participate actively in the
work of the United Nations and of other multilateral
organizations and processes. We reaffirm our
commitment to the world Organization as a central
coordinating instrument of the common efforts of the
world’s nations to maintain peace and promote
development.