The Asia Foundation

60 Merali Scholars will Receive Four-Year Undergraduate Scholarships at Prestigious Mongolian Universities

Ulaanbaatar – In a country where a limited portion of students enroll in higher education, many young Mongolian women face challenges in pursuing studies at a college or university. Committed to improving access to education across Asia, The Asia Foundation today launched the Shirin Pandju Merali Foundation Scholars Program in Mongolia to support university education for qualified female students who, despite their academic competence, are unable to continue their education due to financial constraints.

Through a generous donation from the Shirin Pandju Merali Foundation, established by Pandju Merali in honor of his late wife, Shirin Merali, the program will provide four-year scholarships to 60 women at two prestigious public universities in Ulaanbaatar: National University of Mongolia (NUM) and Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST). The  program in Mongolia will enroll 48 women in hard-science bachelor’s degree programs and 12 in social science bachelor’s degree programs.

The Asia Foundation will partner with a local Mongolian non-governmental organization, the Zorig Foundation, which has extensive experience in implementing scholarship programs in Mongolia to support the selection and monitoring of scholarship recipients.. The first scholars in Mongolia will enroll in September 2010. All costs for tuition, fees, educational supplies, and books will be covered by the scholarships.

Studies show higher education is essential to reducing poverty. Population increases in Ulaanbaatar, and great distances across Mongolia, combined with poor infrastructure and seasonal challenges in rural areas contribute to difficulties in providing children and youth with quality education – critical for driving economic growth. This program is especially timely given Mongolia’s recent winter Dzud during which extremely cold temperatures resulted in the loss of more than eight million livestock that disproportionally affected herder families in rural areas.

Since 1954, The Asia Foundation has worked to improve access to and the quality of education across Asia—especially for girls. In 1993, the Foundation was the first international NGO to set up operations in Mongolia. Since then, the Foundation has played an instrumental role in developing and strengthening governance and civil society in Mongolia.

In June 2010, The Asia Foundation launched the Shirin Pandju Merali Foundation Scholars Program in Pakistan for 200 young women.  The Pakistani scholars will enroll in the 2010-2011 academic year.

On June 14, 2010, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Baysaa Ganbayasgakh, founder of the Gender Equality Center (GEC) and long-time partner of The Asia Foundation in Mongolia, was among the nine “Trafficking in Persons” (TIP) Heroes at the launch of the 2010 Annual TIP Report release ceremony in Washington D.C.

The TIP Heroes are individuals around the world who devote their lives to combating human trafficking. Ranging from NGO workers to police officers, they are selected for their work to protect victims, punish offenders and raise awareness of trafficking in their countries.

Baysaa worked for several years at the National Center Against Violence (NCAV) as a Child Protection Unit Coordinator before establishing the GEC in 2002. The organization has grown from a staff of three people to its current staff of 12, and runs two shelters, two hotlines, and a variety of programs focusing on human trafficking prevention, victim protection, and gender and migration issues. Over the past eight years, the GEC has provided assistance to more than 300 survivors of trafficking, and repatriated 160 victims, including women, men, and children from across Asia and Europe. “This award would not be possible without my strong and dedicated team of legal consultants, social workers, and psychologists,” Baysaa said.

The Asia Foundation has supported the GEC for several years in operating a hotline for victims and potential victims of trafficking, capacity building and strategic planning, and is currently working with the GEC to implement a prevention and public awareness campaign. The Asia Foundation congratulates Baysaa on this well-deserved honor.

An article on Mongolia Web about corruption in Mongolia cites The Asia Foundation’s 2009 Mongolia Corruption Benchmarking Survey. Read the full article: “Successful Steps in Fighting Corruption in Mongolia.”

Ulaanbaatar

Mongolian Households Paid an Increase of 1.4 Billion Tugrik ($1 million U.S.) More in Bribes for Services in the Last Six Months

Mongolian households paid 41.7 billion tugrik ($28.9 million US dollars) in bribes to doctors, teachers, lawyers, and customs officials during the past six months, an increase of 1.4 billion, according to a survey released today by The Asia Foundation’s office in Mongolia, in partnership with the Sant Maral Foundation – the nation’s foremost independent polling institution. Findings from The Asia Foundation’s eighth semi-annual Corruption Benchmarking Survey report that one in every five Mongolian households paid a bribe within a three-month period.  Since 2006, The Asia Foundation has conducted this survey twice a year to monitor the scope, incidence, and impact of corruption at the household level over time, in an effort to analyze trends, and strengthen institutional and public capacity to deter and reduce corruption in Mongolia.

The Corruption Benchmarking Survey – the only surveying tool in Mongolia that gauges corruption on the household level – was conducted between September 11 – 21, 2009, using multi-level random, face-to-face interviews.  A sample of 600 adult respondents were asked about bribe recipients, frequency, and amount as well as their confidence in government and public institutions in combating corruption. This survey tool provides a robust indicator that is both empirically verifiable and perception-based.

Other notable trends in analysis from the eighth semi-annual Corruption Benchmarking Survey:
•    The amount of tugrik being paid in bribes increased from 40.3 billion to 41.7 billion over the past survey period, thus increasing the burden on households’ budgets.
•    Corruption has decreased overall in the ranking of the top problems facing Mongolians. However, the incidence of corruption increased by 5.8 percent over the past survey period.
•    The land utilization office has been perceived as the most corrupt agency in all eight corruption benchmarking surveys. In the most recent survey, judges and police were perceived as the second and third most corrupt agencies.

Highlights from the poll findings on perceptions of public institutions as well as the incidence of household-level corruption are as follows:

•    Confidence in the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) remained strong with 48% of respondents believing that the IAAC should be the lead agency in fighting corruption. However, the latest survey results indicate a drop in confidence in the agency overall, with confidence levels decreasing from 45% to 36%.
•    Half of the respondents (50.4%) have confidence in President Elbegdorj to fulfill his campaign promises in combating corruption; with another nearly one third (32.5%) believing the President will not play a pivotal role in combating corruption.
•    From the last survey, there was a 5% increase to 20% in the number of households that paid bribes within the previous three months.
•    29% of households surveyed indicated that there household budget was seriously affected by bribe payments.
•    Teachers, doctors, clerk, policemen and customs officers are the most frequent bribe recipients.
•    Although the total amount of bribes paid by households increased in the last period, the average bribe amount paid by households decreased from 397,000 tugriks ($275) in March 2009 to 308,000 tugriks ($214) in September 2009.

Download a copy of the full survey.

For media inquiries, please contact Meloney C. Lindberg Country Representative in Mongolia, mlindberg@asiafound.mn, or  Amy Ovalle, Director, Communications, San Francisco, aovalle@asiafound.org.

San Francisco and Ulaanbaatar

The Asia Foundation announced the appointment of Meloney C. Lindberg as Country Representative in Mongolia. Ms. Lindberg was most recently the Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in Sri Lanka where she worked to strengthen local governance, improve access to justice, and bolster community-based responses to conflict. In Ulaanbaatar, she succeeds William S. Foerderer Infante who served as Country Representative in Mongolia for three and a half years.

Ms. Lindberg brings over 15 years of hands-on development experience in Asia and 11 years of experience with the Foundation, where she first joined in 1994 as a program officer in Nepal. There, she assisted in developing programs on women’s legal rights and pilot projects for community mediation and civic education. In 1998, she moved to Development Alternatives, Inc. and managed a study of women’s organizations in post-conflict settings for United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Center for Development Information and Evaluation. In 2002, she rejoined The Asia Foundation in Manila as a Deputy Country Representative, and developed new program ideas in the areas of Information and Communications Technology, e-governance, and corporate good governance.

From 2004 to 2008, Ms. Lindberg was the Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in Afghanistan, where she provided management and oversight for institutional strengthening of governance, civil society, education, and media. She also facilitated the distribution of new texts and educational resources to schools, universities, public libraries, non-governmental organizations, and other institutions through the Books for Asia program.

Ms. Lindberg received her B.A. in International Studies from Miami University in Ohio and her M.A. in International and Intercultural Management at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Read more about The Asia Foundation’s projects in Mongolia. For media inquiries, please visit the Press Room.

Asia Foundation support for a community-led water quality monitoring project in the Tui river in Bogd Soum is cited in a UB Post article about a plan to clean up waterways at project sites across Mongolia. Read the full article: “ADRA Mongolia Assists Communities to Clean up Waterways.

On Sunday May 24th, 2009 more than a million Mongolians, approximately 73% of eligible voters nationwide, went to the polls to elect a new President; the fifth presidential election since the nation established democracy in 1990. The elections proceeded peacefully and confirmed Mongolia’s commitment to democracy.

To support transparency of the election process, The Asia Foundation organized and deployed 27 volunteer teams to observe polling at stations across Ulaanbaatar. According to Mongolia’s election laws, only foreigners are allowed to observe elections. Therefore, observation teams were composed of an international and Mongolian counterpart. The teams were made up of volunteers from: Asia Foundation locally-based expatriate staff; concerned international citizens living in Mongolia; two representatives from the Dutch Embassy; and 11 teams from the U.S. Embassy.

In an effort to cover all of Ulaanbaatar’s 161 polling stations, the teams were assigned six polling stations to observe. In addition to observation, teams conducted a voter surveys. After a long day of observing, from 7:00am when polls opened until 10:00pm when polls closed, observation teams visited over 95% (154/161) of the polling stations in Ulaanbaatar and conducted interviews with 248 voters. In addition, some observers stayed up until the early hours of the morning to observe the entire counting process.

Based on the limited scope of the observation initiative, The Asia Foundation is unable to make a definitive assessment of the overall fairness of the election process. Nevertheless, because the 27 observation teams were deployed across the entire city, their findings provide valuable insight into the process. The Asia Foundation gathered the following initial findings by conducting post-election debriefs with the observer teams.

In general, the teams deemed the overall environment on Election Day to be conducive to fair elections. Observers noted that for the most part, polling stations were set up properly, accessible, well-staffed, well-run, and able to accommodate a high level of voter turnout for a close election. While the efficiency and accuracy of some processes could be improved, observers noted that they did not observe any widespread or systemic malfeasance or malpractices. In fact, a number of observers noted seeing polling station workers actively referring to a manual on procedures that the Foundation, with support from the Canada Fund, issued prior to the election to advance efficiency and accuracy of the registration and election process.

While the overall findings were positive, there were a few issues that observers noted that should be improved:

• There were some reports of polling stations not being properly set up to protect voter privacy in ballot marking. However, this may be attributable to a lack of guidance rather than an intention to subvert the confidentiality of the ballot.
• Access to polling stations for the elderly and handicapped is problematic; with long distances between polling stations and polling stations set up on the upper floors of buildings likely deterring some potential voters from casting a ballot.
• Crowding and long queues at the polling stations, particularly near closing time, made it difficult for observers to see all aspects of the process and strained the efficiency of the polling process.
• Although the counting process was found to be generally transparent, there is a concern over accuracy related to fatigue as the process, on average, started at about 11:00 pm and in many cases, extended through the morning hours. Poll workers, who had been working since 7:00 am, were visibly tired and prone to make errors.
• Some procedures were unclear and inconsistently administered by polling stations.

Following up to this statement, the Foundation has published a detailed report with the quantified findings of the observers, results of the voter survey, and recommendations for specific reforms that could improve the process in future elections. Download the full report.

In conclusion, The Asia Foundation would like to thank the international and Mongolian volunteers, whose commitment to fair and democratic elections, made this observation initiative possible. The Foundation would also like to commend the General Elections Commission on administering an efficient election process. Finally, the Foundation congratulates the citizens of Mongolia on a peaceful election with a high voter turnout that demonstrated the deepening roots of democracy in the country.

The Asia Foundation in Mongolia has released the sixth in a series of Corruption Benchmarking Surveys. The latest edition of the Corruption Benchmarking Survey covers the six months from March to September 2008. The purpose of the series is to better understand the scope and incidence of corruption at the household level in Mongolia. The UB Post covered the sixth survey’s release. Read the full article, “Mongolian Households Paying for Corruption: Asia Foundation.”

Read the complete sixth survey in English or in Mongolian.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

(A Mongolian version of this press release is also available for download.)

Top Asian and U.S. foreign policy experts urge incoming U.S. administration to put Asia at top of agenda

U.S. must maintain constructive response to China’s rise

The health of the U.S. economy is now tied to Asia in fundamental ways that, if not grasped quickly by the incoming presidential administration, could have unintended, adverse consequences, according to America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views, a new published volume of foreign policy recommendations written by 20 distinguished Asian and U.S. experts and released this morning in Washington. Although relations with China are generally constructive, the report states, the U.S. must, in order to minimize threats to American security and prosperity, maintain a constructive response as China continues to rise. Further, the report underscores the importance of responding to the “rise of the rest” by adjusting the membership in various international organizations. Convened and supported by The Asia Foundation, this landmark report is the product of a year of high-level, closed-door discussions across Asia and in the U.S. that addressed critical bilateral and trans-national issues in U.S.-Asia relations, including Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, energy security, environmental degradation, Asia’s regional alliances, trade, and investment.

Published on a quadrennial cycle, America’s Role in Asia provides U.S. policymakers with concrete recommendations on how to address pressing challenges and opportunities in Asia. Further, in order to put Asia on the party platforms for the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions, advance summaries of the recommendations were recently hand-delivered to top foreign policy advisors to both candidates.

“The region needs urgent attention,” agreed Ambassador Michael Armacost and Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy, American co-chairs of America’s Role in Asia. “The most consequential emerging powers—China and India—are casting longer shadows, and America’s relative power is declining. The new administration must accord Asia the attention its intrinsic importance to us demands.”

The report is divided into American and Asian views, reflecting the thinking of some of the most accomplished U.S.-Asia relations experts in the world. The project’s American task force was led by Armacost, who is Shorenstein Senior Fellow at the Asia Pacific Center at Stanford University, former Undersecretary of State, and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and the Philippines; and Roy, who is Vice Chairman of Kissinger International Associates, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, and former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, China and Singapore. The Asian task force was chaired by Ambassador Han Sung-Joo, chairman of the Asan Institute in Seoul and former Foreign Minister of South Korea; Ambassador Tommy Koh, chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies, Ambassador-at-Large in Singapore, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York; and Dr. C. Raja Mohan, professor at the Rajanthan School of International Studies in Singapore and former member of India’s National Security Advisory Board.

“This report was prepared with the expressed intent to inform and influence future American foreign policy for the Asia-Pacific region so that sound, workable solutions to common problems are found,” said Douglas Bereuter, president of The Asia Foundation and 26-year veteran of Congress, where he chaired the Asia-Pacific Subcommittee. “A major objective of The Asia Foundation is to foster greater understanding between the United States and Asia, and we’re very pleased that our extensive relationships and unique access to a wide range of U.S. and Asian leaders has resulted in these important, timely perspectives.”

Among the findings and recommendations of the American task force:

• Trade-related issues need to be high on the agenda of the new administration: namely, the restoration of fast-track negotiating authority, the completion of the Doha round, the ratification of the U.S.-ROK Free Trade Agreement, and determination of the weight to be attached to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in pursuing Asian trade initiatives. Neglect of these issues will deal a body blow to U.S. global economic leadership.
• [The] approach to counter-terrorism in the Middle East and South Asia requires new strategic footing that neither overshadows nor underrates a host of other foreign policy challenges. The Global War on Terror was an unfortunate misnomer. It encouraged excessive emphasis on military force. It persuaded some that the enemy was Islam, rather than a few misguided groups within Islam’s ranks disposed to a permanent jihad against the “infidels.” We should not lump potential Islamist enemies together; the goal is to divide them, and deal with them in a discriminating way.
• Energy cooperation. The high cost of energy is becoming a major threat to the continued growth and prosperity of Asia, just as it is elsewhere in the world. The United States can make a major contribution to containing these incentives for rivalry by encouraging policies that foster cooperative approaches to energy security. Most Asian countries are major consumers of imported fuels. All would benefit from expanded cooperation with the United States in efforts to persuade OPEC and other producers to expand exploration for oil and natural gas, to accelerate the commercial development of alternative environmentally-friendly fuels, to utilize existing sources of energy more efficiently, and to stockpile reserves for emergencies.

Among the findings and recommendations of the Asian taskforce:

• The United States would be well advised to set a good example of upholding the very values it espouses. U.S. allies in the region are acutely aware of America’s poor image among their own publics and want the next administration’s foreign policy to pay special attention to public diplomacy. Both Americans and Asians will benefit if the political, intellectual, and cultural bridges are strengthened.
• The U.S. should actively support a regional architecture in Asia. Bilateral relations are important, but greater emphasis should be placed on multinational diplomacy around political, economic, and security issues. This includes signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), which, at a minimum, would allow the United States to be an effective dialogue partner with members of the East Asia Summit.
• The new administration should work with Asian regional institutions to begin a dialogue on energy security and climate change — particularly in the area of curbing greenhouse gas emissions – and to bring the post-Kyoto negotiations to a successful conclusion. The United States must share its expertise in energy efficiency, including clean and renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration.

The full report is available for download, as are overviews of the reports and executive summaries.

Download the full report, America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views.

See a full list of related documents.

Ulaanbaatar

Irresponsible mining practices have polluted the rivers of Mongolia. The Asia Foundation, through its landmark environmental project, “Securing Our Future,” is helping to influence the development of mining in an environmentally responsible way for the benefit of all Mongolians.

An important element of the program is teaching simple water quality monitoring techniques, which can be performed by students. Earlier this year, Mongolian teachers visited the U.S. to learn how to engage their students in the scientific process and teach water quality monitoring in schools. The teachers are learning experiential techniques which are still relatively uncommon in Mongolia.

One of their newest tools, made possible through The Asia Foundation’s support, is a series of illustrated educational posters about a river’s ecosystem.

See the posters:

Read more about the Mongolian teachers’ visit to the U.S.

The summary of The Asia Foundation’s observation results relating to the recent Mongolian voting process, and to voter perceptions of the June 29th elections, was recently released. The Asia Foundation deployed 17 two-person teams to observe the parliamentary election.

Over 1,500,000 citizens were registered to vote nationwide, and voter turnout is estimated at 70%. A total of 356 candidates from 12 political parties, one coalition, and 45 independent candidates competed in 26 multi-member constituencies as prescribed by the 2005 Election Law. The number of candidates in a constituency varied from 20-30, and the number of seats in each constituency varied from two to four, depending upon the population.

In 94% of the stations visits, observers saw no campaign activities (which would have been illegal on election day), or efforts to influence voters. Campaign materials had been removed from the immediate areas surrounding all polling stations in accordance with the election rules, with an exception of one station in Songinokhairkhan.

In 6% of the stations, observers identified individuals seemingly trying to influence the voting behavior of others. Most of these cases occurred in the Bayanzurkh district, and involved middle-aged adults. When queried at one station, the individuals denied any involvement in voter manipulation or influence, and they did not disclose their party affiliation.

In 86% of the station visits, there was no loitering near the station by local government or party officials. However, in 18 of the station visits, party officials and candidates were observed 4 times in different stations in Khuvsgul Aimag, and in 5 discreet stations in the Bayanzurkh district.

Read “Observation of the Mongolian Elections”, for more on the findings.

In Tuesday’s New York Times, The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Mongolia, Bill Infante, was quoted on post-election riots in a piece called “In Election Dispute, A Challenge for Mongolia’s Democracy”.

In a Letter to the Editor, The Asia Foundation’s Country representative in Mongolia, William Foerderer Infante, responds to the Michael Auslin’s June 24th op-ed “Genghis Putin” stating, “Mongolia’s national and economic security are anchored in diverse and balanced trade relations, and prior investments won’t necessarily give Russia an inside track for the future.” Read the item in the Wall Street Journal.

Ulaanbaatar

Public expectations and confidence in the new Anti-Corruption Agency are high

The Asia Foundation released the third, semi-annual corruption benchmarking survey, a corruption-monitoring tool that is engaging people and institutions to reduce corruption in Mongolia. Davasureen, TAF Project Manager, presented the survey results during a press conference, where the Anti-Corruption Agency’s (ACA) senior managers and civil society leaders discussed survey findings and their initiatives to reduce and deter corruption, including the ACA’s new efforts to prevent corruption. (The survey is available for download in English and Mongolian.)

“The people of Mongolia expect the newly established ACA to effectively reduce and deter corruption. The survey confirms that Mongolians believe that the ACA’s implementation of the anti-corruption law passed last year could advance integrity in the public and private sectors. But, the honeymoon will be cut short by inaction. Effective action requires a solid partnership between government, civil society and media. The job can only be done jointly,” said Mr. William Infante, Director of the Foundation’s Mongolia office.

The major change from the prior survey results is a substantial decline in calls for stronger punitive measures. This number has declined from 50 to approximately 30 percent. This may be correlated with the view that anti-corruption efforts will only target low and middle-level public servants, while elites and senior officials escape from punishment. The survey also indicates that corruption is a potentially becoming more accepted as an increasing fraction of the population expressed a greater willingness to pay a bribe in order to overcome problems.

The Asia Foundation’s semi-annual corruption benchmarking survey monitors the scope, incidence and impact of corruption at the household level. It monitors perceptions of corruption as well as the impact of corruption on the household. The first survey was conducted in March 2006, and established the baseline against which this and other surveys will monitor changes. The survey comprised 600 respondents in Ulaanbaatar and four provinces: Selenge, Uvs, Uvurkhangai, and Sukhbaatar.

Advancing pride and integrity in the public and private sector is the goal of The Asia Foundation’s Anti-Corruption Support Project, an initiative to reduce the incidence and scope of corruption, to strengthen institutional and public capacity to combat corruption, and to empower Mongolians to demand transparency and accountability. The Asia Foundation seeks to influence public perception and engage civil society, the private sector and government in combating corruption by building public and civic institutional capacity, raising awareness and fueling intolerance.

The Asia Foundation, in cooperation with Sant Maral/ Transparency International with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, will conduct semi-annual surveys over the next two years to assess the scope, incidence and impact of corruption, which will serve as a barometer of Mongolia’s success in combating corruption.

Ulaanbaatar

The Asia Foundation recently released the results of a second corruption benchmarking survey in Mongolia. These surveys are aimed at better understanding the scope and incidence of corruption at the household level, as well as public attitudes toward corruption, in Mongolia. Despite the government’s progress creating the legal framework and institutions needed to fight corruption, perceptions and the incidence of corruption are little changed from the first survey, which was conducted in March 2006.

Two-thirds of respondents perceive that corruption has increased in the last three years, and that it most likely affects politics and business. Approximately three-quarters of Mongolians report no personal experience with corruption over the three-month recall period. However, a significantly larger percentage of respondents said that they would pay a bribe if they had the money. At the same time, over half of Mongolians demand strong punitive measure against corruption.

Under this program, a total of six surveys are being conducted semiannually. This survey represented 601 respondents in Ulaanbaatar and four provinces: Arkhangai, Selenge, Uvs and Khentii.

The survey report is available for download in PDF format in English and Mongolian. To view the English version, click here. To view the Mongolian version, click here.

Ulaanbaatar

Khan Bank and The Asia Foundation Partner to Promote Education and Learning Nationwide

Today in Mongolia, The Asia Foundation and Khan Bank launched the Mobile Library that will begin a 20-day journey across Mongolia in an effort to promote education and learning nationwide. The Mobile Library will travel to 10 soums in 5 aimags where 10,000 books worth more than US$200,000 will be donated to schools.

“Our partnership with one of Mongolia’s most sound and best-branched banks will help inspire the next generation of leaders and thinkers across the country,” according to William Foerderer Infante, The Asia Foundation’s representative in Mongolia. The Foundation’s Books for Asia program, has donated hundreds of thousands of books to libraries, universities, schools, and other educational institutions over the past decade. With Khan Bank, The Asia Foundation will deliver books and other educational materials more broadly and to more remote parts of the country in the future.

“Khan Bank is deeply committed to building strong communities where reading and learning captivates and informs youth and adults. Our 405 offices are in every community and neighborhood of the country, and each represents an opportunity to deliver learning and knowledge,” said J. Peter Morrow, Chief Executive Officer of Khan Bank. “We are using our unique banking network to support education everywhere.”

On the first trip, the Mobile Library will travel from Ulaanbaatar to Uvs and back. Before the end of the year, Khan Bank and The Asia Foundation are planning at least two more trips, one across northern Mongolia, and the other to Eastern aimags.

For more information, contact:
Ariunzaya
The Asia Foundation
330-524, 323-413
zaya@asiafound.mn