Workshops on capacity building in Mongolia

DECP special advisors Thieu Korten and Rogier Chorus gave several workshops on capacity building for the regional branches of the Mongolian Employers Federation MONEF in the provinces of Uvs (West Mongolia) and Dornod (East Mongolia).  The first workshop took place on 23 and 24 June 2010 in Ulaangom, the capital of the Uvs province, with a ritual Mongolian start (see photo below). A total of 20 participants from different provinces attended. One delegation could not reach Ulaangom, because they were unable to cross one of the numerous rivers with their 4-wheel drives due to floods. An other delegation drove 700 kilometres  (2 days’ driving in Mongolia) to reach the venue and the third delegation drove 300 kilometres.  On June 29 & 30, a similar workshop took place in Choibalsan (Dornod province), where 26 participants attended. 

Issues covered were: role and function of employers’ organisations, governance, attracting members and lobby. Also MONEF itself and the regional branches gave presentations about their organisation. Topics in the discussion were: how to fight bureaucracy of the government, corruption and how to overcome the problem of getting credits for small and medium sized companies. 

Thieu Korten and Rogier Chorus were awarded with the medal of honour by the governor of the Uvs province for their support of the regional employers’ organisations of the province.  In the capital of Ulaanbaatar Thieu Korten was nominated honorary member of MONEF.

Also, a certificate of gratitude for DECP was handed out by MONEF to the DECP representatives.