Funding Period
May 2002-September 2005
Current Program
IRI currently implements a program of parliamentary development and political
party strengthening. The parliamentary program helps the SGH to conduct
its legislative oversight and representative responsibilities more effectively.
One of IRI’s biggest accomplishments was helping to draft and encouraging
the passage of two Parliamentary Procedures amendments that alter the
way MPs legislate. These amendments increase transparency and accountability
within the SGH by opening hearings to the public and decentralizing power
from the Secretariat’s office. As part of this support, IRI brought
U.S. Congressional experts to Ulaanbaatar to advise committee chairpersons,
MPs and their staffs on how to hold committee hearings, draft legislation,
and define the duties and responsibilities of MPs and staff alike.
USAID/Mongolia also supports the work of an IRI-SGH Joint Working Group
on drafting of both Ethics Legislation and amendments to the Election
Law. Concurrently, IRI undertakes a range of activities to help Parliament
implement key elements of this legislation.
In its political party work, IRI trained poll-watchers in all 21 aimags
in preparation for the 2004 and 2005 Parliamentary and Presidential elections.
Because of that work, both were relatively free of fraud. IRI’s
suggestion that opposition parties coalesce behind single candidates in
2004 also led to a dramatic impact on proportional representation: 49%
of the electorate was represented by only four MPs after the 2000 election,
but by 34 MPs after the 2004 election. Nation-wide public opinion polls
in the lead-up to the two elections helped candidates on both sides identify
key issues important to the Mongolian electorate. IRI also sponsored the
inaugural “Women in Politics and Governance” forum in 2005,
which brought women political activists together to get them more involved
in the political process. |
