This United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) outlines the strategic direction and results expected from cooperation between the Government of Mongolia and the UN country team (UNCT) for the period 2012-2016. The UNDAF represents a collective response of the UN system to the national development priorities contained in Mongolia’s comprehensive National Development Strategy (NDS) for 2008-2021, namely the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. It also reflects Mongolia’s changing economic, social, and environmental conditions.

This UNDAF was developed in partnership with the government and the civil society, and it builds on lessons from the current UNDAF cycle and an assessment of the comparative advantages of the UNCT. Overall it is a statement about the continued value of the UN’s presence in Mongolia. Under this UNDAF, the UNCT will work with the Government of Mongolia, civil society, and other development partners on 4 strategic priorities:

1. Economic development is inclusive and equitable contributing towards poverty alleviation.

2. Equitable access to, and utilization of, quality basic social services and sustainable social protection.

3. Improved sustainability of natural resources management and resilience of ecosystems and vulnerable populations to the changing climate.

4. Strengthened governance for protection of human rights and reduction of disparities.

Across the 4 priorities, the UNCT will focus its technical support, resources, and advocacy to make tangible contributions to thirteen (13) outcomes. These are critical institutional and behavioral changes that will help to achieve national development goals and related MDGs.

The Government of Mongolia and the UNCT have a mutual accountability for the outcomes. each UN agency is accountable for its contribution to selected outcomes as per their agency mandate and agreed Country programme or project.

The narrative of the UNDAF describes the priorities and outcomes, estimated resource requirements, processes and mechanism for implementation, and monitoring and evaluation, and it makes provision for initiatives outside the UNDAF.  A detailed description of the outcomes, outputs, indicators, means of verification and budget resources is provided in the Results Matrix.