In late January 2022, a family in central Ulaanbaatar came home from a trip to a candy and toy store. Their three-year-old son ran up the stairs ahead of family members, then waited for them, leaning against the elevator door. The door was broken, and as it gave way he fell into the shaft. His parents rushed him to the hospital, but the boy was unable to cope with his injuries and did not survive. 

The Ulaanbaatar Post reported the story, and people across Mongolia asked the same questions. Why was the elevator door broken? Who was meant to keep the building safe? Most importantly: who is responsible?
This case was part of a pool of stories that have drawn public attention to critical issues around the safety standards of residential buildings and an industry with an important role to play: construction.

Four years later, the industry that puts up Mongolia’s buildings has made two commitments that bear on these questions. In April 2026, construction associations agreed to add a module on business and human rights to the training that every engineer and technical worker must complete twice a year to keep their professional license. In May, the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing committed budget, for the first time, to bringing human rights into the sector. 

Cost pressures and company responsibility

Mongolia’s construction industry accounts for one-third of the nation’s companies[1] and is a major source of employment and GDP. Yet despite continued growth,[2] it still wrestles with persistent safety problems. Gaps in quality control leave residents living in accident-prone buildings. Weak safety measures put construction workers at risk.
In a 2021 review by the Mongolian Women’s Employment Supporting Federation[3], 44% of the 172 construction workers surveyed said the work had damaged their health or injured them. For nearly 20%, the harm was serious enough to temporarily keep them from working. 

Companies are clear about what makes this difficult. In interviews, business representatives pointed to difficulties in securing the budget for effective safety measures and the time and resources to train staff.[4] Safety improvements ultimately mean cost increases, something not all businesses are ready to take on. 

Those pressures are real, and they do not change what a business is responsible for. Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, every company, whatever its size or sector, has a responsibility to respect the rights of people its work affects.

What changed 

Through the Agents of Change project, a joint action by UNDP and the European Union, UNDP Mongolia worked with the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing and Mongolian construction associations to turn responsible business into the standard mode of operation. 

Between November 2025  and March 2026, six intensive training-of-trainers sessions on business and human rights reached 128 people across the sector and produced a pool of trainers that can carry this work into the future. 

The trainings helped unpack the ways in which everyday activities in construction could affect people and the planet. They also asked participants to look past the building site, starting from conducting a baseline assessment of the location where the construction is planned, materials they produce including  demonstrated that safety is not an optional employee welfare programme, but a fundamental human right. 

The training also challenged participants to reflect on other impacts the construction industry can create. When a company fails to pay its workers on time, or forces its workers to work overtime without payment, that is not simply bad management, but also a labour rights issue. Participants also looked beyond their own supply chains and asked: Are informal workers in brick and cement factories treated fairly? Does sand and gravel extraction harm the environment that local nomadic herders depend on? Through the exercise, participants broadened their understanding of what a business is responsible for. 

Twelve companies then went further. With one-on-one support, each carried out human rights due diligence (HRDD) and developed an tailored improvement plan based on their identified human rights and environmental risks. Some committed to providing personal protective equipment for their employees, while others strengthened the ways people who have been harmed can get remedy. 

From company changes to industry transformation  

Seeing the value of the training for their members, Mongolian construction associations committed to integrating a dedicated 1.5-hour training module on BHR into their mandatory training program for engineers and technical workers in April 2026. As a bi-annual requirement to maintain and/or renew professional licenses, the new module will reach every licensed engineer and technical worker. A month later, the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing committed budget for the first time to support mainstreaming human rights across the construction industry. 

In a time of budget cuts, this commitment stands out as a strong sign of government prioritizing responsible business. The scope of human rights issues covered in this commitment was not only occupational health and safety, but also covering human rights and environmental issues across the construction supply chain.

Mr. Bayaraa M., State Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing highlighted, "Just transition is not about halting production or economic activity,” said Mr Bayaraa M., State Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, “Rather, it is about sustaining the benefits of development while minimizing potential adverse impacts on the environment and human rights, particularly those affecting local communities, workers, and contract employees living and working in industrial areas."

Taking the Mongolian experience to the global stage

When Ulaanbaatar hosted the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Agents of Change convened a panel, “The Mongolian Lens". Bringing together government, industry associations and business, the discussion highlighted the shared responsibility to respect human rights in business operations and across supply chains.

Speakers emphasized the role of government in advancing policy commitments, human rights and environmental standards, and National Action Plan (NAP) implementation. They also highlighted the importance of training and awareness-raising in shifting attitudes and equipping younger generations and future business leaders with the knowledge to put human rights into practice. For companies, this means respecting human rights in their own operations and expecting the same of their suppliers and business partners.

Soon, the engineers and technical workers building Mongolia’s cities will encounter these principles in their professional training, through a module their own associations chose to introduce.

The consequences of sidelining safety and human rights can be devastating. Mongolia’s construction sector now has an opportunity to address these risks through stronger collaboration between government, industry and international partners. By engaging these actors and investing in the next generation of professionals, the Agents of Change Project is helping embed human rights in construction practices and lay the foundations for a safer, more responsible industry.