Ulaanbaatar, 25 Nov 2019

The newly-appointed UNDP Resident Representative for Mongolia, Ms. Elaine Conkievich presented her credentials to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Damdin Tsogtbaatar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

Minister Tsogtbaatar welcomed Ms. Conkievich and received her letter of appointment issued by UNDP’s Administrator Mr. Achim Steiner.

Ms. Conkievich is the first person to hold the position of UNDP Resident Representative in Mongolia without also simultaneously holding the position of UN Resident Coordinator. The delinking of the two roles - UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator - is a key part of the United Nations Development System reform process which was initiated in 2017 by the current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In her new role, Ms. Conkievich has overall responsibility for UNDP’s activities in the country; closely collaborating with national stakeholders and international partners to support Mongolia’s national priorities in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

During the meeting with Minister Tsogtbaatar, Ms. Conkievich stressed that UNDP will continue to extend its full support to the Government of Mongolia in implementing the country’s Vision 2030 development agenda and offer expertise and innovative solutions in key priority areas such as youth and women empowerment, good governance, reducing inequalities, economic diversification and growth, environmental protection and energy efficiency.

In line with government priorities and in the spirit of Leaving No One Behind, UNDP’s programme in Mongolia promotes inclusivity, sustainability and innovation with a particular focus on vulnerable groups, including rural communities, women and youth, the unemployed and people with disabilities.

Ms.Conkievich (USA) is a senior international development professional with 26 years of experience in the fields of human rights, rule of law, gender mainstreaming, democratic institution building, conflict resolution, and preventive diplomacy. Most recently she worked with UN Women between 2014-2019 as the Representative and Head of the Multi-Country Office Kazakhstan (Central Asia) promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.  Ms. Conkievich’s work experience includes the OSCE, UN and international NGOs in several  countries in Europe and Central Asia.

Ms. Conkievich holds a Master’s Degree from the School of International Service at The American University, Washington, D.C. and graduated Summa Cum Laude with Bachelor’s Degrees in German and International Affairs from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon.  Besides her native English, she is fluent in German and Russian.

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UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. UNDP has been working in Mongolia for more than 4 decades.

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For media inquiries, please contact Bulgan Bayasgalant, Communications Analyst for UNDP in Mongolia – bulganchimeg.bayasgalant@undp.org