LocationsUlaanbaatar launches the Gender Equality Seal to Advance Gender-Responsive Urban Governance
April 3, 2026
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 1 April 2026 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), together with the Governor’s Office of the Capital City of Ulaanbaatar, has officially launched the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions, marking a significant step toward strengthening gender-responsive urban governance in Mongolia’s capital. With this milestone, Ulaanbaatar becomes the first city in Mongolia to embark on the Gender Equality Seal process.
The launch signals a formal institutional commitment to embedding gender equality across municipal systems, policies, and public service delivery. As cities face growing pressures linked to climate change, demographic shifts, and service delivery demands, gender-responsive governance is increasingly central to building inclusive, resilient, and effective urban institutions.
Strengthening municipal systems through the Gender Equality Seal
The Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions is a global UNDP initiative that supports public institutions to integrate gender equality across planning, management, budgeting, workplace systems, partnerships, and service delivery. In Ulaanbaatar, the Seal will be implemented through a structured 24-month process that includes the establishment of a municipal gender steering committee, a baseline self-assessment, targeted capacity building, implementation of an institutional action plan, and an independent external evaluation before certification.
The discussion emphasized the Seal as a practical and measurable framework that helps institutions move from commitment to implementation by strengthening internal accountability and improving public service outcomes.
Institutional leadership and national relevance
Speaking at the launch, Deputy Mayor Mr. Amartuvshin highlighted the broader public value of the initiative, noting that the Seal provides a structured approach to improving how institutions respond to citizens’ needs:
“Participation in UNDP’s Gender Equality Seal Programme provides us with a structured and practical framework to review and strengthen our internal systems, making them more responsive to citizens, with best practices scaled up across municipal entities, including district administrations.”
He also expressed appreciation for UNDP’s support and noted his hope that the experience could be expanded more widely at the subnational level in the future.
UNDP Resident Representative Ms. Matilda Dimovska underscored Ulaanbaatar’s leadership role, describing the launch as both a concrete institutional commitment and a symbol of UNDP–Mongolia’s evolving partnership:
“By joining the Gender Equality Seal Programme, the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar is demonstrating a clear institutional commitment and leadership to embedding gender equality across municipal systems. Gender equality is not a separate agenda. It is central to how cities govern, deliver services, and build resilience.”
Ms. Batsetseg of the National Committee on Gender Equality situated the initiative within Mongolia’s national gender equality efforts, noting that while a strong legal framework exists, implementation gaps remain:
“The Gender Equality Seal programme is an important tool to strengthen readiness and accelerate progress towards the gender targets under SDG 5.”
Why this matters for cities
In her remarks, Ms. Sudha Gooty emphasized that cities are increasingly at the center of climate, health, demographic, and governance transitions, and that gender equality is integral to addressing these challenges. Drawing on experiences from other cities, she described the Seal as a framework that helps institutions strengthen both internal systems and external service delivery, while becoming more inclusive, accountable, and future-ready.
In Ulaanbaatar, the Seal will support stronger gender analysis and gender-responsive budgeting in priority areas such as public space, mobility, climate and air quality action, and access to municipal services. As the city begins its Seal journey, the initiative is expected to contribute to more robust institutional systems, fairer workplaces, increased public trust, and more inclusive urban services, positioning Ulaanbaatar as a city-level example of how gender equality can be embedded into urban governance in practical and measurable ways.
