Electronics giant Samsung says it plans to invest around 300tn won ($230.8bn; £189.6bn) over 20 years in the South Korean government's push to develop a mega semiconductor hub in the country.

This will be put towards building five chip factories, the firm told the BBC.

Samsung is the world's biggest maker of memory chips, smartphones and TVs.

Under the official plan, companies in high-tech industries will be offered incentives like expanded tax breaks and infrastructure support.

"The mega cluster will be the key base of our semiconductor ecosystem," South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement on Wednesday.

It said it planned to secure around 550tn won in private-sector investment and "leap forward as a leading country in the middle of fierce global competition over advanced industries".

South Korea's move comes as "major players are ramping up efforts to boost onshore manufacturing in the semiconductor sector," Paul Triolo from the global advisory firm Albright Stonebridge Group told the BBC.

"It wants to emulate to some degree Taiwan's clustering effect, where the trifecta of science parks... form a massive cluster that has attracted numerous other companies, both upstream and downstream in the supply chain," he said.

Semiconductors, which power everything from mobile phones to military hardware, are at the centre of a bitter dispute between the US and China.

In October, Washington announced that it would require licences for companies exporting chips to China using US tools or software, no matter where they are made in the world.

Last week, the Netherlands said it also planned to put restrictions on its "most advanced" microchip technology exports to protect national security.

Around the same time, South Korea's trade ministry raised concerns over the US policy on semiconductors.

The ministry said the Chips Act "could deepen business uncertainties, violate companies' management and technology rights as well as make the United States less attractive as an investment option".

China has frequently called the US a "tech hegemony" in response to export controls imposed by Washington.

South Korea is home to other major microprocessor manufacturers such as SK Hynix.

Local Education Group (LEG) High Level Consultation Meeting was held on March 14 in Ulaanbaatar.

At the meeting, the Government’s policy and short-term goals on the education and science sector were presented to the attendees and discussions were evolved around the topics such as cooperation opportunities and roles of the stakeholders. The meeting is significant in terms of establishing cooperation and partnership mechanism between the member countries. This mechanism will allow the realization of international projects and programs in line with the policy of education and science. Moreover, by establishing this mechanism, member organizations of the group will be able to hold meetings quarterly to identify the challenges and discuss solutions and possible technical assistance to solve these challenges.

Over 100 representatives from donors, international development organizations, and civil society organizations attended the consultation meeting.

During the meeting, Minister of Education and Science Mr. Enkh-Amgalan provided clarifications on the following issues.

Concerning the expected results from the consultative meeting, he said,

- “For many years, the governments of Japan and Germany, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank have been providing discounted loans for our education sector, and the amounts of projects, implemented in the education and vocational training sector have reached USD 760 million and USD 300 million, respectively. In total, we have received financing of over USD 1 billion. As a result, now education loans and grants are accounting for 10-15 percent of our total debt. However, the results and effectiveness of these loans and grants are still in question. The attendees of this consultative meeting are offering their suggestions on ways to improve the effectiveness of loans and grants, such as avoiding the overlap of loans and encouraging result-based financing methods. For instance, many projects are implemented for supporting disabled people, but they often fail to achieve results due to a lack of coordination. We also discussed other issues with donor and financing organizations, including the possibility to reduce the interest rate and prolong the term of loans. Another main issue was to cooperate with the financing organizations in eliminating the quality gap in educational services in urban and rural areas. To that extent, we have presented our cooperation proposals to the donors and financing organizations. Currently, we are cooperating with Germany on vocational training, with Japan on numerous projects, including school expansion projects, a 1000 Engineers Project, and a Japan-Mongolia Hospital Project, and with KOICA on the school lunch program. There are many more projects are expected to be implemented in the education sector.”

- Will it be possible for our country to get our education loans written off?

For the past 30 years, Mongolia has received over USD 1 billion as loans and grants in the education sector from donors and financing organizations. Most of them have been paid, and now the remaining amount on such loans is about USD 170 million. During this meeting, we also discussed the possibilities of each scenario in writing off the loans, reducing their interests, or extending their terms.

Moreover, the World Bank has launched an initiative to tackle education financing challenges for developing countries. In this regard, the Government of Germany swapped the debt for education programs in Indonesia.

- Professionals who studied abroad with international loans are criticized for not returning to their home country. What is the position of the Ministry of Education and Culture on this matter?

- Mostly, bachelor’s degree students are criticized for such reasons. So, we have started to establish an agreement with the students to bind parties to perform their obligations. Moreover, our universities are offering a 2+2 program for their students, allowing them to complete their last two years in a foreign university. The “President’s Scholar–2100" scholarship program initiated by President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh has been successfully implemented since 2021, awarding the best students from each of the 330 soums and capital city's 171 khoroos to study at the world’s best universities. There are other types of scholarships and loans for bachelor’s degree students. Yet, we need to expand the scope of scholarships and loans to include master’s and doctor’s degree students.

BEIJING (AP) — Mongolia plans to channel revenue from rising copper exports into an economic development fund as part of changes to reap more benefit from its mineral riches and root out corruption, the North Asian nation’s prime minister said in an interview Tuesday following the opening of a major expansion of its biggest mine.

Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene attended a ceremony 1,300 meters (4,300 feet) below ground to mark the start of underground production Monday at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia. He was joined by executives of Rio Tinto, the Australian mining giant that owns a 66% stake in the mine. The government owns the rest.

The multibillion-dollar expansion of Oyu Tolgoi is the latest effort to generate prosperity from Mongolia's copper, coal, gold and other minerals following three decades of complaints about economic malaise and corruption.

Oyun-Erdene, who took office in 2021, represents a younger generation following leaders who grew up under the Soviet-allied former communist government. At 42, the politician with the burly build of an American college football player has a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and experience working abroad.

“We are working hard to eliminate the old culture and introduce a new mindset,” the prime minister said by video link from Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital.

Mongolia gets more than 90% of its export revenue from minerals and is benefiting from the surge in global sales of electric cars that use more than a mile (1,500 meters) of copper wire in their motors.

Oyun-Erdene said his government plans to invest copper revenue in public health, education and developing technology, tourism and other new industries. He said his government will propose a law to create a sovereign wealth fund during the parliament session that begins Wednesday.

“We do believe this will be a historic moment for the livelihoods and standard of living of the people of Mongolia,” Oyun-Erdene said. He said his government wants to make “the wealth and natural resources of Mongolia beneficial and equally distributed to all the people of Mongolia.”

Mongolia’s economic growth is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to accelerate this year to 5% from last year’s 2.5%. But households have struggled with inflation that spiked to 14% last year. Economic output per person is about $4,500, barely one-third of neighboring China’s level.

Government plans call for more than doubling average economic output for Mongolia’s 3.2 million people to $10,000 by 2030.

The planned fund includes a pool of money for housing, education and health, a separate fund for development projects and a “stabilization fund” to cushion against changes in commodity prices, according to Oyun. That is similar to sovereign wealth funds operated by Chile, another big copper exporter, and oil producers to invest natural resource revenues.

Other planned investments to “enhance our economic independence” include two hydroelectric power plants to reduce Mongolia’s need for electricity from its giant neighbors, China and Russia, according to Oyun-Erdene.

To extract more value from its copper, Mongolia announced an agreement this week with Rio Tinto to look at building a smelter.

Oyu Tolgoi, about 550 kilometers (350 miles) south of Ulan Bator, started digging copper from an open pit in 2012 before developing the underground mine that its operators say is more valuable. The mine, with a workforce of 20,000, says it has paid $4 billion in taxes and other fees to the government.

Production is forecast to rise to 500,000 tons per year, or enough to equip 6 million electric vehicles. Its operators say that would make Oyu Tolgoi the world’s fourth-largest copper mine.

“People of Mongolia will benefit greatly from this project,” Oyun-Erdene, wearing a green helmet with a mining lamp, said Monday at a ceremony with Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm.

The mine faces complaints it uses too much scarce water in its desert setting and has displaced traditional nomadic herders. Activists say Rio Tinto and the government failed to carry out a 2017 agreement to compensate them.

The mine’s operator responds that it recycles most of its water and has paid the provincial government some $40.5 million for what it draws from local sources. The company says it has repaired herder wells and installed solar panels to power pumps at 40 of them.

“We are having talks with Oyu Tolgoi on how to improve the environment and especially how we can address the issue of environmental degradation,” Oyun-Erdene said.

He acknowledged complaints about corruption in the government-dominated mining industry, saying his administration has declared this an “anti-corruption year” and is carrying out a five-part plan based on advice from Transparency International, a global anti-graft watchdog.

Mongolia ranked 116th among countries last year in Transparency International’s “corruption perceptions index,” based on a survey of businesspeople and experts. That was down from No. 94 in 2012.

In December, thousands of people protested in freezing weather in Ulan Bator after Oyun-Erdene's government announced an investigation into officials accused of profiting from the improper diversion of coal exports in 2013-19.

The government aims to make mining more transparent and to reduce political influence by turning state-owned enterprises into companies with publicly traded shares. Oyun-Erdene said.

“Some parliament members are involved in mining and own companies. This is a real challenge,” Oyun-Erdene said. “We have to make the private interests of parliament members and public officials separate from the public interests of Mongolia.”

By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Mongolia Dmitry Gorelik met with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Development of Mongolia Chimed Khuralbaatar on 14 March, BelTA learned from the Belarusian diplomatic mission in Mongolia.

The parties discussed a wide range of issues related to bilateral trade and economic cooperation. They also discussed the oncoming regular meetings of the joint Belarusian-Mongolian commission on trade and economic cooperation and the joint Belarusian-Mongolian commission on scientific and technical cooperation in Minsk in 2023.

The parties agreed on the need to intensify the bilateral dialogue between the ministries, as well as the early implementation of new joint projects in the delivery of municipal, agricultural and other equipment produced in Belarus.

MONTSAME Mongolian National News Agency interviewed Ms. Elaine Conkievich who was appointed as a Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Mongolia on November 9, 2019.

Good morning! Thank you for your interview with the Mongol Messenger today. Before we start, could you please introduce yourself and your background to our readers?

Thank you. It is my pleasure. My name is Elaine Conkievich and I have been working as UNDP Resident Representative in Mongolia for over three years. Before that, I used to work as the UN Women representative in Central Asia, based in Kazakhstan for the last five years. Overall, I have been working for nearly 30 years in international development in the fields of governance, human rights, rule of law, gender mainstreaming, democratic institution building, conflict resolution, and preventive diplomacy working in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, and now Mongolia.

Can you please tell us about how UNDP works in Mongolia and the organization’s history in Mongolia a little bit?

Gladly. UNDP has been working in Mongolia for over five decades. Formally, our agreement with the Government of Mongolia was signed in 1976, but our work in the country started even before that.

Today, we are very proud to have become a trusted and long-term partner of the Government and people of Mongolia. UNDP has provided vital development support to Mongolia, including the transition to democracy and the market economy in the 1990s. Since then, we have continued to work with Mongolia on governance, climate change, natural resource management, and for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

We have helped establish critical nationwide institutions in Mongolia, including the National Emergency Management Agency, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Independent Authority Against Corruption as well as the major private sector entities, including Gobi Cashmere and Xac Bank.

We have also provided support for major legislative reforms in Mongolia. For example, the Law on administrative and territorial units and their government, the LATUG Law, and the Law on Genetic Resources were also adopted with UNDP support and the ongoing civil service reform.

UNDP's work in Mongolia is guided by our Country Programme Document, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and Mongolia’s national sustainable and long-term development priorities, namely the Vision 2050, and UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Mongolia.

What is the Country Programme Document? Could you please tell us more about it, such as how it is developed and who contributes to it?

The Country Programme Document is a modality under which UNDP works. It is developed and adopted every five years through a consultative process with the Government of Mongolia, civil society organizations, and other partners, including development partners, international financial institutions, and bilateral institutions. It guides UNDP's activities in a country and is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that it remains relevant and responsive to the changing development needs and priorities of the country.

We are starting the implementation of the new Country Programme Document for 2023-2027 this year, which was signed off last September at the UNDP Executive Board following endorsement by the Government of Mongolia.

Thank you. So, what are some of the key results and achievements of UNDP from your previous Country programme document in 2017-2022?

UNDP’s previous Country Programme Document for Mongolia focused on two key areas, including inclusive and sustainable development and strengthened voice, participation, and accountable governance.

One of our major achievements is the development of the Integrated National Financing Framework and Strategy and tools with support from the UN Joint SDG Fund, under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, in partnership with sister UN agencies. It has been endorsed by the National Committee on Sustainable Development and implementation will begin with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy and Development.

In connection with this, we have been and continue to work on the institutionalization of results-based budgeting, with a special focus on the employment sector, supported by the European Union helping line ministries to link their long-term development plans and budgeting with the outputs for those plans as a way to accelerate progress for the sustainable development goals.

On climate change and biodiversity fronts, we have supported the resiliency of local communities and aimags through multiple interventions such as conducting the first feasibility assessments for climate risk and vulnerability, protection and conservation of Mongolia’s biodiversity and ecosystem by supporting the implementation of the Natural Resource Use Fee law, and sustainable livelihoods of local communities thanks to funding from the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environmental Facility.

For governance, our support focused on building competencies and capacities of the local citizen’s representative khurals in the aimags across Mongolia, with the support of Switzerland, emphasizing the decentralization and Mongolia’s civil service with the support of Canada, especially in human resources, to ensure recruitment and retention follow the merit-based principle and to increase the number of senior female civil servants which increased from 8.6 percent to 21 percent by last year.

We have also focused our support on key cross-cutting areas, including gender equality and digitalization. Our main priority for gender equality has been and continues to be supporting women in public decision-making with the support of KOICA.

Innovation and digitalization have been another focus, with UNDP Mongolia's Accelerator Lab finding new solutions to complex development problems, such as digital literacy for vulnerable groups and waste management systems. During Covid-19, we also helped to digitize social workers and improve their capacity easing the provision of effective social services with the support of the Government of Japan.

What are the main priorities of UNDP in the next five years and what are your expected results?

In the next five years, UNDP will be supporting the Government of Mongolia in three main priority areas: first, diversified, inclusive, and green economy, second, risk-informed climate adaptation and sustainable management of natural ecosystems, and third, women’s empowerment, inclusive and accountable governance, and progress towards achievement of the SDGs.

As you know, the Sustainable Development Goals are through 2030, and this year we are right midway now between 2015 and 2030.

So, it’s very important for us that our support in the next five years will help the Government of Mongolia to accelerate its progress towards SDGs.

As we look to take on complex development challenges leveraging innovation and new solutions, we are changing our approach where we have separate projects that are independently working to developing what we call a portfolio approach, which is bringing together synergies across different aspects of the work that we're doing and leveraging them in an integrated fashion to bring more complex results and thus accelerating results for Mongolia.

In connection with your next five years' priority, will UNDP’s work support the Billion Tree nationwide campaign initiated by the President of Mongolia?

Absolutely. We already began supporting by developing a feasibility study for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism with regard to the Billion Tree Initiative in 2021. And beyond that, our programmes that we are implementing in the area of climate change, biodiversity, natural resource management, also the financing for sustainable development are geared towards supporting combating desertification, supporting reforestation, and overall efforts of the Government of Mongolia to fulfill its commitment made at the previous COP in regard to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 22.7 percent.

What do you see as the main challenges that Mongolia is facing, and how will UNDP support us in addressing them?

Mongolia faces many development challenges, including economic diversification and job creation, as the economy remains heavily dependent on extractive industries. Attention to infrastructure development and transitioning urban centers to sustainable cities including focusing on a just energy transition, to support its growing economy through inclusive development that is benefiting both women and men, would be important. Additionally, poverty reduction is a significant concern, as a large portion of the population lives in rural areas with limited economic opportunities and the poverty rate has been hovering around 27-28 percent for several years. Environmental degradation and climate change impacts including increased natural disasters and foreign debt burden are also pressing issues as well as corruption, which hinders economic growth and erodes public trust.

Furthermore, increasing inequalities and the importance of achieving gender equality, especially at the decision-making level, is a major challenge that Mongolia needs to address given over 50 percent of the population are women.

UNDP will continue to support the Government of Mongolia in key development areas, including digitalization and innovation through our Accelerator Lab to address the complex development challenges that Mongolia is facing. Furthermore, we will continue to support the improvement of public financial management through results-based budgeting with a particular focus on the labor and employment sectors so that more women, youth, and people with disabilities can find and be engaged in long-term formal employment. We hope to continue our work to strengthen the civil service, including by increasing the number of senior female civil servants. In addition, advocating for and supporting women’s participation in public decision-making is key to engaging women in the development and implementation of policies and legislation.

We will continue to work with the private sector by supporting businesses to have good human rights practices.

Also, importantly, UNDP will continue to support climate change adaptation and resilience building of herder communities, protection of ecosystems, and the beautiful natural resources of Mongolia. And underpinning all of this is our continued support of sustainable financing to increase the amount of financial resources from the public and private sectors for effective use towards Mongolia's development.

What are the areas that Mongolians should take more advantage of to accelerate its development and achieve SDGs by 2030?

In addition to increasing women's role and participation across different sectors at all decision-making levels, leveraging innovation and digitalization, and mobilizing more financing for sustainable development, one of the key areas that Mongolia should focus on, and advance is the energy transition. This is an area where Mongolia has large untapped potential for renewable energy, that is solar and wind which would not only be beneficial to the environment but important for the people of Mongolia by improving their health and economic situation through the development of this sector. So, very much the way of the future is not only for the provision of energy, but an energy transition is just, which means that it benefits the women and men of Mongolia, leaving no one behind through economic diversification, new jobs, and new skills as well as improving the environment, contributing to better health outcomes.

Focusing on the human angle of the energy transition is quite important. In this regard, we are currently working on developing a flagship report, a National Human Development Report, exactly on the importance and significance of Just Energy Transition for Mongolia as we see, looking into the future, that this is a key to unlocking a more prosperous and sustainable future for the people of Mongolia.

Thank you.

During her Official Visit to Turkey between March 13-14, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms. Battsetseg held official talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. On March 14, the Ministers held a press conference to present the official outcomes of their talks.

During the press conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms. Battsetseg said “It is my pleasure to visit your beautiful country at your, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, invitation. Please accept my sincere gratitude for your warm welcome and hospitality. First of all, I would like to offer my deepest condolence again over the tragic loss and injuries caused by the devastating earthquake in the southeastern provinces of the Republic of Turkey and reaffirm that we, Mongolians, stand in full solidarity with the people of Turkey. I believe that the Republic of Turkey will be able to overcome the losses and damages within a short time. The official talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu were fruitful, and many important issues of bilateral regional and international relations were discussed in detail. Mongolia attaches utmost significance to its relations with the Republic of Turkey and strives to develop bilateral relations in all spheres. In particular, we agreed to advance the relations between our two countries from the current comprehensive partnership to the ‘strategic partnership’ and continue the mutual high-level visits in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries.”

On the sideline of the talks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Ms. Batstesteg, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey on “Cooperating in Diplomatic Ceremony” which will make a particular contribution to strengthening the cooperation between the ministries.

In addition, in order to increase the trade turnover between our two countries and facilitate the export of animal products, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Mongolia to the Republic of Turkey Mr. Munkhbayar signed the following official documents with the Secretary of Halal Accreditation Agency of Turkey Mr. Mustafa Suleiman, the Director of National Metrology Institute, affiliated to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey Mr. Mustafa Cetintaş, and the President of Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) Mr. Mahmut Sami Şahin, respectively. These are:

· “Memorandum of Understanding” between the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology and the Halal Accreditation Agency of Turkey on Halal Quality Infrastructure;

· “Memorandum of Understanding” between the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology and the National Metrology Institute, affiliated to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey;

· “Action Plan to Organize Training on Standardization, Evaluation, and Metrology from 2022 through 2026” of the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology and the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE).

China will allow all domestic companies to import Australian coal, signaling an end to trade restrictions imposed in late 2020.

Ports and customs offices have been told to allow the cargoes, according to people familiar with the decision, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Earlier this year, authorities gave four major importers permission to resume purchases of Australian coal, which began shipping in January.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s economic planning agency, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

High-quality Australian coal is much sought after by China’s steelmakers and power plants. Imports could reach 1 million tons in the first half of March alone, according to China’s top coal lobbying group. China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer and its imports of the fuel exceeded 290 million tons last year.

Major consumer

Australian coal mining stocks, including Yancoal Australia Ltd. and New Hope Corp., narrowed losses after the news. Chinese coking coal futures extended declines.

China had been a major consumer of Australian coal before implementing its unofficial ban as political hostilities escalated between the two countries. Australian leaders have said ending the ban would be a key step in restoring ties between the nations.

The thaw in relations between the two countries comes as a welcome development for Australian exporters of other commodities hit by a raft of restrictions, including lobster, beef, barley and wine.

Australian lobster exporters aren’t seeing the same obstacles from Chinese authorities that were previously in place, Australia’s Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said at a conference in Canberra last week. And there are early signs that impediments to beef and dairy shippers are also beginning to ease, he said.

China is to resume issuing visas to foreign tourists for the first time since the Covid pandemic broke out three years ago.

The major easing of restrictions comes after Beijing declared victory over the virus and retreats from a zero-Covid strategy that has hurt its economy.

Valid visas issued before China closed to the world on 28 March 2020 will be honoured starting on 15 March.

Visa-free entry will resume in Hainan Island and Shanghai for cruise ships.

Tour groups from Hong Kong and Macau will be allowed visa-free-entry while Chinese consular offices abroad will also resume processing visa applications.

The removal of the last cross-border restrictions imposed to tackle Covid marks a major step towards the resumption of normal life in post-pandemic China. All changes take effect on 15 March.

Tens of millions of international visitors came to China each year prior to the pandemic, and its tourism industry has been hard hit by strict anti-Covid measures.

But the country can expect a significant increase in international arrivals, after it reopens its borders, analysts say.

Chinese citizens will also be allowed to travel on tour groups to 60 countries, up from 20 previously.

China said its gross domestic product grew just 3% in 2022, the worst in nearly half a century.

For the current year, Beijing has set a 5% target with new Premier Li Qiang saying that the world's second largest economy is stabilising and picking up again.

The zero-Covid policy that was lifted in December sparked rare protests against China's leader, Xi Jinping.

He has since solidified his grip on power in the Communist Party and secured a record third term as president.

A health awareness session facilitated by peacekeepers from Mongolia serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was held in Pariang.

More than 50 women and girls from nearby areas took part in the training meted out by Blue Helmets, including midwives, teachers, civil society and government representatives, as well as adolescent girls.

The focus: Educating women and girls on basic health and hygiene; preventing communicable and water-borne diseases and proper handwashing.

Following the main event, female peacekeepers and women had spirited conversations on a range of issues, shared common concerns and spent time getting to know one another.

“It’s been wonderful to spend the day with these inspirational women peacekeepers from Mongolia,” said Ayen Anthony Kiir, a young girl who participated in the event. “I’ve learned a lot about good health practices, played volleyball with them and even learned a few new dance steps,” she narrated with a smile. “I want to grow up to become just like them – independent and brave,” added Ayen.

After two hours of quality time, a happy group of women and girls returned to their homes with hygiene kits, aprons, study materials, and, critically, with the assurance that UNMISS is their partner in helping build a more prosperous, peaceful future.