During its irregular meeting on January 6, the Cabinet dissolved the Communications and Information Technology Authority of Mongolia (CITA) and approved the structure and strategy of the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications.

Minister of Education and Science L.Enkh-Amgalan will serve as the Acting Minister of Digital Development and Communications and B.Bolor-Erdene as the ministry’s Acting State Secretary. Officials led by Deputy Chief of the Cabinet Secretariat U.Byambasuren worked at CITA to announce the Cabinet’s decision.

“The State Great Khural and the Government have identified information and communications technology as a key economic sector. Moreover, Mongolia’s long-term, development policy ‘Vision 2050’ and the Government’s action program for 2020-2024 include a goal to become a digital nation and plans are afoot to digitize 90 percent of government services by 2024,” said Minister L.Enkh-Amgalan. “The parliament has approved five packages of laws on digital governance and the Digital Development and Communications Ministry will have an important role in the efforts. The ministry will help accelerate the country’s development and improve its competitiveness”

The Ministry of Digital Development and Communications has six departments for Policy and Planning; Digital Development Policy Implementation; Communications Policy Implementation; Cyber Security Policy Implementation; Public Administration; and Monitoring Evaluation and Internal Audit; eight divisions.

Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 1,818 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the highest count since Nov. 5, 2021, bringing the national tally to 399,482, the country's health ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said that two more COVID-19 related deaths were recorded, taking the national total to 2,003.

The Asian country confirmed its first imported and local cases of the Omicron variant last week, which indicates the beginning of a fourth wave of the pandemic in the country, health authorities said, urging the public to follow all relevant health guidelines.

So far, 66.6 percent of the country's population has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while more than 946,536 people aged over 18 have received a third dose.

Starting from Friday, a fourth dose has been administered on a voluntary basis.

When COVID-19 hit Mongolia in January 2020, all schools nationwide were closed, sending 900,000 children into remote learning. Classes were broadcast on the national TV channels on topics such as Mongolian language, mathematics, and science. Different channels were geared to different age groups. However, online courses were not as effective as in-person classes, but they were certainly better than no classes. Therefore, the additional work of home schooling saw the care burden increase significantly for parents.

Traditionally, families with two working parents prefer hiring a teacher for homeschooling to one of them quitting his/her job. However, the price of homeschooling is doubled since pandemic hit the country. The average cost of homeschooling ranges between MNT 500 thousand and MNT 600 thousand per child per month. This is above the minimum salary of just MNT 420 thousand in Ulaanbaatar, capital city of Mongolia as of January 2021.

On January 11, Minister of Road and Transport L.Khaltar received Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Mongolia Zafer Ateş to exchange views on bilateral relations and cooperation in the transportation sector.

Minister L.Khaltar congratulated the Ambassador on his appointment in Mongolia in May 2021, and expressed willingness to actively cooperate in developing sectoral cooperation aimed at expanding the two countries’ trade, economic, and business relations.

He then highlighted that aviation and road transport makes up a significant portion of sectoral cooperation between Mongolia and Turkey, and underlined the increasing responsibility of transport during the pandemic.

Thus, he put forth a suggestion to organize meetings between corresponding professional organizations in order to further improve relations in air transport, and establish railway connections based on mutually-beneficial, fair principles.

In turn, Ambassador Zafer Ateş expressed his satisfaction with the resumption of flights en route Ulaanbaatar - Istanbul from April 2021, and noted the importance of offering transport services that meets demands in connection with the increasing amount of freight being transported from Turkey.

In its framework, he put forth a request to increase the frequency of flights being conducted by Turkish Airlines, and obtain permission to conduct cargo flights to other countries in Asia through Ulaanbaatar.

Regarding railways, the Ambassador highlighted the opportunity to be connected through the ‘Middle Corridor’ which connects countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and China in the framework of China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, and agreed to support the cooperation of corresponding organizations for studying the matter.

The adoption of a 14 working days and 14 days off roster is a victory for IndustriALL affiliate Federation of Energy, Geology and Mining Workers’ Trade Unions of Mongolia (MEGM). The revised labour code was passed by the Mongolian parliament on 2 July 2021, coming into force on 1 January this year.

“We welcome the labour code revision which guarantees 14/14 roster work for miners. I urge mine companies to comply with the new labour code and not to decrease their salaries. The government must ensure compliance by carrying out regular inspections,”

says Khuyag Buyanjargal, MEGM president and general secretary of Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions (CMTU).

The government had initially proposed 20 working days and 10 days off for miners working on shifts at remote mine sites.

But with mine accidents increasing in 2018 and 2019, the MEGM submitted a petition, signed by 3,400 miners, calling on the government to change the roster work to 14/14. The union argued that longer working days would deprive the miners of rest time and compromise safety at mines.

The MEGM also cautioned the government about social issues arising from the longer work shifts, like increasing divorce and suicide rates.

In addition to the work roster, a new provision giving the workers the right to refuse unsafe work has been inserted. Workers do not need to return to work until the employers have eliminated the dangerous elements.

“This is an important victory for protecting miners’ safety and health and shows the important role of unions in shaping sustainable industrial policy and decent employment,”

says IndustriALL mining director Glen Mpufane.

A company with 20 or more workers needs to set up a labour dispute resolution commission, composed of employer and trade union representatives.

If a commission is not established, workers can refer the dispute to a local tripartite labour rights dispute settlement committee. If consensus is not reached, a complaint can be filed at the civil court.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes has said worldwide travel is likely to rebound strongly despite progress being slowed by the Covid-19 Omicron variant.

“I do believe that we’re at the beginning of the end,” he told CNBC on Monday, adding that recovery has already begun in earnest and demand has been “very, very robust.”

Fernandes said, “The good thing is, this time last year, we had no planes flying. Now, we’ve got a large chunk of our fleet flying domestic Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.”

The AirAsia CEO believes international travel will return to pre-Covid levels around six months after borders begin to reopen. He also said he hopes borders will start to open again in March.

According to Fernandes, China continues to be a “big question” in terms of reopening, as the nation is still pursuing a zero-Covid policy.

Last year, some Asian countries reopened to quarantine-free travel after months of border closures. However, with the spread of Omicron, several countries, including Thailand and India, have reinstated restrictions for some arrivals.

On January 10, executive officials of customs organizations convened at the Customs General Administration. During the meeting, it was highlighted that:

• Of MNT 3.560 trillion that was planned to be contributed to the state budget in 2021, customs duties amounted to MNT 3.509 trillion which makes up 98.6 percent of the year’s goal.

• 933 cases of customs offences were inspected and resolved, imposing MNT 1.6 billion in fines and MNT 2.7 billion in taxes.

• By introducing the digital system, 33 types of services offered for entities and 14 types of services offered for citizens were fully digitized alongside making 9 types of permissions possible to be obtained online.

For the new year, the Customs General Administration aims to have operations transition into a digital form by creating the appropriate conditions.

In the year of 2021, operations were halted at the Zamiin-Uud and Shiveekhuren border checkpoints for 72 days and 42 days respectively due to the pandemic situation.

Furthermore, works for construction and renewal at border checkpoints such as those located in Zamiin-Uud, Altanbulag, Sukhbaatar, Borshoo, and Khushig Valley are planned to be completed this year. Regarding the matter, Deputy Head of the Customs General Administration B.Batkhishig said, “Alongside continuing to carry out works to renew border checkpoints this year, the appropriate conditions will be created in order to introduce new methods for transportation that require less human interaction. This includes container transportation, cable cars, and railways. Automated container transportation platforms are planned to be introduced at the Mongolia-China border.”

The construction of the very first terminal for container transportation was launched at Gashuunsukhait border checkpoint in July, and test runs were done in October. With the establishment of this particular type of terminal at the Shiveekhuren border checkpoint, it will become possible to annually transport 7.6 tons of coal. If the construction of such terminals and railways are able to be efficiently carried out, operations will not be affected by the circumstances posed by the pandemic, said the officials.

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) said on Monday is expects to produce between 290,000 to 340,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2022 at its Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Canadian miner, which began production at the asset last year, said output for the year ended December 31 yielded 105,884 tonnes of copper concentrate, which exceeded the upper end of the increased guidance range of 92,500 to 100,000 tonnes. The year-end total was boosted by record monthly production of 18,853 tonnes achieved in December, the company said.

Guidance range for cash costs per pound of payable copper in 2022 has been set at between $1.20 and $1.40 per pound, below the $1.37 per pound Ivanhoe achieved in the final quarter of 2021.

Ivanhoe said it is now focused on completing the mine’s Phase 2’s concentrator plant expansion, which is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2022, about three months ahead of schedule.

The company said the project will double the mine’s nameplate milling throughput to 7.6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). Phases 1 and 2 combined are forecast to produce approximately 400,000 tonnes of copper per year.

The Phase 3 expansion is also advancing, Ivanhoe said, with work ongoing on new box cut to open up the Kamoa mine. An updated pre-feasibility study (PFS), including the Phase 3 expansion, is expected in the third quarter of the year.

“Our outstanding team of geologists is confident that the Kamoa and Kakula mines are just the initial discoveries of a major new mining district, which extends the storied African Copperbelt in a southwesterly direction all the way to the Zambian border,” Ivanhoe co-chairperson Robert Friedland said in the statement.

“We will be conducting an extensive drilling campaign on our majority-owned Western Foreland exploration licences this year to unlock the potential of this highly-prospective ground,” Friedland noted.

Second-largest copper mine

Ivanhoe inked a deal in June with China’s Zijin Mining’s DRC subsidiary and trader Citic Metal to sell each 50% of the copper production from the mine.

Mining billionaire Friedland has said the project will become the world’s second-largest copper mine and the one with the highest grades among major operations.

He also believes the DRC has the potential to become the world’s top copper producer, overtaking Chile.

The company has also vowed to produce the industry’s “greenest” copper, as it works to become the first net-zero operational carbon emitter among the world’s top-tier copper producers. Friedland has not yet set a target date for achieving that goal.

Ivanhoe also is advancing development of the Platreef palladium-rhodium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa, scheduled to begin production in 2024. A feasibility study for the project should be completed in early 2022, the miner said.

In the DRC, the company is upgrading the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium mine, for a resumption of production.

Ivanhoe shares have doubled in value over the past year and were trading more almost 4% higher on Monday in Toronto at C$11.09 a piece. The company has a market capitalization of C$13.17 billion ($10.4 billion).

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, social norms in Mongolia have long dictated that women shoulder the heavier burden of childcare and domestic work. COVID-19 has not only laid bare this reality, but has exacerbated it.

As the pandemic struck, the Government of Mongolia responded quickly by shutting schools as early as January 2020, leaving many parents in a difficult predicament. The additional work of home schooling saw the care burden increase significantly, for both men and women. However, deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and structures meant that this had a disproportionate impact on women. Recent qualitative research by The Asia Foundation revealed that working mothers had to make major changes to adapt, such as closing their businesses, reducing operations, and quitting their jobs.

Many working mothers, however, did not have the option of leaving work to care for their children, either full- or part-time. Women in the public sector found it especially difficult to adjust their working hours, given many were directly involved in providing the government’s COVID-19 response. They described stress and exhaustion in trying to juggle their work and childcare duties.

35-year-old Dulmaa said she had to work long shifts and, when she finally had time to go home to be with her family, she was often called back to her workplace to attend mandatory “emergency meetings”. Failure to show up would have resulted in salary reductions. She described being increasingly stressed because she had little or no time to spend with her daughter.

The impact of the pandemic on some women working in the private sector was similar. While many private sector workers enjoy greater autonomy, this does not always mean freedom to modify work schedules. Bayarmaa, a 33-year-old beauty salon owner, had just started her business when COVID-19 struck, and was unable to reduce her work hours as she needed to repay a bank loan. The closure of kindergartens meant she had no choice but to ask her elderly mother to help with childcare. Her mother was also looking after her sister’s children at the same time.

These kinds of challenges have been recognised, and the government at various levels has attempted to address the additional burdens through a variety of policy measures. For instance, they encouraged private employers to institute flexible working hours, and they provided an extra hour of paid leave to parents in the public sector. Yet, given the entrenched nature of the unequal distribution of domestic labour, working mothers, and often their mothers too, have continued to struggle.

Social norms and values that relegate the bulk of labour in the care economy – childcare, care of the elderly, healthcare and education – to women, are also internalised by women themselves. Working women described feelings of guilt over not being able to look after their children themselves, and for “burdening” their immediate family members. Women often see themselves as inadequately fulfilling their “primary role” as mothers.

The pandemic has magnified the gendered distribution of the care economy in Mongolia, and its consequences for working women. In the second year of the pandemic, the need for change has become more urgent.

In the short term, planning and action are needed to provide emergency childcare support. Yet without broader structural change, entering the workforce and building a career will remain an uphill battle for Mongolian women.

Short-term measures need to be the precursor to longer-term initiatives that see greater investment in the care economy, greater recognition of the contribution of unpaid labour to the productive economy, and dedicated efforts to change social norms and values around masculinity, fatherhood, and men’s involvement in parenting. Through programs such as paid paternity leave, not only can men be incentivised to take a much more active role in the care of small children, but emerging evidence suggests that more positive norms of fatherhood are also inspired in the longer term.

As the pandemic has shown, Mongolia, along with most of the world, still has a long way to go in terms of redistributing the burden of childcare and domestic work more equitably between men and women. The pandemic has demonstrated – here and elsewhere – that in a crisis, stubborn inequalities of this kind can dramatically increase a country’s social and economic vulnerability.

BY: Khaliun Boldbaatar

This post is part of a collaborative series with The Asia Foundation. Names have been changed to protect the privacy of research participants.

Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 1,208 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest number since Nov. 5, 2021, bringing the national tally to 397,664, the country's health ministry said Tuesday.

Among the latest confirmed cases, 36 were imported from abroad, the ministry said, adding the country's COVID-19 death toll remains at 2,001.

The Asian country confirmed its first imported and local cases of the Omicron variant last week.

The emergence of Omicron indicates the beginning of a fourth wave of the pandemic in the country, the country's health authorities said, urging the public to follow all relevant health guidelines.

So far, 66.6 percent of the total population has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses, while more than 941,119 people aged over 18 have received a third dose.

Starting from Friday, the country has offered a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens on a voluntary basis.