Ulaanbaatar (December 8, 2021) The Millennium Challenge Account, Mongolia (MCA-Mongolia) and the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) held a public event to introduce MCC’s updated Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Policy.

On October 18, 2021, MCC approved an updated version of its Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Policy. The C-TIP policy guides the efforts of MCA-Mongolia and its contractors to ensure zero tolerance for trafficking in persons in the MCC-Mongolia Water Compact, from project design to construction. In less than three decades, the population of Ulaanbaatar has nearly tripled in size; however, the water supply has remained the same, creating the conditions for a severe water crisis. The MCC-Mongolia Water Compact will build the critical infrastructure necessary to sustain this limited natural resource, positively impacting more than 55 percent of Mongolia’s population.

The updated MCC C-TIP policy specifically references both sex trafficking and forced labor, and it makes C-TIP Minimum Compliance Requirements a central part of the policy. “We expect the C-TIP Minimum Compliance Requirements to have positive impact on our enforcement efforts by clearly spelling out what all actors in MCC-funded programs must do,” explained Fatema Z. Sumar, MCC’s Vice President for the Department of Compact Operation.

“This policy also fits into a U.S. Government-wide effort aimed at countering trafficking in persons,” explained Gregory May, the U.S. Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, and “it reinforces the Government of Mongolia’s anti-trafficking efforts.” The State Department’s 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report states that, “the Government of Mongolia demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.”

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an international development agency of the U.S. Government, working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants and assistance to countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, fighting corruption and respecting democratic rights.