Mongolia : Combating Domestic Violence Against Women and Children

Public sector management / Social protection initiatives

Gender equality in political, legal, economic, social, cultural and family relations substantially achieved (National Program on Gender Equality 2017-2021)

Non-traditional risks to peace and safety of citizens and society reduced (Mongolia's Vision-2050)

Quality of and access to prevention and multi-disciplinary response to domestic violence strengthened.

Multi-disciplinary response and livelihood assistance services to domestic violence survivors delivered

Capacity of key officials and staff responsible for protection and rehabilitation services for domestic violence survivors improved

Behavior of key stakeholders on prevention, reporting and protection of survivors improved

Output 1: Four shelters to provide multidisciplinary response to domestic violence have fully renovated and furnished in three aimags (Sukhbaatar, Selenge, and Uvs) and one district of Ulaanbaatar city (Nalaikh). These shelters are fully operational. A total of 334 victims of domestic violence received services at the shelters. The construction work of a new shelter in Songinokhairkhan district of Ulaanbaatar completed in the Q2 2023 and verification and receiving construction work performance was held on 21 June 2023 by government authorities.

A total of 115 survivor women of domestic violence in the five project sites were trained on legal and financial literacy and business proposal development and received psychosocial counseling services for the first phase of the program and developed and submitted their small-business proposals. A total of 50 women out of 115 have been awarded to receive small-scale grants to initiate start-up businesses and/or undertake vocational trainings for employment to create income generation opportunities for better livelihoods. For the second stage, 50 selected women were participated in follow up training on business development, communication skill and make their business plan more consistent with the consulting team support. The contract on implementing and funding of small-scale grants for 50 women have been awarded in April 2022. The small grants were implemented through Q4 2022 and 50 women survivors of DV benefited from the economic empowerment program and out of them 44 women started their new business.

Four shelters to provide multidisciplinary response to domestic violence have fully renovated and furnished in three provinces (Sukhbaatar, Selenge, and Uvs) and one district of Ulaanbaatar city (Nalaikh). The shelter in Uvs province has been operational since May 2021 and during which 216 victims of domestic violence received services. The shelter in Sukhbaatar province started an operation from 23 May 2022 and a total of 68 victims were received.

A pilot women's economic empowerment program to empower and equip 100 survivors of domestic violence with legal understanding, financial literacy, personal growth, self-assurance, and business planning, the "Women's Economic Empowerment" program successfully implemented in five target project areas (Uvs, Selenge, Sukhbaatar province, Songinohairkhan, Nalaikh district) and completed in Q4 2022. A collaborative effort between the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Educated Enterprise NGO served as consultants for the project, spanning from October 26, 2020, to December 31, 2022. In the initial phase, the program organized capacity building training across the five project sites. Topics spanned from "preventing domestic violence, recognizing forms of violence, personal growth, managing personal finances, to developing business plans." A total of 105 out of 115 participants from the first stage developed micro-business project proposals. Local working groups in three provinces and two districts took charge of the selection process, identifying 50 women to advance further in the program.The selected individuals underwent the second round of training between April and May 2022, focusing on business development, management, accounting, marketing, and entrepreneurial start-up, aligned with the developed handbook. Results of pre-and-post-training assessments indicated an average knowledge increase of 30% among participants. To sustain the livelihoods of 50 survivors, a grant of up to $2,500 USD or a total of 346,480,000 MNT was distributed in three installments between June and November 2022. This financial support bolstered their micro-business projects. All 50 women actively pursued their businesses, and the program bore significant fruits.

A total of 50 small-scale grants (SSGs) across the country since to increase public awareness and outreach capacity and quality services by multi-disciplinary teams, one-stop service centers, and shelters are fully successfully implemented and completed, of which 30 were finance under the original grant and 20 under additional financing. As a result of 30 SSGs, a total of 11 one-stop service centers and shelters have improved their physical environment, 3 existing shelters were improved safety and security, and 6 shelters were provided by child friendly facilities. A total of 361 adults (out of them 338/94% female), 553 children (out of them 333/60% female) were provided safety protection services by OSSCs and shelters and 988 multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) members (out of them 699/71% female) were trained in enhancing multidisciplinary services methods. As a result of 20 SSGs to increase the outreach capacity and quality of services of MDTs, OSSCs and shelters in 11 aimags and 4 districts, a total of 10 OSSCs and shelters have improved their physical environment. Two soums were established and furnished a room for providing services for DV/GBV survivors with the improved physical environment, and 7 MDTs' counseling rooms were renewed their furniture, equipment and facilities and able to provide individual psychological services for the survivors. During the small-scale projects' implementation phase, 93 adults (out of them 46/49% female), 178 children (out of them 101/57% female) were provided safety protection services by OSSCs and shelters and 300 MDTs' members (out of them 162/54% female) were trained in enhancing multidisciplinary services methods. Furthermore, 25 videos, programs and short stories have been prepared, reaching more than 22,000 people.

Output 2: The series of workshops were organized: (i) the training of trainers to strengthen the capacity of the MDTs was held on 5-9 December 2022. A total of 40 (24/60% female) representatives from social security, social welfare, administration, health, police, government and non-government organizations were prepared as national trainers; (ii) the relevant specialists from SCCCP and PIU organized the meeting with 20 trained national trainers on 20 June 2023 and provided methodological advice and made team distribution in order to conduct capacity building training for MDT members of the selected 5 districts (Bayangol, Songinohairkhan, Nalaih, Bagahangai and Baganuur); (ii) e-learning modules on GBV and domestic violence is developed; (iii) 12 types of short videos for e-learning purposes and promoting the activities of MDT members developed; (iv) Capacity building training for the local state attorneys and Legal Aid Center was conducted on 05-06 May 2023 in order to increase the participation of attorneys in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings in domestic violence. A total of 80 state attorneys (56/70% female) participated in the training and improved their knowledge in the field of protecting the rights of children and women affected by domestic violence and providing free legal assistance to citizens; (v) A two-day capacity building training for psychologists from shelters, OSSC, AFCYD at aimag, city, and district level titled 'Providing psychological counseling to domestic violence victims" was jointly organized with the MLSP and 'Good neighbors International NGO on 24-25 May 2023. A total of 40 psychologists participated in the training (37/92% female) mastered the methodology of the 6 types of comprehensive psychological service program by combining theory and practice. Each of these 40 psychologists was provided a psychological package with a total of 160 products in three age categories for their work needs, which will be an important tool for providing psychological services to victims of domestic violence; and (vi) the capacity-building workshop for MDT members in the Bayangol, Nalaikh, Bagakhangai, Baganuur districts and Uvs aimag took place in July to September. The workshops for other 1 district and 10 aimags are expected in September and October 2023.

The peer educators and support groups program for persons with disabilities was successfully completed in October 2022. A total of 30 peer educators (out of them 25/83% female), comprising 15 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and 15 caregivers of PWDs to provide peer counselling for persons with disabilities on social and legal issues were trained on human rights, discrimination, disability and development, preventing domestic violence, recognition of forms of violence, child protection, working with people with disabilities, and as well as SASA (Start, Advocate, Support, Act) approach of community mobilization in June-July 2022. The peer educators established 25 peer groups with 125 members in 5 project sites and provided peer counseling to 169 (130 women, 39 men) persons with disabilities and 152 (126 women, 26 men) caregivers of PWDs on legal issues, domestic violence forms, access to relevant services and discrimination. Continuous on-site assistance was provided to the peer educators through monitoring and support visits conducted by World Vision Mongolia's consultant team.

Output 3: The behavior change communication (BCC) campaign named "One Color" was launched on September 18, 2023, at the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, with the active participation of 8 television channels and 12 media sites covering the event. As part of the campaign's initiatives, 9 short film episodes named 'Hultsehgui were created to advocate for Multi-disciplinary Team services and improve recognition of these teams. Additionally, the campaign produced 40 posters and 15 videos addressing domestic violence prevention, awareness of its consequences, challenging gender-based violence stereotypes, and promoting gender equality. The campaign is scheduled to run for one month, and the dissemination of its products is being carried out through the official social media pages of the Coordination Council for Crime Prevention in Mongolia, the Press Institute, and Neg Ungu on Facebook and Instagram. Nine episodes of the short film series have been distributed through ten television channels and the official social media pages of the Coordination Council for Crime Prevention in Mongolia, as well as Neg Ungu on Facebook and Instagram. All the products of the campaign have been created with subtitles and sign language interpreters to ensure accessibility and inclusivity. Moreover, of 200 adolescent girls and boys who participated in BCC training activities across one urban and one rural project site, 94% recognized domestic violence and demonstrated improved awareness of reporting such incidents. Additionally, among 100 men from two urban and three rural sites, 81% exhibited an increased awareness of domestic violence consequences and showed improved positive attitudes and behaviors. The key findings of the survey were presented during a meeting titled "Discussion to introduce research findings that developed to provide social and psychological counseling to men" at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection for CSOs and relevant officials of MLSP on March 22, 2023.

Mandatory training programs on behavior change for perpetrators were developed by the contracted resource persons and finalized in July 2023 after reflecting feedback from EA/IAs, restructuring its contents, and making additional changes. The final edition of this training program was completed and accepted by EAs on 11 September 2023. The training for social workers, psychologists, and officers of detention centers was conducted on 14-15 September 2023 and covered 100 participants (out of them 65/65% female).