Mongolia

Key Results

Supporting the national AIDS response: During the first half of 2014, the UNAIDS Secretariat was fully engaged in providing support to develop a HIV funding request to the Global Fund’s New Funding Model, which was approved in September. The grant has a budget of 4,987,110 USD, to be implemented during 2015-2017. Half of the budget will be dedicated to funding interventions for key affected populations. Moreover, the UN Joint Team actively participated in the development of the HIV/Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Epidemiologic Review and Impact Analysis that have been conducted for Mongolia, led by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific. The report was utilized as an analytical source for the narrative section of the Global Fund HIV grant request and for the development of a costed operational work plan for 2015-2017.

The UN Joint Team also carried out two joint field missions with Government counterparts in Dornod and Dorno-Gobi Provinces, to identify intervention gaps in provinces and joint areas for support. The outcomes of the missions were a costed action plan to prevent new cases of STIs, including HIV in Dornod Province and the implementation of a HIV and STI prevention project among mobile populations and sex workers in Dorno-Gobi Province.

Eliminating stigma and discrimination among sexual minorities: In 2014, UNAIDS continued its advocacy efforts towards eliminating stigma and discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Mongolia. One key milestone has been the organization of a 2-day National LGBT Dialogue in March as part of the UNDP and USAID regional initiative “Being LGBT in Asia”. An EU grant jointly implemented by UNAIDS and several men who have sex with men (MSM) networks contributed significantly to this achievement. Within this project, the UN supported the LGBT Pride Week, observation of the International Day against Homophobia, training workshops for 75 prosecutors, defense lawyers, police officers and 75 health professionals on LGBT rights, as well as conducting support groups and family meetings for LGBT persons.

Strengthening capacity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with key populations (KPs): The UN Joint Programme worked with numerous NGOs throughout 2015 to ensure the needs of KPs were adequately addressed in programming, including implementation of innovative methods to prevent HIV and STIs. UNAIDS was able to provide them technical assistance on resource mobilization and grant reporting processes, as well as to providing outreach trainings to NGOs workers through advisory meetings.