Minister of Finance Mr. Khurelbaatar Chimed and ADB Country Director for Mongolia Ms. Yolanda Fernandez Lommen signed the agreement at a ceremony in Ulaanbaatar. First Secretary Mr. Hiromichi Miyashita from the Embassy of Japan in Mongolia witnessed the event. Representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs also attended.

“The grant is ADB’s first stand-alone project addressing domestic violence, which is a critical issue with serious social and economic implications,” said Ms. Fernandez Lommen. “The national study revealed that women aged between 25 and 49 experienced the highest rates of domestic violence resulting in loss of work days and income in addition to physical and psychological damage.”

The project will strengthen the quality of and access to prevention and multi-disciplinary responses to domestic violence. Financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, it will establish shelters in three provinces and two districts, develop institutional capacity, and empower survivor women economically.

The project will also ensure accessibility of people with disabilities (PWDs), who are at high risk of gender-based violence, to protection services. It will establish PWD-accessible shelters and train PWDs as peer educators and pilot support groups.

Behavior change communication activities under the project will engage men and adolescent boys and girls in project sites to increase understanding of domestic violence and to promote positive role modeling behavior.

source: The ADB Mongolia Country Office