The World Bank is currently in the process of drafting a new Country Partnership Framework for Mongolia, which will guide the Bank's strategy in Mongolia during 2020 - 2024. Mongolian civil society has raised concerns, however, that the strategy fails to incorporate lessons learned from other World Bank Group-financed projects in Mongolia, including the Oyu Tolgoi mine and the Bank's financing of feasibility studies for several new mining and associated infrastructure projects.
In a recent submission to the Bank, Mongolian CSOs raise several concerns about the World Bank's proposed new strategy for Mongolia, including:
- The draft strategy's intent to continue to support mining projects and associated infrastructure, despite the risk of harm to the environment, depletion of scarce water resources in the Gobi desert, and livelihood impacts on nomadic herders;
- The draft strategy's emphasis on the use of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which often lack transparency--despite the Bank's own guidance for countries on PPP transparency;
- The importance of addressing the risks and impacts of mining, energy, and other infrastructure on women and girls, particularly the risks of gender-based violence associated with worker influx and resettlement;
- The need for the strategy to prioritize support for new wind and solar energy projects, including reducing policy barriers in the sector;
- The need to conduct an analysis of Mongolia's debt sustainability prior to financing new projects.
Read the full comments from OT Watch Mongolia on the draft CPF.