Mongolia

The ongoing “white and iron” dzud in Mongolia has reached a “critical” level, with over 90 per cent of the country facing high levels of risk from the unique weather phenomenon, UN agencies have reported.

In a visit to Mongolia on Tuesday, Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the UN’s full solidarity for the country, which he described as “a symbol of peace in a troubled world”. 

The number of musk deer in Mongolia has plummeted by some 83 per cent since the 1970s, landing them on the country’s red list of critically endangered species. A UN-supported biodiversity initiative is helping to stop the deer from disappearing altogether.

Mongolia has recorded very few cases of COVID-19, less than 300 to date, despite its more than 4,000 kilometre porous border with China. However, the country faces a major economic impact from the pandemic, says Tapan Mishra, the UN Resident Coordinator in Mongolia.

A recap of Wednesday’s top stories: ‘Inhumane conditions’ in Syria’s Al Hol camp worsening; SDG progress risks going backward; food insecurity in South Sudan; Arab League petitioned to support Palestine refugees; and mining in Mongolia should boost development.

Mongolia first joined United Nations peacekeeping in 2002 with the deployment of two unarmed military observers to the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.  Soon after that, it sent two more officers to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Since then, Mongolia has continued to expand its contributions to UN peace operations in hot spots around the world.