Overview
Mongolia’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2023 presents the country’s progress, challenges, and policy responses towards achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the framework of Vision 2050 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The review highlights Mongolia’s commitment to integrating the SDGs into national development planning, strengthening monitoring systems, and promoting multi-stakeholder participation despite the impacts of economic instability, climate change, regional inequality, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Mongolia increased the number of nationally calculated SDG indicators from 138 to 156 by February 2023 to improve monitoring and accountability, while SDG Open Day initiatives involved more than 120 organisations and nearly 200 individuals to strengthen stakeholder engagement. The VNR also reported that the national poverty rate declined from 29.6% in 2016 to 27.8% in 2020, although child poverty among those aged 0–18 remained high at 35.7%, reflecting the continuing socio-economic challenges facing the country.
Recommendations
- Strengthen regional development policies to reduce inequalities between Ulaanbaatar and rural provinces.
- Improve climate adaptation and environmental protection measures to address desertification, biodiversity loss, and climate-related disasters such as zud.
- Enhance food security and sustainable agriculture policies through stronger livestock resilience and rural development support.
- Increase investment in healthcare, education, digital infrastructure, and sustainable urban planning.
- Strengthen governance effectiveness, institutional coordination, and transparency for improved SDG implementation and monitoring.
- Expand public awareness campaigns and community participation to improve national understanding of the SDGs.
- Promote economic diversification, green financing, and sustainable industrial development to reduce unemployment and economic vulnerability.
- Continue expanding SDG monitoring systems and data-driven policymaking to support evidence-based sustainable development planning.
Conclusion
Mongolia has demonstrated continued commitment towards sustainable development through policy reforms, improved SDG monitoring, sustainable financing initiatives, and strengthened partnerships among government, private sector, and civil society stakeholders. The country strengthened SDG implementation by aligning Vision 2050 with the 2030 Agenda, introducing the New Recovery Policy in 2021, and increasing the number of nationally calculated SDG indicators from 138 to 156 by February 2023. Multi-stakeholder engagement was also expanded through SDG Open Day activities involving more than 120 organisations and nearly 200 individuals, reflecting growing national participation in sustainable development efforts. However, significant challenges remain in poverty reduction, regional inequality, climate resilience, governance effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. Although the national poverty rate declined from 29.6 per cent in 2016 to 27.8 per cent in 2020, child poverty among those aged 0–18 remained high at 35.7 per cent. Several SDGs, particularly SDGs 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, and 16, showed declining or insufficient progress compared to the 2015 baseline. Accelerated implementation, stronger institutional coordination, improved regional development, increased public awareness, and enhanced climate and economic resilience will therefore be essential for Mongolia to achieve the SDGs by 2030.