Background
The Women's Empowerment Summit brought together over 300 survivors of domestic and gender-based violence from rural communities and herdswomen in the Khovd Province of Mongolia. The event built on an economic empowerment project which was funded by Associated Country Women of the World and implemented by our local partner Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO. The project ran from May 2022 to February 2023. You can find out more about this project in our Project Fact files. The Summit took place from the 11th to the 13th of August 2023.
Mongolia faces an epidemic of domestic violence as 50% of women in rural Mongolia report to have been affected by domestic violence. To help address this, ACWW launched the Women’s Empowerment Summit initiative in Khovd, with our long-term local partner, Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO, in August 2023. Sain Tus Development Bridge has been working in the western region on Mongolia since 2005 to provide women in Khovd Province with information, capacity building and mobilization, increasing the participation of women in the development of country, supporting initiatives of self-development, and contributing to the protection of human rights. As an organisation the prevention of violence against women and girls is their top priority and intersects much of their work. The Summit was jointly funded by ACWW and UNESCO under the 2022-2023 UNESCO Participation Programme.
The Summit had four main objectives:
· To increase capacity for local activities addressing violence against women and girls
· To build community links between nomadic Indigenous groups for learning and solidarity
· To develop advocacy skills for local women, and
· To address policy and law-enforcement inaction regarding violence against women and girls
Over two days the summit engaged over 300 women from 12 nomadic communities from the far west of Mongolia. Priority to attend the summit was given to survivors of domestic violence, workshop sessions within the summit focused on challenging stereotypes, interrupting the chain of abuse, preventing sexual harassment and developing community action plans against domestic violence. As a well-known domestic violence mediation and service provider, Sain Tus Development Bridget were able to signpost many of the participants to vital social support and health services. During the summit, 12 victims of domestic violence approached Sain Tus Development Bridge, 4 of them were serious cases. Sain Tus was able to help and provide mediation services, victim protection services, and social welfare services for these 12 women victims.
The summit included workshops on a range of topics including community safeguarding, financial literacy, human rights and citizenship and advocacy. However, the summit also provided an opportunity for networking. Because of the opportunity to gather and exchange opinions, 120 women organised themselves into 12 groups to increase their incomes. Becoming a member of a savings and loans group is an effective method of increasing their incomes, working together collectively in the fields of growing vegetables and processing milk products.
While the majority of those in attendance of the summit were women, there were five men present who were able to benefit from the learning experience of being present in a female-focused and female-led learning space. Male participation in the fight against domestic and gender-based violence is vital for systematic change. The men in attendance at the summit created a small club to continue their learning with the assistance of Sain Tus Development Bridge to improve men’s participation in the fight against gender-based violence.
The summit also presented an opportunity to promote traditional cultural expression by the inclusion of a Harvest Festival with performances of traditional dance, music, and Tuvan throat singing. Many of these traditional arts and music practices are registered on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list as in Need of Urgent Safeguarding to prevent it from dying out. With the summit bringing together such an intergenerational and multi-ethnic group of women the event was able to promote these art forms to a wide audience.
Funding Partner: UNESCO
The Summit was jointly funded by ACWW and UNESCO under the 2022-2023 UNESCO Participation Programme. We are grateful to UNESCO, as well as the UK National Commission for UNESCO and Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO for their support of the grant.
The Participation Programme functions as a vital complement to UNESCO’s regular activities by analysing, evaluating and facilitating the implementation of national, sub-regional, inter-regional and regional projects submitted by Member States and NGOs directly related to the activities of the Organization.
Furthermore, it serves as a means employed by UNESCO to strengthen the partnership between the Organization and its Member States as well as between the Organization and Non-Governmental Organizations in official partnership with UNESCO. Thus the Participation Programme enhances the inclusive and generous spirit of UNESCO’s noble mission.
Host Partner: Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO
The Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO (formally, The Sain Tus Centre) was founded in 2005 with the mission to provide women in Khovd Province with information, capacity building and mobilization, increasing the participation of women in the development of country, supporting initiatives of self-development, and contributing to the protection of human rights. Development projects undertaken by Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO have focused on women and girls’ rights, health education and women’s economic empowerment and income generation. The organisation is led by Founder and Director, Tugrug Uugan-Erdene who has over 20 years of experience implementing projects working with indigenous women and communities across the western region of Mongolia. In 2020 Uugan-Erdene was selected to participate in the Indigenous Fellowship Programme with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Associated Country Women of the World has had a long collaborative relationship with Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO and since 2014 has funded three women’s economic empowerment projects, with a fourth funded in April 2022.
In 2014 Associated Country Women of the World funded a greenhouse development project with a grant of £2,990 which supported two local cooperatives to purchase greenhouses, tools and other necessary materials with the aim of increasing the variety of vegetables produced as well as improving market competitiveness and business skills. The project achieved its goals of advancing business skills and capacity, improving diet and health awareness, and increasing income by 25%.
In 2017 Associated Country Women of the World funded the first of a two-part project, “Women’s Economic Empowerment” with a grant of £2,760. The goal of the project was to improve the income of 40 low-income and female headed households through the process of capacity building workshops, health education and the provision of equipment and materials for income-generation activities. The beneficiaries of the project underwent capacity building trainings including; financial literacy and accounting for individuals, organizational structure training for small businesses and women’s groups, and fund management training for small businesses and women’s groups. This project was expanded in 2019, with a further grant of £4,171 distributed for “Women’s Economic Empowerment 2”. In the second stage of the project, follow up training was held for the participants. Increased profits were recorded by the small businesses which were then reinvested to increase the capacity of the businesses.
In April 2022, a new project funded by Associated Country Women of the World will be implemented by Sain Tus Development Bridge NGO with a grant of £5,236. This project “Economic Empowerment of Survivors of Domestic Violence” will provide 100 women survivors of domestic violence with basic legal counseling, intermediary services and awareness raising. This is in order to decrease levels of domestic violence within local communities and improve income for the 100 participants through vegetable farming in Jargalant sum, Khovd Province, Mongolia. The project aims to provide an independent source of income for 100 women and enable financial independence from husbands. It will also establish cooperative business and support networks between project participants.
Delivery Partner: Police Scotland
We are grateful to the Domestic Abuse Co-ordination Unit of Police Scotland who contributed to the delivery of the Women's Empowerment Summit with expertise on tackling Domestic Violence.
According to the Mongolia government, 85% of women in Mongolia suffer Domestic Violence at some point in their adult life. All participants of the Summit are survivors of Domestic Violence, and this is a crucial aspect of local government policy focus.
The presentation from Police Scotland explores the reality of policing Domestic Violence in the context of a diverse, geographically dispersed region with a large rural population.
The video from Police Scotland can be seen below.
Supporting Partner: UK National Commission for UNESCO
We are grateful to the UK National Commission for UNESCO for their support of the Summit, and ACWW's application for funding through the UNESCO Participation Programme. Secretary-General James Ömer Bridge appeared at the opening ceremony of the Summit via video, and this is one element of continued cooperation between ACWW and the UK National Commission.
Incredible Impacts!
On 15 November 2023, ACWW was awarded the “Incredible Impacts” prize at the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) annual congress, recognising the short, medium, and long-term impact of the Women’s Empowerment Summit in Khovd, Mongolia.
With this award comes $20,000 (USD) for further development of our programmes, including additional engagement with men in the campaign against domestic violence. We will be seeking further financial contributions to fully realise the potential for building greater impact and empowerment amongst these vital, and hard-to-reach communities.
We are grateful to ICCA and BestCities for their recognition of this project and its incredible impact, and the financial support of ACWW's work and activities.
Photos from the Women's Empowerment Summit
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