Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene met in Washington, DC, to strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Mongolia. As part of the visit, the United States announced new funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to further expand U.S. development activities in Mongolia.
The United States and Mongolia announced the signing of a new bilateral assistance agreement, valued at up to $25 million over the next five years. Working with Congress, USAID plans to initially invest $12 million into the agreement, in collaboration with the Government of Mongolia, to:
- Increase access to clean energy, diversify the economy, and strengthen democratic institutions
- Partner with private sector entities to improve the business environment, boost competitiveness, and increase economic opportunities for small and medium enterprises
- Expand USAID's programs outlined in the newly modernized bilateral "Economic Cooperation Roadmap"
In addition, the United States and Mongolia announced that USAID is providing $600,000 in humanitarian assistance for ongoing disaster preparedness programs that support communities’ resilience to dzuds, a natural phenomenon arising from summer drought followed by harsh winter conditions. Dzuds cause widespread animal deaths with disastrous impacts on herders whose livelihoods depend on livestock. The dzud that occurred this past winter impacted 60 percent of Mongolia's territory and nearly 200,000 herder households.
Since the early 1990s, USAID has stood with the people of Mongolia through the initial years of its democratic transition and provided more than $377 million in support to date. Our longstanding commitment will continue as we work towards a peaceful, prosperous, and secure Mongolia.