On September 20, President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh met United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters.
During the meeting, President U.Khurelsukh noted that he is attending the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in person in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Mongolia’s accession to the UN, and expressed his gratitude to the UN for its constant support and active cooperation in achieving Mongolia’s development goals.
The president also reaffirmed his commitment to work closely with the UN to achieve sustainable development goals, promote youth participation, mitigate climate change and pursue his peacekeeping initiatives.
In particular, President U.Khurelsukh said that he is paying special attention to climate change, desertification, soil degradation and drought as the head of state. In this context, the president plans to attend the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in November in Glasgow.
He continued, “Mongolia has decided to increase its national contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 27.2 percent. I hope that developed countries will soon fulfill their commitment to spend 100 billion USD on combatting climate change.”
Mongolia has a policy of expanding its involvement in UN peacekeeping operations and has four military units registered with the UN Capability Readiness System, the president emphasized while expressing interest in deploying more military units in peacekeeping operations in the near future.
President U.Khurelsukh asked the UN secretary-general to support Mongolia’s proposal to establish an International Institute for Peacekeeping Operations in affiliation of the Tavan Tolgoi Peace Operations Support Training Center as part of its peacekeeping initiative. The president called for support and cooperation in organizing an international conference on the participation of women in peacekeeping operations in Ulaanbaatar next year.
Secretary-General Guterres noted that he highly appreciates Mongolia for not only managing to remain stable politically and economically, but also taking an active part in resolving regional and international problems as a “peace-loving country”. He thanked Mongolia for its contribution to UN peacekeeping missions.
The secretary-general further welcomed Mongolia’s significant contribution to enhancing security in the Northeast Asia and commended its commitment to increase the national pledge to contribute to the global fight against climate change.
UN Secretary-General Guterres promised to support the construction of a humanitarian warehouse and supply logistics center in Buyant Ukhaa.
Mongolia joined the UN on October 27, 1961. The membership has enabled Mongolia to expand its foreign policy and receive assistance and support from the UN and other member states.
POSSIBILITY OF ORGANIZING REGIONAL FORUM IN MONGOLIA DISCUSSED
President U.Khurelsukh met Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University Jeffrey Sachs on September 20 to exchange views on the Sustainable Development Goals and future cooperation.
The president invited Sachs to visit Mongolia to discuss cooperation in sustainable development policy, its implementation and post-pandemic economic recovery.
The two sides also exchanged views on the possibility of organizing a regional forum in Mongolia and lectures at universities. During the meeting, Sachs said, “We are ready to assist in guiding sustainable development policies using the capacity available in Mongolia, and will support the country in every way.”
