Project Case Study
Strengthening the foundations of EITI in Mongolia
Improving EITI implementation to strengthen transparency and accountability
Mongolia’s position as one of the world’s leading implementers of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is evidenced by its achievement of being one of the first countries to become ‘Compliant’ in 2010, the special award made at the 2011 International Conference in Paris for including environmental payments in its EITI Report, and the submission of reports by over 1,500 companies for the reporting year 2012.
Despite this impressive performance, the relevance and accessibility of data and information to Mongolia stakeholders – civil society, companies and government – remained a problem. Furthermore, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recognised that if Mongolia was to respond fully to the Requirements of the new EITI Standard it needed to the address the institutional, functional (e.g. communications) and process (e.g. reporting) issues identified in the 2010 Validation Report and subsequent Reconciliation Reports.
In 2012 the EBRD contracted us to provide a range of support to strengthen the foundations of EITI in Mongolia. This included developing a new institutional model for EITI that would move it away from a donor-funded initiative to a sustainable, Mongolian ‘owned’ institution with the resources and capacity to improve its core functions. This new model was incorporated in a draft EITI Law that we supported government, civil society and private sector stakeholders in developing. The EITI Law also clarified the wider legal basis for the Initiative’s implementation in Mongolia, clearly setting-out in one place the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved.
We supported the Multi-Stakeholder Working Group of EITIM to analyse options for developing a system of electronic reporting that would reduce the burden on companies and government agencies and would create a database of publicly accessible codified information and data. This was closely aligned with our support to formulation of a new communications strategy for the EITIM Secretariat that adopted new and innovative ways to provide better and more relevant to all Mongolian stakeholders.
More effective implementation of EITI in Mongolia will provide citizens with more relevant and more accessible information with which they can make informed choices. EITI can also help mining and oil companies to establish their social license to operate. Finally, it can help government to improve their accountability to Mongolian citizens.
