AKIPRESS.COM - Chairman of the Parliament Zandanshatar Gobojav met Head of Swiss Agency of Development and Cooperation Stefanie Burri on December 11 in connection with the conclusion of the joint project of the Secretariat under the Parliament and SDC "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" in 2023.

Chairman G. Zandanshatar expressed gratitude to SDC and Stefanie Burri for providing support in spheres of agriculture, education, health, sustainable development, poverty reduction, strengthening parliamentary democracy, decentralization, and digitalization of public services. He noted that the launching petition.parliament.mn system to receive public petitions on d.parliament.mn digital platform was an excellent example of ensuring citizens' participation in legislative activities.

He pointed out that over the past six years, the I and II stages of the "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" project have been implemented. Chairman G. Zandanshatar noted the project for the enhancement of the implementation of legislative, monitoring, and representative functions of the Parliament as well as for valuable contribution to strengthening the capacity of the Secretariat.

Head of SDC Stefanie Burri noted the importance of visionary leadership of the Secretariat in the successful implementation of the projects aimed to enhance legislative, monitoring functions and strengthen the capacity of the Parliament.

"Despite the official decision to conclude the SDC projects and programs in 2024, as the previous projects and programs implemented jointly with the Secretariat of the Parliament of Mongolia have been successfully implemented, we intend to continue our cooperation in 2024," stated Stefanie Burri.

The sides exchanged views on the results of stable cooperation in creating a system for assessing the consequences of law enforcement and improving parliamentary monitoring and methodology over the past 6 years and agreed to continue cooperation in future.

The Secretariat under the Parliament, in cooperation with SDC, successfully implemented "Capacity Strengthening of Local Self-governing Bodies", "Supporting Legislation with Citizen Participation" and "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" projects aimed to develop democratic parliamentary governance in Mongolia, decentralize, strengthen local self-government, and increase citizen participation.

The Swiss Parliamentary Services collaborated with the Secretariat in 2016-2021 to provide technical support for updating the strategic plan of the Parliament of Mongolia and implementation of the I stage of the "Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia" project on the Law, the Rules of Session, and improvement of the capacity of the parliament to monitor the implementation of laws.

The "Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy in Mongolia" joint project bringing cooperation between the Secretariat and SDC to a new level has been successfully implemented as well.