ULAANBAATAR, September 24, 2024 - Despite significant equality reforms over recent years, women in Mongolia continue to face impediments to equal participation that could see past progress recede.
The World Bank's Gender Assessment report reveals evidence of positive progress in several key areas, particularly in regards to education and health services. The country's maternal mortality rate has fallen to an all-time low of 39 deaths per 100,000 births, for example, almost half the regional average of 74.
In line with Mongolia's commitment to equality as a driver of national development, the last five years have witnessed important updates of the country's equality legislation, including the revised Labor Law, Parliamentary Elections Law, and Political Party Law. As the World Bank's recent The Women, Business, and the Law index shows, legal protections for women in Mongolia now exceed the global and regional averages.
"Gender equality is fundamental to achieving Mongolia's national development vision. Going forward, the challenge for the country is to sustain the gender equality gains accumulated over decades while also addressing the most persistent gender gaps," said World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia, Taehyun Lee.
Entrenched inequality in the labor force comprises one notable such gap. As the report reveals, women of working age are 15 percent less likely to have a job and earn on average 25 percent less than men. This is in spite of women now outnumbering men in terms of working-age adults with a university education.
Another area of where barriers to equal representation persist is in leadership and decision-making. While women are employed in high rates in public administration, they do not yet have a strong voice in political or policy-making processes: women only constitute 30 percent of mid-level managers, for instance, and 15 percent of managers in high-level positions.
Adherence to stereotypical attitudes and gendered social norms comprise an important explanatory factor. The clearest and most worrying example of this is the high level of violence towards women and sexual and gender minorities in Mongolia. One in five women report experiencing violence before the age of 15, for instance, which can create lasting impacts across generations.
While women and minorities face the greatest challenges, men are not immune to gender inequality. Life expectancy data, for example, reveal that men in Mongolia live on average 9.4 fewer years than women. This is the largest life expectancy gap in the East Asia and Pacific region and 12th in the world.
The report identifies numerous opportunities to advance Mongolia's equality goals. These include job creation for women in climate change mitigation and the green transition, stronger measures to keep women safe from violence and harassment, and better psychosocial services for men as well as women.
