Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (NHRCM), ‘Empowering assistant herders through human rights training and herders' self-help groups’ project is being implemented for the project target group of over 120 assistant herders in 12 soums of Arkhangai, Uvurkhaingai, Sukhbaatar, and Khentii aimags. 

Here, ‘to empower’ means ‘to support’. With the support, the herders are expected to become even a little more cognizant of their rights and more self-confident, and change their attitude towards life and work, thus knowing where and who to turn to if their rights are violated and the basics of how to sign a contract with an employer. To reach these goals, NHRCM has conducted training and research on human rights, organized awareness raising activities, and provided policy and regulatory recommendations as part of the project. 

The project has been running successfully even in the face of certain challenges caused by election and pandemic restrictions. Firstly, a database was created for the target group of assistant herders. As working together and getting help from the authorities and relevant officials of the target soums is key to successful implementation of the project, ‘support groups’ led by the chief of the soum’s governor’s office were set up, involving bag leaders; agricultural, animal and crop farming, labor and social policy, veterinary and breeding specialists; and a member of the soum’s women’s council, a branch of Mongolian Women’s Federation (MWF). Moreover, self-help groups of assistant herders were established in three soums of Arkhangai aimag. Project introductory meetings were also organized as scheduled. 

Project partners – members of the women’s councils of the target soums – were provided training and handbooks on ‘Constitution and Human Rights Protection’, ‘Gender and Human Rights’, ‘Protection of Children's Rights’, ‘Children's Right to Education’, ‘Right to Health’, ‘Right to Participation’, ‘Right to Work’, and ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities’. A total of 165 people underwent the training to become human rights trainers. The members of the local women’s councils have therefore acquired the ability to provide seminars on basic concepts of human rights for assistant herders and other target groups. At the request of the MWF, more than 350 copies of the handbook were published and distributed to women’s councils of other aimags and soums.  

Monitoring works were carried out with a team of the EU Delegation to Mongolia during the project field trips.

At the request of NHRCM, a study on socio-economic and human rights situation of assistant herders was carried out in the selected 18 soums of 6 aimags to look into the socio-economic and human rights situation and civil status of assistant herders and problems in labor relations between chief and assistant herders; to analyze the division of labor, working time, wage, bonus structure, their and their families’ social security and welfare assistance, and the implementation of their rights to receive education and healthcare services, work, get information, and submit petitions or complaints to the state organs and public officials, and have those processed by them; to improve the regulation of these relations; and to develop recommendations for future policies and regulations. 

It was the first sample survey on the socio-economic situation and implementation of the civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights of assistant herders in Mongolia. 

On March 31, 2021, a request was submitted to the State Great Khural (parliment) for a decision to add the survey report to the 20th Annual Report on Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Mongolia in a separate section. 

First of all, the study provides a real insight into the image and socio-economic situation of assistant herders. “Most of them have low social status and reputation, poor quality of life, multiple children, and below-par education and are self-negligent, bad-tempered, tactless, comparably poor in terms of income and wealth, and reliant (their annual income is twice less than that of self employed herders and thrice less than employer herders),” the study points out the common image of assistant herders.

They are at high risk of physical and emotional abuse. Specifically, it is of grave concern that there were reports of women assistant herders being molested in the past 12 months.

The possibility that the assistant herders’ going together with their employers to cast their electoral votes allows the employers to influence their voting choices and the assistant herders’ political right is being violated by vote buying is another concern of a serious nature.

The average annual income of the assistant herders’ families the survey covered is 65.4 percent less than that of other local families. Two of every three families of assistant herders are living below the poverty line. The illiteracy rate is high among assistant herders.

Around 28 percent of the assistant herders (some counted more than once) have fallen victim to forced labor. The absence of labor contracts is causing assistant herders’ grievances to be resolved through service contract provisions in court.

The survey shows that 8 to 9 of every 10 offences happen out of sight and are not reported to any legal authority. Herders who live distantly from soum center and transhumant herders have limited access to legal assistance. 

3.6 percent of the herders experience workplace harassments, especially assaults. What aggravates the offences is the fact that assistant herders avoid making requests and complaints to their employers out of fear of having their access to healthcare services cut off (by restrictions of their mobility rights) and experiencing harassments in the workplace.  

Labor relations of assistant herders such as wage and bonus bargaining are being regulated by an informal pay system in the labor market rather than pay calculation based on productivity, performance, and workload and legal norms.

There are cases where assistant herders are made to do forced labor by working without days off and a work schedule.

Family members of assistant herders are working without pay. For example, two in every three children of assistant herders share the responsibilities of their parents and care for the employer’s livestock without pay.

There is an inadequate provision of occupational safety and health training and equipment for assistant herders that fit their occupation, which creates difficulties in implementing occupational safety and health standards. 

NHRCM made the following recommendations regarding the situation of assistant herders:

- To add a regulation to the draft law on labor to have a template for a contract between employers and assistant herders approved by the state central administration organization in charge of labor matters; 

- To develop the job description for ‘assistant herder’ and add it to the ‘National Occupational Classification’ and to state in the draft law on labor that the employer and their family members shall respect the reputation, rights, and legitimate interests of their assistant herder and ensure a workplace free of any form of discrimination and harassment;

- To amend relevant laws regarding the wage, working hours, compensation, and health and social insurance of assistant herders and livestock taxation;

- To have the parliament make a decision about addressing the situation of women assistant herders in the action plan for the implementation of the resolution on improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas, tabled by Mongolia and approved by the Third Committee of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.