First Child Protection Compact Partnership Bilateral Dialogue convened
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ United
States and Mongolian government officials and civil society organizations held
a virtual bilateral dialogue today to share accomplishments and discuss
progress and challenges toward achieving objectives and completing activities
under the United States-Mongolia Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership,
signed in April 2020.
The dialogue centered on the
achievements and challenges participants and partner organizations faced in the
first year towards meeting the CPC Partnership’s objectives of strengthening
the efforts to effectively prosecute and convict child traffickers, provide
comprehensive, trauma-informed and victim-centered care for child victims of
these crimes, and prevent all forms of child trafficking in Mongolia.
Through this partnership,
Mongolia has pledged to make combating human trafficking a higher priority; to
expand its support for shelters for trafficking victims, to enhance
victim-centered investigations and prosecutions; and to establish a
Multidisciplinary Task Force to improve interagency coordination on victim
identification, protection, and the investigation and prosecution of child
trafficking crimes.
Participants included United
States Ambassador Michael Klecheski, Acting Director of the Office to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking in Persons Dr. Kari Johnstone, and the Government of
Mongolia’s Head of the Secretary of Coordination Council for Crime Prevention
Nyamgerel Lkhamtogmid.
Ambassador Michael Klecheski
provided remarks and affirmed that the United States remained committed to the
success of the Partnership. He observed that “this Partnership exists because
of the strong, joint commitment the United States and Mongolia have made to
combat child trafficking, and it has the potential to make a real and enduring
difference in children’s lives.”
In 2020 the U.S. government
invested USD 5 million in foreign assistance to World Vision, The Asia
Foundation, and local partners Mongolia Gender Equality Center, Talita Asia,
Beautiful Hearts, and Unbound Mongolia to support the goals and objectives of
the CPC Partnership. During the dialogue, Dr. Johnstone noted how the U.S. recently
provided an additional USD 500,000 to the consortium to expand on its
activities in support of the Partnership.
Dr. Johnstone expressed her
appreciation for the work of our civil society partners. She also applauded the Government of Mongolia
for its dedication to the Partnership stating, “The CPC Partnership has already
resulted in significant achievements despite the unique challenges of the last
year, particularly in the establishment of the Multidisciplinary Task Force. Both government and civil society
organizations are successfully working together to achieve the CPC goals and
objectives.”
Source:
U.S. Embassy in Mongolia
Related news

