WOMEN'S PROGRAM

Introduction of the program:
The MFOS Women's Program was launched in 1998 in conjunction with the Network Women's Program that was initiated the same year. Since then, the goal of the program has been to promote gender equality and equity in all spheres of Mongolia's society with a special emphasis on women's and girl's rights. In particular, the Program has supported and coordinated women's NGO projects on combating domestic violence, sought to make a contribution to the establishment of a gender studies department at university level by sending women NGO activists and academics to gender studies training programs, gave grants to develop oral history of Mongolian women in transition in cooperation with the East-East program, and supported efforts to establish a women's information and research center.
The main goals of the Women's Program in 2002-2003 were to encourage and promote advocacy tools for refining domestic violence legislations, to support activities with bringing new issues related to gender, and to raise gender awareness and sensitivity in all spheres of society and to increase visibility of activities of Mongolian Women's NGOs in the international arena.
The projects on domestic violence raised public awareness, facilitated a more positive response by the law enforcement agencies in terms of lobbying for adopting the draft of anti-violence law, and encouraged to set up a Central Asian Regional network on DV legislation and Crises centers.
National Center against Violence also has set up a working group to develop domestic violence education in the Police Academy of Mongolia.
The Mongolian Foundation for Open Society Women's Program encourages and promotes gender sensitivity in the media. Under Regional Mass Media and Gender Policy Program, the national team of Mongolia produced a documentary film "Pattern on silk" on gender gap in education among boys and girls. The documentary has been screened for 2 times on Mongolian National TV and the film has been selected and included in a gender collection of NWP.
Program Strategy

Due to critical change in the OSI network, Network Women's Program (NWP) proposes a framework for strategic systematic transformation for the women's program in the national foundations. Within a proposed framework, it is vital to deepen sustainability-to work to increase the impact of what it has been done. Main message from NWP is to transform the women's programs into an institutional partner with 3 year proposed framework.
Therefore, the Women's Program, MFOS shall pay a special attention to a partnership between the MFOS and the NWP for a three year step-by-step transformational process and the goal of this approach is to ensure that the capacity to sustain women's movement and to deepen the impact of the Women's program previous investment-by building up a sustainable institution within anti-violence program area and gender education.
The goal of the Women's program, MFOS for 2004-2006 is to start a transformation process of the women's program into Mongolian Fund for Gender Development (MFGD) as Institutional Partner (IP) which supports gender-inclusive projects and programs in the country which will increase public awareness on gender issues resulting in the adoption of gender-sensitive policies.

Strategy Implementation

I. Anti-Violence Program:
Anti-Violence Programs supported by Women's Program, MFOS:
- Within a framework for implementing the Community Coordinated Response to Violence (The Duluth model), the Mongolian national team will attend to the regional meeting on October 19-20, 2003, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
- Through the funding from WP, MFOS, Mongolian Women lawyers' Association will be having an international expert on a draft of the DV bill NCAV. Mrs. Dianne Post - a lawyer from USA will be working with a task force of the Parliament and women NGOs which are working on the draft law.

II. Gender and Education
1. The Women's Program, Mongolian Foundation for Open Society /MFOS/ is encouraging university teachers, gender researchers and educators to take part in the international conference "Gender and Education" which will be held on November 4-5, 2003 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. A conference will be organized by Information Resource Center for Positive Education, Center for support of women and youth "Sabo", Ministries of Public Education and Higher Education of Uzbekistan and funded jointly by OSI - Uzbekistan Gender Program and OSI Network Women's Program, New York.
A conference aims to create new opportunities for further development of educational programs on gender, encouraging gender research and development on national centers of gender studies, information and experience exchange on introducing gender in the curricula of higher and secondary school in different countries, developing and strengthening collaboration of respective countries.

Future Plans

- According to proposed framework for transformation, as for the case of the women's Program, MFOS, an institutional partner will be developed from the women's program itself. This exploration will be based both on a feasibility study of creating an institutional partner outside of the foundation and this exploration was discussed with the representatives of women's groups in the country on August 01, 2003 and it will be conducted in October, 2003. The outcomes of this consideration will be informed to NWP, OSI, Soros.

Contact address:

New York
Budapest
Anastasia Posadskaya-Vanderbeck - Director
Debra L. Schultz - Director of Programs
Kimberly Middleton - Program Officer
Marla Swanson - Program Officer
Phoebe Schreiner - Program Coordinator
Lexie Neonakis - Program Executive Assistant
Nikki Persley - Program Assistant

Network Women's Program
Open Society Institute (New York)
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
USA

Tel: +1 (212) 548 0162
Fax: +1 (212) 548 4616
Email: women@sorosny.org
Eva Foldvari - Program Manager
Anna Rapolti - Program Associate
Gabriella Kiss - Program Assistant

Network Women's Program
Open Society Institute - Budapest
Oktober 6. Ut. 12
H-1051 Budapest
Hungary

Tel: +36 (1) 327 3139
Fax: +36 (1) 327 3864
Email: womenpro@osi.hu

For more info, please contact:
Sh. Solongo
Women's Program Coordinator
Mongolian Foundation for Open Society ( Soros Foundation)
XacBank Building, Prime Minister Amar Street, Sukhbaatar district
Ualanbaatar-46, Mongolia