Commentary: Fueling Mongolia's Hope

"One million Mongolians still live as nomadic herders - tending their flocks of sheep, goats, camels, cows, horses and yaks." Photo: Mercy Corps.

There has been a lot of talk about nation-building over the past year, first in relation to post-Taliban Afghanistan, and now on potential post-war obligations in Iraq.

Another country should be added to the nation-building conversation: Mongolia.

Mongolia? Yes, Mongolia. While there are legitimate geopolitical reasons to think about Mongolia, sandwiched as it is between Russia and China, a better reason is that a small amount of official United States development assistance is making a real difference in the lives of many Mongolians.

I recently returned from a 10-day trip in Mongolia, where I helped lead a group of 20 to visit the Gobi Regional Economic Initiative - a three-year-old program of Northwest-based Mercy Corps.

Mongolia is truly one of the last, wide-open places on Earth. Four times the size of California, the country has only 600 to 800 miles of paved roads; the horse and camel are still common forms of transportation. It is also one of the least densely populated places on Earth, with a population of about 2.4 million people.

One million Mongolians still live as nomadic herders - tending their flocks of sheep, goats, camels, cows, horses and yaks. Ironically, the southern Gobi Desert region of Mongolia is overgrazed right now - a combination of too many animals and several years of drought making an already arid region bear even less grass. Thirty percent of Mongolians live in persistent poverty.

Mongolia became the world's second socialist republic in 1921, and for 70 years was under the domination of the Soviet Union. But the collapse of the Soviet system brought change to Mongolia, which has had nine elections in the past 10 years.

Mongolians are a proud and independent people, and have embraced a capitalist economic model and democracy. These two arenas - economic growth and democratic, civil society - are the twin goals and challenges of Mongolia today.

Enter the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID). The Mongolia AID mission is staffed by four Mongolians and one American, mission director Jonathan Addleton. Full of ideas and enthusiasm, Addleton spoke to our group one morning about AID's $12 million Mongolian budget, highlighting areas of work including judicial reform, business development and rural livelihood.

What does $12 million mean? One way of looking at it would be $4.80 for every person in Mongolia. Another way is 0.004 percent of a recent estimate of what it would cost the U.S. - $272 billion - to execute a war on Iraq and stay the course over the subsequent five years of nation-building.

What good can AID do with $12 million in Mongolia? A lot of good, including the significant support it provides for the Gobi initiative. The Gobi program works in range and water management, livestock improvement, and business development. The goal is to preserve and sustain natural resources, to help herding families improve the quality of their animals (and subsequent quality of cashmere produced, one of Mongolia's largest exports), and to provide new business opportunities through small loans to those moving to towns and cities.

We visited a master herder, Mr. Tumer, one afternoon, and learned how the Gobi initiative has helped him and the herder cooperative he leads. We sat inside his ger (a felt-covered tent or yurt), dutifully sipping airag (fermented mare's milk) as we learned how the initiative helped introduce elite bucks into his herd, and provided business training to improve the marketing of cashmere for cooperative members.

Another day we visited the bakery of Mrs. Tsetsegdelger in the aimag (state) capital of Dalanzadgad. She secured a loan through the initiative to buy a new oven. She now has five employees (formerly two), produces 12 bakery products, sells to 15 small shops and continues to operate her own retail business. Though not even 5 feet tall, her radiant smile and understandable pride filled the bakery.

In fact, everyone we talked to in Mongolia seemed to have a sense of hope and opportunity - from the herders and micro-business owners to the Mercy Corps Mongolian staff and AID staff. The country reflects an optimism created by the chance to make a difference in individual lives, and to have a national impact with good ideas. The belief in progress is palpable.

The Afghanistans and Iraqs of the world may take most of our attention and resources in "nation-building" early in this century. But it would be shortsighted not to recognize how relatively little can go a relatively long way to assist a vibrant young democracy like Mongolia.

I sat next to Mrs. Bavarbileg at dinner one night on the trip. She is the chapter director of a nationwide network of women helping women start small businesses. The name of this growing organization is the Liberal Women's Brain Pool.

Let's make sure our national foreign policy includes finding other "brain pools" around the world - where a bit of support from the United States can unlock potential and build a better, safer world for all.

[Editor's Note: This commentary originally appeared in the Seattle Times November 27, 2002.]