Project to support the parliamentary administration
Since the end of 2017, the Parliamentary Services (PS) have supported their counterparts in the Mongolian parliamentary administration. This support is provided through parliamentary strengthening projects run by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
In November 2017, the Mongolian parliamentary administration expressed an interest in working with the PS in the field of evaluation in order to benefit from the expertise of the Parliamentary Control of the Administration (PCA). This led the Mongolian Parliament to adopt legislation requiring its parliamentary services to establish an evaluation competence.
From April 2018 to the end of 2019, PCA staff supported their Mongolian counterparts in evaluating Mongolia’s land allocation law. They contributed their expertise for each stage of the evaluation (definition of the evaluation questions, data collection and analysis, preparation of the report). The support work was mainly carried out remotely through email exchanges and video conferences, as well as on location with three missions to Mongolia and two study visits to Switzerland.
Following its exchanges with the PS, the Mongolian Parliament adopted a new law in December 2021 to strengthen its oversight function and created a new monitoring and evaluation department. At the end of 2022, a delegation from this new department visited Bern to exchange views with their Swiss counterparts on methodological and institutional issues of evaluation. The study visit highlighted the huge progress made by the Mongolian secretariat in the area of evaluation and oversight. However, some questions remained, such as the use of evaluation results by parliamentarians and committees and a follow-up to the implementation of the evaluations.
A mission to Ulan Bator took place in September 2023 to discuss these issues. The PS delegation explained the Swiss government's obligation to respond in writing to each of the recommendations made by the control committees, and how the implementation of recommendations is monitored. The possibility of carrying out a re-evaluation in the event of inadequate implementation by the executive was also discussed. The PS delegation noted that significant progress had been made, as many of the proposed recommendations drawn up by the Mongolian secretariat had been included in resolutions approved by Parliament, and had even led to legislative changes.
This mission also provided an opportunity to set up exchanges with members of the Mongolian Parliament. The PS delegation described the work of the Swiss supervisory committees (CC). The members of the Mongolian Parliament expressed great interest in setting up a permanent committee specialising in supervision along the lines of the Swiss system. This interest was followed up with a study visit to Bern in May 2024, during which the organisation, powers and prerogatives of the Control Committees as well as their working methods (inspection in particular) were discussed and presented in detail. As legislative elections were held in Mongolia in June 2024, the new Parliament will still have to confirm the interest in creating a specialised supervisory body. If necessary, the PS will continue to offer their support.
Mission of Swiss Parliament’s Parliamentary Control of the Administration (PCA) at the secretariat of the Mongolian Parliament responsible for evaluations (June 2018)
Visit to Bern of the Mongolian Parliament’s evaluations working group (October 2018)
Visit of the Mongolian Parliament's department for monitoring and evaluations to the Swiss Parliament’s Parliamentary Control of the Administration (PCA) (November 2022)
Mission of the Swiss Parliament’s Parliamentary Control of the Administration (PCA at the Mongolian Parliament's department for monitoring and evaluations (September 2023)