PROJECT PLAN for years 2007 - 2009 project code ____________ (official use only) Please note the instructions for filling in this project plan form in the Application guide or the internet: http://global.finland/english/ngo/index.htm

x new project □ continuation of on-going project, Foreign Ministry project code_________, project initiation year _______

□ project is based on earlier forms of co-operation, years_______ x the planning of project has been supported by Foreign Ministry preparation trip allowance, year 2006

Organisation: 1. Basic information on the Project 1.1 Name of organisation registered in Finland Suomen ylioppilaskuntien liitto SYL ry

1.2 Name of Project in Finnish Kiertävät kirjastot ja koulutuskeskukset 1.3 Name of Project in English Travelling libraries – Training Centres (TL-TC) 1.4 Name of Project in other relevant language 1.5 Location of Project (country, province, village/municipality)

Mongolia. Tov, Arkhangai and Dornod provinces

1.6 Name of the local partner organisation. Information, Education & Communication Centre IEC

1.7 Contact details of local partner organisation Mailing address: P.O.B 35, Ulaanbaatar – 210646, Mongolia Email: iec_333@yahoo.com Phone: 976 96669786 Fax: 976 11 314282, 976 11 328780

1.8 Representatives of the co-operation Partner responsible for the Project and their contact information, if other than above

Ms. Odonchimeg Puntsag odonchimegp@yahoo.com

1.9 Internet home pages of the co-operation Partner and/or the Project (if any)

---

1.10 Planned initiation and termination dates (on a yearly level) of the Project

January 2007 – December 2009

Please answer the following question and fill in the budget summary (1.13) only after answering all other questions on the form. 1.11 Summary of the Project plan. Describe here briefly (max. 700 characters) the development problem that this project is addressing, its immediate objective and the practical means through which these objectives are to be reached:

2

The rural people of Mongolia have very limited access to information and training due to the collapse of the communist system in 1991. The objective of the project is to provide an improved non-governmental mobile library and training service (TL-TC) in 3 provinces through:

1. Expanding and improving the Travelling Libraries (TL), which are mobile in the summer and operate in province capitals during the winter. The libraries will visit more soums (municipality), purchase materials, hire 3 new librarians and buy 3 new gers (jurtta).

2. Expanding and improving the Training Centres (TC) to form mobile and informal training centres

by expanding the curriculum. o Vocational skill courses: knitting, quilting, vegetable farming, dairy production o Small business training: business idea, accounting, budgeting, marketing o Civic education: solidarity groups, health, democracy, gender

1.12 If this Project is the continuation of an earlier project, please describe here the main results of the earlier stages of the Project. ----

1.13 Budget Summary year 2007 2008 2009

Self-financing of the Organisation 7 905 7 900 7 900 Project support application 44 789 44 687 44 687 Total costs 52 694 52 587 52 587

1.14 Other funding of the Project (if any). If the Project receives other funding, please state here the amount and the source of the funding: No.

2. Local Partner Organisation and nature of co-operation 2.1. Please describe the criteria used in choosing the co-operation Partner. SYL started looking for possible new partners in the summer of 2005. A number of Mongolian non-governmental organizations had visited Kepa (the Service Centre for Development Cooperation in Finland) in May 2005. SYL contacted several possible partner organizations and requested them to send SYL project proposals. The project proposal of the Information, Education and Communication Centre (IEC) was clearly the strongest and most interesting out of the five proposals received and IEC itself seemed a very competent partner. When contacted by SYL, IEC’s former partner organization, the German Development Service (DED) and the director of Labour Market Policy Department of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour Sh. Battsetseg warmly recommended the organization to SYL. In addition IEC’s past experience of foreign donors convinced SYL of their reporting and planning capabilities. Since 2000 IEC has through their Travelling Libraries - Training Centres (TL-TCs) structure organized trainings for poor, unemployed people on small business, income generation, agriculture and food producing and offered library services for rural people in three Mongolian provinces.

3

2.2 Has the Organisation previously worked with this Partner? If so, please describe the nature of this co-operation and when it took place? No.

2.3 Additional information on the co-operation Partner. IEC was established in 1999 (see 3.1) (Registration No 1013092). It is an independent NGO that works very actively in the field of education especially aiming to improve the situation of people in poor communities. Special attention is paid to the role of women in the development process. The mission of IEC is to provide a sustainable contribution to the formation of democratic social and economic structures in Mongolia. IEC aims at this via raising citizens’ awareness, knowledge and skills and thus enabling them to take part in the process of development. Besides Travelling Libraries-Training Centres current main activities of IEC are the following:

1. Orphanage for street and orphan children in the province of Dornod 2. 17 educative TV programs for children on market economy, environment and pets broadcasted

throughout Mongolia by Mongolian National Television. In the national charts “Let’s talk” has been ranked first among all children’s programs in Mongolia in 2001

3. Monthly newsletter for women and 12 issues of an information newsletter distributed in the provinces free of charge

German Development Service (DED) and Carl Mayer Foundation have financed these activities. The personnel of IEC consist of 3 people in Ulaanbaatar central office and 3 people (manager-librarian) in the provinces. In the central office there are Mr. Ganbat Tserendash as the director, Mr. Batchimeg as the cashier and translator and Ms. Khulgana as the assistant and librarian. The founder and chair person of IEC is Mrs. Odonchimeg Puntsag. Mrs Odonchimeg has worked in the women’s organization LEOS for 8 years and been a member of the Global Women’s Media Team for the UN General Assembly Special session to Review the Beijing Platform for Action composed of NGO women and women journalists from 12 countries.

2.4 How will the co-operation Partner participate in the implementation of the Project (e.g. does it provide labour, economic resources, other assets)? Project has been planned together but IEC holds the main responsibility of project implementation. The board outlines and monitors the activities quarterly. The central office´s project manager is in charge of all project activities. There is a small library and training room in IEC office in Ulaanbaatar. IEC has 5 computers and 2 printers. Arkhangai and Tov Aimags’ governors provide Travelling Libraries – Training Centres (TL-TCs) an office free of charge for the wintertime. All existing three TL-TCs have a ger (nomadic housing tent) with Mongolian traditional small chairs, tables and bookcases for travelling to soums (municipalities). This equipment is used in the wintertime at the TL-TCs’ offices. TL-TC in Arkhangai and Dornod aimags have a computer. IEC owns a van (Toyota Hiace) that will be used in the project.

IEC travelling libraries’ current resources comprises of about 35 000 books and other material on economics, business, politics, environment, gender, law, social science, prose, sociology, medicine etc.

2.5 Are there other parties involved in the co-operation (e.g. Finnish, local or international organisations or officials)? If so, please describe their role and involvement in the Project.

4

o Local governments will help spread information on TL-TCs o State civil servants will carry materials in soums o Soum governors support TL-TCs with petroleum for summer travel. o Women’s network LEOS (NGO) will disseminate information on the TL-TCs o Schools will be used for disseminating information of the TL-TCs (books and information

exchange) o Public libraries will be used for disseminating information of the TL-TCs o German Development Service (DED) that runs a large programme in Mongolia has supported

IEC in the past, and is available for consultation during the project o Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour gives permission to give informal vocational skills trainings o ILO has provided teaching material on small business development that can be purchased and

used in the Training Centres’ trainings 3. Background and sustainability of the Project 3.1 How was the Project idea initiated? Is it e.g. a part of a larger Program? The women of LEOS (see 2.5) had discovered in their work in enhancing women’s participation in the democratic institutions in rural areas of Mongolia the strong need for access to information (literature, newspapers, non-fiction) and informal training. Some women working for LEOS began to develop the idea of libraries travelling around in the rural areas offering both information and informal training to the nomadic population. As this could not be seen as the core work of LEOS, the women decided to establish a new organization: Information, Education and Communication Centre IEC in 1999 to take care of the implementation of the libraries. The Travelling Libraries – Training Centres (TL-TC) was established first in 2000. In its preliminary phase it was financed by German Development Service DED. At the moment the TL-TCs are working in 3 of the 21 provinces (aimags) of Mongolia: Tov, Arkhangai and Dornod The project was initiated together by IEC and SYL. During the preparatory mission in May 2006, it was decided that the project should build on IEC’s core expertise. Basic idea of TL-TC was considered really viable and important for the communities and there was great potential for expanding and developing of TL-TCs regarding their achievable targets and number of beneficiaries. Thus it was decided to include some of the planned new trainings under the TL-TCs and to strengthen the existing three TL-TCs.

3.2 Describe briefly the environment in which the Project will be implemented. Mongolia is a country of long distances (three times the size of France) and the world’s smallest inhabitant density, 1.4 per square km, 2.45 million in total. 33 per cent live in the capital Ulaanbaatar, 23 per cent in Aimag centres, and 44 per cent in remote areas. Because of the geography and the harsh climate of the country, the existence of an effective infrastructure system that would ensure close and regular contact between the rural areas, and between rural areas and urban centres, and allow the easy transportation of goods and information from one place to another, is more difficult and far more costly than in many other countries. Mongolia has only two neighbour countries, Russia and China, that both have strongly effected Mongolia’s development. Administratively the country is divided into 21 aimags (provinces), which consist of soums (municipality) that are broken into baghs (village). The project will operate in three aimags: Arkhangai (population 94 900), Tov (88 900) and Dornod (73 700) (see attached map). A large part (50%) of the Mongolians still live a nomadic or a semi-nomadic life, depending on livestock as their livelihood and moving their home (ger) 3-4 times a year.

5

Mongolia’s transformation from a socialist satellite state of the Soviet Union to a market economy from the early 1990´s has been extremely difficult in an economical sense. Falling tax revenues have resulted in the degradation of social, healthcare and educational systems, growing poverty and unemployment, falling literacy rates (but still very high 98%) and environmental degradation. One third of Mongolians live under the poverty line. Official unemployment rates, which only take in account the registered unemployed, differ from an urban 30% to an approximated 12% in the rural areas. In socialist times the nomads worked in cooperatives and the pastures were owned and managed collectively by the state. Under the social system the nomads were provided with many cultural services and a wide national library system was founded. A multiparty system was introduced in 1990. The former communist party MPRP has still a strong hold over the state. Voter turnout has been over 80% and free and fair elections have become the norm, much unlike other Central Asian states. Corruption is a problem, but unlike many other developing countries Mongolia has a somewhat NGO friendly byrocratic environment. The Mongolian GNP has been rising swiftly over the past few years, 10,6% in 2004, 6,2% 2005 and the growth for 2006 is expected to be over 6%. GNP per capita was 1840 US dollars in 2004. Mongolia was earlier wholly dependent on Soviet goods, energy and experts. Mongolia in 2006 is heavily dependent on international financial institutions and has rapidly liberalised its economy and trade policies, resulting in the domestic market becoming dominated by Chinese products and companies. Mongolia has reached the World Banks´s HIPC (heavily indebted poor countries) debt relief initiative decision point and is to receive debt relief according to the program, and possibly more so in the future under the MDRI (multinational debt relief initiative). The financial institutions have centred on the development of mining, energy and infrastructure, which has but little affected the lives to the Mongolians living in poverty. Mongolia´s main exports are copper, wool, gold, cashmere and leather. The privatization of the state owned enterprises started in 1990-1992, and it is estimated that 1 500 individuals own over 70% of the formerly state owned businesses. The brake up of the livestock cooperatives lead to an unsustainable increase in the number of livestock (from 25 million to approximately 30 million.). The production of cashmere, one of Mongolia´s main exports, has enticed the nomads to increase the number of goats in their herds, that has tipped the delicate balance of the usage of the pastures, as different animals (lamb, yak, horse, cow, goat) use different parts of the pastures in an different way. The severe winters of 1999-2002 resulted in the death of 11 million head of livestock, thus spiraling urbanization and poverty. Also government favors the growth of the mining business at the cost to the environment.

3.3 What is the general state of development in the field of the Project in the area? How does the local government function in this field and in these issues? How does the local government participate in the implementation of the Project - or limit it? The transformation from a socialist system to a market economy resulted in the fast degradation of both the educational and the cultural services. The changes created a large gap between Mongolians living in rural and urban areas, in relation to access to information and knowledge.

6

In 1989 there were a total of 418 public libraries and more than 600 newspaper distribution points in Mongolia. In 2000 only 181 public libraries were still operating. Many public libraries at soum level had been integrated with the school libraries to pool and save funds and resources. In 2000, 69 per cent were school libraries, 20 per cent public libraries, 5 per cent government and specialized libraries, 4 per cent libraries of institutions of tertiary education, and 2% were classified as other libraries. Twenty-seven per cent of all the libraries are in Ulaanbaatar while the rest are more or less evenly distributed among the other aimags. The library collections haven’t changed much over the last decade as the acquisition rate has been extremely low and it must be assumed that many of the books in the libraries are either very worn or not particularly relevant to the readers’ need anymore. In different regions of Mongolia, the library collections per inhabitant ranges from less than 2 to more than 6 books per inhabitant in the different aimags. The Mongolian Foundation for Open Society’s survey from the year 2001 confirmed that access to literature and other information is very limited throughout the country, and cannot meet demand. Especially the needs of the nomad community are not met by the existing library services. There has been a 65 per cent decrease in book production since the collapse of the socialist system. Major agent for access to books and other information are the libraries, as book sales outlets are virtually non-existent in major parts of the country, and that private ownership of books is limited. The schools and institutions of higher education are an important source of information. However, very few schools have books besides the basic textbooks needed for tuition. Formerly, every aimag and region used to have their own newspapers which were written and printed locally. This has almost ceased to exist anywhere. Formerly, books were distributed and sold by a state-owned company. Before 1990, Mongol Nom had more than 300 employees and branch bookshops and book stalls in every aimag and soum centre and in every district in Ulaanbaatar. This centrally coordinated book distribution and book-sales system collapsed after 1990, and the company was privatized. Without financial support the company has not been able to maintain the distribution network it once had, although the company has a quite big stock of books from the old time. The formal vocational training system built up in socialist times has all but been abandoned as more importance has been set on developing the higher education system. This has lead to the situation where most Mongolians do not continue their studies after the 11-grade compulsory school. There are 44 vocational training centres with 8400 graduates in 2004. Informal trainings are organised by local and international NGOs, concentrating on urban areas, especially Ulaanbaatar. There are 358 informal education centres with 22264 graduates in 2004. Centre for Farmers in Ulaanbaatar gives theoretical farming education. Tacis program has set up couple Extension Centres in countryside for farming development. Local and international NGOs, including World Vision and FLOM (The Finnish Lutheran Overseas Mission), are organizing practical farming education in countryside. At present, the trainings and services offered are geographically limited and not meeting demand. Small business development training, support and information are a much needed activity which is attracting more attention. The Asian Development Bank has funded the Mongolian government in setting up 7 small business incubators. UNDP and World Vision are running projects on small business development. TL-TCs are the first attempt in Mongolia to link the traditional nomadic lifestyle with the providing of information and knowledge for the nomads and the people living in remote settlements in Mongolia. The services so far provided have been highly appreciated, according to data gathered by the IEC and SYL.

7

The local administration supports the work of IEC. The government does not support the TL-TCs library services financially but has in the past financed some small amount of the trainings organized by the training centres. After the TL-TCs´ first year of activities the soum governors agreed to cooperate with IEC and began to contribute to book box transportation and TL-TCs gers´ transportation costs to remote settlements. Arkhangai and Tov aimags governors provide TL-TCs with offices for the wintertime free of charge.

3.4 How has the Project been planned? Project planning with the partner started in September 2005 by email. First contact between SYL and IEC was a result of the recommendation of the Mongolian Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour. After initial discussions, IEC sent SYL a project proposal. The proposal was then further elaborated by KENKKU (advisory board of SYL in development cooperation issues) in co-operation with IEC. SYL has acquired information about Mongolia by interviewing people with experience of the Mongolian work environment and from literal and internet sources. Chairperson Ms Puntsag (IEC) and Project Coordinator Mr Sokka (SYL) have together been in charge of the project planning process. A project planning trip to Mongolia was carried out in May 2006 to collect further information about the partner, local environment, and development objectives.

3.5 Describe the most essential problems of the beneficiaries that the Project is meant to address. Nomadic people in the rural areas of Mongolia have very limited access to information, knowledge and training as a result of the collapse of the social system in the beginning of the 1990´s.

3.6 What are the risks that can compromise the outcome of the Project? How is the Project organisation planning to minimize these risks? Main risks: the travelling libraries and trainings not reaching their target group, the travelling libraries and training not providing the information and education most needed and the quality of the library services and training does not meet the set targets and the project organization not learning and responding to the possibly chancing needs of its beneficiaries. The activities of the project have been planned from the beneficiaries’ viewpoint, and much attention has been paid to the needs and wishes expressed by the target group. Although the material to be purchased by the travelling libraries and the training offered by the training centres are planned, they are kept sensitive to the needs expressed by the beneficiaries. The projects activities’ relevance and utility are reviewed throughout the execution of the project. Feedback is gathered throughout the project implementation both from the library users as well as from the people taking part in trainings. The library acquisitions, training curriculum and the content of the trainings are reviewed regularly and also on an ad-hoc basis. The project’s activity environment (state actors, legal environment, cultural and environmental factors) do not set a mentionable risks to the project reaching its targets. IEC enjoys an active and good relationship with state actors and the Mongolian legislative and regulatory system does not hinder NGO action of this nature. The activities of the project are based on traditional cultural modes of action and the projects predecessors have been well accepted within the target group of beneficiaries. See LFA Appendix for additional information

8

3.7 Will the Project create a new institution or procedure or is it going to support some existing structure? The project will build on, expand and develop an existing project structure.

3.8 How and when will the responsibility of the Project be transferred to the local government, local organisation or to the beneficiaries? The Mongolian government has shown interest in adopting the library and training system set up by the TL-TC`s. When and how this interest will turn into activities is yet uncertain. The responsibility of running the TL-TC project will possibly be transferred to IEC in the end of the year 2009. As NGO activities in Mongolia are not deeply rooted, achieving the goal can not be guaranteed. IEC is actively developing its self-financing possibilities. The farm owned by the organization in Tov province also used in TL-TC training is already providing some revenue.

4. Beneficiaries 4.1 Who are the direct beneficiaries of the Project? How many are they (approx.)? The beneficiaries of the project are travelling library users in three aimags, both in the aimag centres (October-May) and in the rural areas when the libraries are mobile (May-October). Expected instance of use is 12 000 per year per aimag, thus totalling a number of 36 000 per year. The number of people attending trainings per year in three aimags is approximated to be 900. At least 50 per cent of beneficiaries are women.

4.2. Who are the indirect beneficiaries of the Project?

o The families of the library users and trainees o People employed by the project and their families o Information, Education and Communication Centre IEC o Local and state level governments

If the project support applied for is less than 20.000 €, please answer the following questio n: 4.3 How do the beneficiaries themselves participate in the Project?

If the project support applied for is 20.000 € or m ore, please answer the following question:

4.4. Define the nature of participation in the Project by each group of beneficiaries: o Travelling library users will give feedback of the library services quality and relevance o The trainees of the training centres will contribute in improving the curricula and contents of

trainings by giving feedback and answering follow-up surveys o The families of the library users and trainees do not participate directly in the project activities o Trainers of the Travelling Training Centres and IEC’s staff will receive income, learn new skills and

participate in the development of the TL-TCs on a regular basis, and will work on improving the learning materials

o IEC will establish a well-organized library service network on information and knowledge dissemination. IEC will provide beneficial training of vocational skills, small business development and civic education. IEC will gather information from the potential beneficiaries on the services (library, trainings) needed. IEC’s Board further develop the organizations strategy in developing information dissemination and informal training.

9

o Local and state level governments will benefit from the increased knowledge level and the new skills acquired by the project beneficiaries

5. Objective, plan of action and monitoring of the Project Objectives 5.1 What is the long-term development objective of the Project?

To reduce the negative impacts of poverty in the region of Tov, Arkhangai and Dornod provinces in Mongolia. (for more information, see 8.2.)

5.2 What is the direct objective of the Project? (Limited by the area of implementation and the group of beneficiaries) Provide an improved library and training service in Tov, Arkhangai and Dornod provinces.

If the project support applied for is 20.000 € or m ore, please answer the following question: (those applying for a smaller amount of support may also answer if they wish) 5.3. What are the results targeted by this Project? Expanded and improved Travelling Libraries’ services provide knowledge and information

- better resourced libraries - number of soums visited doubled - 1/4 higher instance of use in all three aimags

Expanded and improved Training Centres provide skills, small business and civic education training

- number of soums where training are held doubled - TC managers able to organize trainings on wider variety of topics - trained people use learned skills - learning material produced - trained people are satisfied with the trainings

Implementation 5.4 Describe the activities by which the results and immediate objectives are to be accomplished. If possible, please also give a rough timetable (by year) of project implementation. The project consist of two parts: 1. Expanded and improved Travelling Libraries’ services, 2. Expanded and improved Training Centres. 1. Expanding and improving the Travelling Libraries´ services From May to October the travelling libraries will travel in their distinctive aimags (provinces). The distances in the rural areas are very long and the roads are in very poor condition, which is reflected in the transportation costs of the budget. The Travelling Library ger will stay for approximately one week at one place, totalling three weeks per soum (municipality). The summer travel will be conducted by rented trucks. Travelling libraries’ services will be expanded by providing each aimag with one additional ger, which will travel on different routes from May to October. From October to May the libraries will operate from the aimag capitals, in rooms rented from or provided by the local government. Library material will also be circulated in small lockable boxes among

10

the remote communities and nomadic families for the whole year. The three new librarians recruited will act both as librarians and trainers in the trainings organized by the TL-TCs. Activities in detail: * Circulation of books and information material in boxes within each province by civil servants * Increasing the number of soums TL-TCs visit from 10 to 20 (May - October) * Purchase of more books, magazines and newspapers for the Travelling Libraries * Marketing of the TL-TCs among the province population * Recruitment of one new librarian per province, total of three persons. (first year, 2007) * Training of new librarians (first year, 2007) * Purchase of more book boxes (first year, 2007) * Purchase one nomadic ger per province with equipments, total of 3 gers (first year, 2007) * Further education of all librarians * Trucks hired to move TL-TC gers and materials (May - October)

2. Expanding and improving the Training Centres Short basic knowledge training has already been conducted in the travelling libraries. Duration of the trainings has been from one to three days. The previous trainings have been occasional and lecture type. Within the project, the Training Centres will be developed to informal travelling training centres providing short term professional skills training courses. The aim of skills training is provide new means of self sufficiency and food security. The curriculum will be expanded from the existing short civic education trainings to include vocational skills training and small business training (also included in vocational skills trainings). Trainings will be conducted the whole year: summertime travelling in the TL-TCs gers in countryside soums and in wintertime in province capital library and travelling without own ger using communities’ settled gers. Activities included in all trainings in detail: * Preparing schedule * Surveying educational needs in every 3 aimags * Recruitment of trainers * Training of trainers * Preparing curricula * Purchasing training materials * Development of learning materials (paper and video) * Providing feedback and follow up mechanism * Marketing of trainings * Organizing the training. All different courses are not conducted every year. The trainings organised will be based on a needs-based analysis.

A. vocational skill courses (one week – two weeks) � wool processing and knitting � quilting and patchwork � vegetable farming � poultry � pig husbandry � dairy production � farming � heating bricket production � construction block production

B. small business courses (two weeks) � including business idea development, accounting, budgeting, marketing, solidarity groups

C. civic education (1 – 3 days) topics: solidarity groups, health, democracy, gender issues, children’s rights etc.

11

If the project support applied for is less than 20.000 €, please answer the following questio n: 5.5. What has been agreed with the Partner about the separation of responsibilities in the implementation of the Project?

If the project support applied for is 20.000 € or m ore, please answer the following question: 5.6 Describe the implementation and monitoring organisation of the Project and the responsibility of each party therein.

Board Monitoring committee

Manager IEC

Assistant/Project coordinator

Manager, Tov Manager, Arkhangai Manager, Dornod

Librarian/trainer Librarian/trainer Librarian/trainer

trainers

IEC Board is responsible of planning, decision making and the project meeting its goals. Board members:

1. Ms. P. Odonchimeg, chairperson, director of the LEOS

2. Mrs. G. Erdenechimeg, Chief-manager of the “Petrovis”, LLC

3. Mr. R. Barsbold, Director of the Academy of Geology 4. Mrs. Ch. Nadmid, Chairperson of the “Sain Noenkhaan” foundation

5. Ms. Ch. Gankhuyag, director of the construction company “Ikh ordon”

Monitoring committee is responsible of monitoring the implementation of the project. Committee members:

- C. Bayarbilig, tax inspector - D. Bayarkhuu, LEOS member - Ts. Tsagaankhuu, engineer

IEC Manager implements the board decisions and reports to the board and monitoring committee. IEC Manager supervises the project activities execution. IEC Manager is responsible of recruiting TC trainers. Province Managers and Librarians/Trainers are responsible of executing project activities in the province level. Assistant/Project Coordinator is responsible of acquisitions of materials and communication between all parties involved.

12

Monitoring 5.7 How do the responsible persons of the Finnish organisation follow the implementation of the Project and the use of financial resources? How do they participate in its implementation? SYL monitors the project by regular e-mailing and by quarterly and annual reports. In addition to the part-time Project Coordinator Teemu Sokka, also the advisory board KENKKU, which consists of 14 voluntary representatives of different student unions, participates in monitoring. KENKKU has monthly whole day monitoring meetings and active email list for the discussion of the project. Monitoring trips will be executed annually. SYL supports the institutional development of IEC.

5.8 How do the local co-operation Partners follow the implementation of the Project and the use of financial resources? The province managers of the TL-TCs report monthly to the project manager. The IEC manager reports to the board on project activities quarterly and prepares quarterly financial reports.

5.9 What kind of numerical or other data will be collected on the advancement of the Project? 1. Travelling Libraries - number of books bought - topics of new books - number of books sent in boxes - number of boxes purchased - number, gender and age of readers - topics of borrowed books - sums visited - kilometres TLs travelled - number of trucks hired - topics covered in librarians’ trainings - perceptions of librarians on the quality and relevance of training (feedback, interviews) - number of gers purchased - number of pieces of equipment purchased (receipts and inventory of purchases) 2. Travelling Centres A. Statistics - number and of trainings/courses (TC records) - number and people attending to courses (TC records) - proportion of women attending to courses (TC records) - age of students - number of learning material available per student - trainers’ work hours - information of trainers (educational background, sex etc) B. Feedback -Perceptions of students on the quality and relevance of training (feedback, interviews) -Perceptions of students on the quality and relevance of learning materials (feedback, interviews)

5.10 Where and how will the accounting and audit of the Project be arranged?

13

Accounting and audit of the project will be arranged locally in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Ernst & Young Helsinki will audit the Finnish share of the costs (administration, monitoring trips). 5.11 Is the Project organisation planning a midterm review or a final evaluation to be carried out on the Project? If yes, please describe the planned procedure: No.

6. Free-form description of the Project and its operation (optional: if the other questions in this form are not suitable or sufficient to describe the Project, please use this space to give additional information)

7. The Budget and the financing plan of the Project Budget 2007 2008 2009 Total 1. Personnel costs (Appendix 1) Salaries and related costs of Finnish personnel 0 0 0 0

Travel and accommodation of Finnish personnel 0 0 0 0

Salaries and related costs of local personnel 8 040 8 040 8 040 24 120

Other personnel costs 1 528 1 528 1 528 4 583

Personnel costs, subtotal 9 568 9 568 9 568 28 703

2. Activity costs (e.g. training) (Appendix 2)

Fees of hired experts 3 168 5 016 5 016 13 201

Other costs 13 664 14 664 14 664 42 992

Activity costs, subtotal 16 832 19 680 19 680 56 193

3. Materials, procurements and investments (Appendix 3)

Procurement of materials and appliances 4 956 2 421 2 421 9 797

Construction 0 0 0 0

Other procurements 420 0 0 420

Value of donated goods 0 0 0 0

Materials, procurements and investments, subtotal 5 376 2 421 2 421 10 217

4. Operation and maintenance (Appendix 4) Operation costs 5 804 5 804 5 804 17 411

Maintenance costs 0 0 0 0

Operation and maintenance, subtotal 5 804 5 804 5 804 17 411

5. Monitoring and evaluation (Appendix 5)

External services (incl. experts) 4 589 4 589 4 589 13 767

Travel and accommodation 5 270 5 270 5 270 15 810

Other costs 0 0 0 0

Monitoring and evaluation, subtotal 9 859 9 859 9 859 29 577

Total implementation costs 47 438 47 331 47 331 142 100

6. Administrative costs (Appendix 6)

14

Salaries and related costs of administrative personnel

Office costs 4 800 4 800 4 800 14 400

Statutory audit costs of the Finnish organisation 456 456 456 1 368

Fund-raising and information 0 0 0 0

Value of Finnish voluntary work in administration 0 0 0 0

Total administrative costs 5 256 5 256 5 256 15 768

Total project costs 52 694 52 587 52 587 157 868

Administrative costs as a % of total costs ( max. 10%) 9,97 % 9,99 % 9,99 % 9,99 %

Financing plan 2007 2008 2009 Total 1. Self-financing (Appendix 7) Cash contributions 3 955 3 950 3 950 11 855

Voluntary work and material donations 3 950 3 950 3 950 11 850

Total self-financing 7 905 7 900 7 900 23 705

Self-financing as a % of total costs (5) 15,00 % 15,02 % 15,02 % 15,02 %

2. Project support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Earlier allocation of project support

New/additional application 44 789 44 687 44 687 134 163

Total financing 52 694 52 587 52 587 157 868

8. Development objectives and cross-cutting themes of the Project 8.1. What is/are the development objective(s) of the Project? Mark one main objective and max. 3 other significant objectives: Main objective Other objective X Abolishing extreme poverty and famine Extending elementary education to all Improvement of gender equality and the situation of women Diminishing infant mortality Improving the health of pregnant women Work against HIV/Aids Work against malaria and other significant illnesses X Sustainable development of the environment Access to clean water Improving living conditions in the slums X Improving the working conditions of the private sector and

increasing economic interaction X Advancing democracy, human rights and good governance Advancing the state of peace and security Developing a just and regulated international trade and financial

system Solving the debt problem of developing countries using national

and international means Bringing the benefits of using new technology and especially

information technology to developing countries in co-operation with the private sector

None of the above. Other, explain.

15

If the project support applied for is 20.000 € or m ore, please answer the following question: 8.2 How does the Project plan take into account the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) or other equivalent national plans of the developing country concerned? If it has not been taken into account, please justify: Key priorities of the Mongolian PRSP are to improve the social safety net and to support sustainable human development. These objectives are to be reached through improving the quality of and access to basic education and supporting employment and income-generating activities. The PRSP emphasizes the importance of equal access to services, thus supporting the opportunities of the poor and vulnerable groups for employment and participation in economic activities. The project aims at responding to one of three educational sector policy objectives of the Mongolian PRSP. The PRSP states that there are significant differences between the levels of education of urban and rural citizens, and that it is important for educational policies to aim at closing this gap. The TL-TC project addresses this problem by offering library services, disseminating information and organizing informal vocational skills and business trainings in rural areas of three aimags. After the transformation to a market economy, the school enrolment rate of boys, especially from herder families, has declined sharply. The project addresses this problem by providing education and information available to the herder families. Children are the largest Travelling Library user group.

8. The impact of the project on cross-cutting themes of development policy 8.3. Cross-cutting themes of development policy The development policy program of the Finnish government contains a number of cross-cutting themes that are to be taken into account in all development activities. Instructions: In the column "impact" please mark a sign as advised below according to the impact this Project is estimated to have. Justify with one sentence the most important positive and negative impacts of the Project. Options: ++ significant positive impact + positive impact 0 no impact - negative impact Themes Impact Justification/Additional information Impact on the Environment Access to clean water and sanitation 0

Environmental distress (soil, water, atmosphere, waste) ++

Mongolia’s rural people dependence on herding as a livelihood has led to severe environmental degradation. The project will contribute to the diversification of rural peoples´ means of sustaining themselves.

Protection of biodiversity +

Sustainable use of natural resources (incl. Energy, consumption, erosion) ++

The project will include training on sustainable energy consumption (making of heating brickets)

16

Reducing gender inequality

Division of work between men and women 0

Women's access to income and their right to possess +

Women’s possibilities to create income will be increased through the projects activities.

Women's participation in decision making +

The Training Centres will organize trainings and discussions on women’s leadership, democracy and gender.

Sexual health and reproductive rights 0

Reducing violence + The Training Centres will organize civic education trainings on human and children’s rights.

Equal opportunities to education ++ The project will provide trainings in areas where people are not able to access formal education.

Supporting the most vulnerable groups (the disabled, ethnic or religious minorities, aboriginals, children) The most vulnerable groups as members of the community (the attitudes towards the most vulnerable) 0 Empowerment of the most vulnerable groups 0 Equal rights of the most vulnerable groups 0 Good governance and enhancing democracy Reducing corruption 0 Strengthening the local skills on good governance +

Civil education of the project will include trainings on democracy.

Transparency of financial management and information (among implementers) + Improving information exchange in the civil society ++ Project as a whole will support this goal.

Improving involvement in the civil society ++

Providing access to information and knowledge through the travelling libraries, training on democracy.