An evening meeting in London on the theme of "Mongolia and the Millennium Development Goals" began with a reception for members of the Mongolia Association in the United Kingdom. H.E. Bulgaa Altangerel, the Ambassador of Mongolia, opened the September 26 event by mentioning efforts to promote reconciliation. He said that one of his main roles was to develop economic relations between Mongolia and the UK.
John Grogan MP, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mongolia, has visited Mongolia five times this year. He had been an election monitor in the parliamentary elections at the end of June that had seemed to fulfill international standards. This was a mark of Mongolia's transformation to a mature democratic state, even though there had been some troubles following the elections. John Grogan described the great pride of the Mongolian people when two gold medals were won by Mongolia in the Beijing Olympics.
Mark Brann, Secretary General of UPF-Europe, explained the value of the partnerships for development
Dr. Nancy Tokola, who was a visiting Professor for Biomedical Ethics from 2005 to 2007 at the Health Sciences University of Mongolia, explained the state of the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She stated that Mongolia had decided that a ninth goal--human rights and democratic development--was necessary for their nation to fulfill the other eight goals. A 2007 MDG assessment found that Mongolia will need $14 billion to accomplish the goals by 2015, with some of the targets achievable or already achieved (goals 4, 5, 8, and 9) and others moving backwards (1, 2, 3, 6, and 7).
John Mann, a British historian and writer on Mongolia, has written several books on the region as well as Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and Attila the Hun. He was available to sign the books at the end of the evening. He talked of finding a religious order honoring Genghis Khan in Northern China. He explained how Genghis Khan was driven by a sense that heaven had decreed that Mongolia owned the world and should govern it. Despite being a nomadic people, they had gone beyond raiding other lands to governing their conquered lands effectively, allowing religious freedom, and setting up trade networks within their empire.