Mongolia Aiming For Lower Gender Pay Gap Than United States.

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Mongolian Ministry for Labour and Social Protection

Mar 11, 2024, 10:32 ET

Mongolian Labour Minister in New York to Highlight Concerted Gender Equality Push

NEW YORK, March 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mongolia's minister for Labour and Social Protection will use UN events on the status of women tomorrow to pledge to keep her country in the forefront of global efforts to advance gender equality.

Mongolia Aiming For Lower Gender Pay Gap Than United States. (PRNewsfoto/Mongolian Ministry for Labour and Social Protection)

Bulgantuya Khurelbaatar will highlight her government's "robust enforcement of national legislation, increased allocation of technical and financial resources, challenging gender stereotypes, combating gender-based violence, promoting women's economic empowerment, ensuring workplace equality, fostering work-life balance, and enhancing women's political participation and leadership."

Ms. Khurelbaatar, a rising star in Mongolia's political scene and one of three women in the cabinet, is making a five-day visit to the United States to change perceptions of her country; a beacon of democracy and human rights sandwiched between Russia and China.

On Monday she's due to address a side event to the 68th session of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women on "Investing in the prevention of violence against women and girls" and speak at both its general discussion and roundtable gathering on Tuesday.

She will tackle the topics of violence against women, women's rights and the need to increase opportunities.

She will tell the general discussion that "while women represent the majority of [Mongolia's] tertiary education graduates, their labor force participation remains low, with an average salary significantly lower than that of men. The gender pay gap currently stands at 20.6 percent, and gender discrimination persists in the workplace." The Mongolian government has prioritized reducing the disparity and has segregated data by gender to bring the issue into sharper focus. In contrast the gender pay gap in the United States stands at 16%, according to the AAUW.

Ms. Khurelbaatar will also be discussing concerns about children's rights, in particular changes to Mongolia's laws that aim to increase online child safety. The Minister will also highlight the economic challenges faced by landlocked countries like Mongolia and how geographical disadvantages can be overcome.

Minister Khurelbaatar, who took a Masters in International and Development Economics from Yale University, served as Mongolia's Deputy Finance Minister from 2016-2020 before being elected to Mongolia's national legislature in 2020. She joined the cabinet in April 2023.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2359397/Mongolian_Ministry.jpg

SOURCE Mongolian Ministry for Labour and Social Protection