The Mongolia Board of Directors for Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Mongolia held its annual meeting for 2021 in Ulaanbaatar, on Nov. 24, 2021. The meeting was conducted in person and via Zoom by the Northern Asia Pacific Division (NSD) leadership and ADRA Asia. Aside from the eight board members attending in Mongolia and chaired by Mongolia Mission President Han SukHee, those present via zoom were from NSD led by President Kim SiYoung, Acting Executive Secretary Richard Sabuin, Treasurer Joel Tompkins as well as Mark Webster, regional director of ADRA Asia.
Country Director Report
The new ADRA Mongolia country director, Windell Maranan, stated that the “ADRA Mongolia team remains focused on its purpose as a faith-based organization in serving humanity so that all may live as God intended while recognizing the dignity that is inherent in each person and the disenfranchised without regard to their ethnic, gender, political or religious affiliation.”
He further reiterated that amidst intermittent lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Mongolia, the team was inspired by what 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, and not by sight.” Because of the strong support from ADRA Asia and donor agencies, the team has been undeterred by the challenges and has continued to make sure the implemented projects in different parts of Mongolia have been properly monitored and are on-track without sacrificing the safety and security of individuals.
During the board meeting, much emphasis was also given on the review and adoption of new policies as part of ADRA Accreditation and Licensing (AAL) in which ADRA Mongolia has been accredited and licensed to operate for the next five years as part of the network’s internal standardization in doing humanitarian and development work.
Program Highlights
In 2021, ADRA Mongolia served a total of 11,453 vulnerable individuals and beneficiary partners in three provinces including the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. Through working with donors and other stakeholders, the team also made an emergency response to the dzud phenomenon (a Mongolian term for a disaster in the steppe, semi-desert and desert regions in which large numbers of livestock die, primarily due to starvation because of extreme winter weather conditions).
Furthermore, ADRA received an additional funding grant of $505,580 USD for 2021 to implement a new project on pastureland management funded by two provinces in Switzerland in close partnership with ADRA Swiss and a small project on yak milk development by Help International. Currently, ADRA Mongolia has five projects (including a small project initiative) implemented in four provinces in the country with a total funding of $2,140,077 USD.
“I praise God and feel overwhelmed and quite impressed by the work of the ADRA Mongolia team as a faith-based organization to make sure that its purpose is felt by the underserved and those who are in the most need,” concluded the board chair, Pastor Han SukHee.
News article by Windell M. Maranan, ADRA Mongolia Country Director