Mongolia Emergency Relief and Employment Support Project

active

The objective of the Emergency Relief and Employment Support Project for Mongolia is to provide jobseekers and micro-entrepreneurs in Mongolia with improved access to labor market opportunities and to provide temporary relief to eligible workers in response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) crisis. The Project has four components. 1. Supporting client-centric public employment services component will address job-search constraints related to incomplete information and poor labor market transparency by supporting client-centric PES (Public Employment Service), which is particularly salient at times of crisis. The guiding principle for the component will be to empower job counselors to focus on clients— jobseekers and employers—and their core functions of finding the best possible jobs or employment opportunities for jobseekers and finding qualified pool of workers for employers. 2. Strengthening select active labor market programs component will strengthen the design, relevance, and demand orientation of select active labor market programs. Based on international best practice and lessons from the implementation of the MESP (Mongolia Employment Support Project), it will finance interventions to address the lack of labor demand, which have now further deteriorated due to the COVID-19 crisis, and necessary skills. It will have two subcomponents. Subcomponent 2.1: Support for micro-entrepreneurs will support new opportunities for starting and growing a sustainable microenterprise through the provision of comprehensive financial and nonfinancial support. This component addresses two important constraints in the Mongolian labor market. Subcomponent 2.2: Skills innovation program will provide an opportunity to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MLSP) to flexibly pilot innovative active labor market programs designed to impart skills valued by the labor market. 3. Facilitating labor market monitoring and analysis and project management component will enhance the scope, quality, and availability of labor market information for institutional and individual users, to allow them to make informed decisions. In addition, it will provide support for Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E) and project management. It will consist of two subcomponents. 3.1. Labor market monitoring and analysis subcomponent will continue to complement the activities conducted under the MESP to improve the scope, quality, and availability of labor market information. Subcomponent 3.2. Project management and monitoring will provide day-to-day implementation and operational support to the MLSP and the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) established therein to efficiently implement the project. This will include the support of M and E activities and the financing of the PIU’s coordination and management activities. 4. Providing temporary relief to eligible workers in response to COVID-19 component will provide temporary relief to eligible workers in response to COVID-19. The liability of paying monthly Social Insurance (SI) contribution presents an undue financial burden for employers and workers at the times of crisis, contributing to higher job loss and business shutdowns.