Mongolia
Director's Welcome
2021 marked the 30th anniversary of the Peace Corps Mongolia program. We were quite fortunate to have had the opportunity to honor and celebrate Peace Corps Volunteers’ service and partnership in this amazing country. We completed many virtual events and activities throughout the year and visited all 21 aimags (provinces) where we thanked the people of Mongolia for their extraordinary support over the past 30 years.
Our team is now preparing for the 2022 safe resumption of the Peace Corps program. The Peace Corps Mongolia staff is comprised of a team of highly skilled professionals who have extensive experience supporting Volunteers. Each one of them is committed to the Peace Corps mission and to ensuring that Volunteers are technically trained, culturally proficient and appropriate, safe, and healthy while serving here.
The staff program team continues visiting communities where Volunteers have served over the years and will serve in the future. During these site visits, we work with educational partners, counterparts, governmental, health and safety officials to plan for the return of Volunteers and to strategize new ways of engagement. Partners and community stakeholders continue to express enthusiastic support for the Volunteers’ return.
The Peace Corps and Mongolia partnership is strong. Peace Corps efforts here are based on the ideals of true partnership, friendship, and collaboration. We remain deeply committed to meeting the English language learning and community development needs of Mongolians throughout the country, and many partners closely collaborate with us to meet these goals.
Volunteers receive extensive instruction in the Mongolian language and culture before they begin serving in their communities, and as they progress through their term of service. Volunteers have also historically reported high satisfaction with their sites and work, due in large part to the support that they receive from their communities, their Mongolian counterparts and from each other.
We have updated our Education sector by introducing an enhanced program which will focus on a more holistic approach to community development. In this new program, you will closely collaborate with your work and community counterparts while building upon individual, organizational, and community skills and assets. Our professional partners, located in educational institutions, and community influencers are key to sustainable local skills development, student improvement, and ultimately successful Volunteer service. Our new English Education and Community Development program builds on these existing strengths while also equipping Volunteers with more knowledge, resources, and targeted training throughout service necessary to better access community needs, co-develop appropriate development interventions, and successfully implement those interventions.
As you research Mongolia, you will note that it is both culturally complex and a breathtakingly beautiful country. The country, its rich history shaping world events, and the spirit of its people are extraordinary. Natural treasures here include breathtaking mountains occupied by snow leopards and community stakeholders working to protect them, rolling plateaus & steppes, salt lakes, rich marshes, picturesque sand dunes, grasslands, alpine forests, and permanent mountain glaciers. Lake Khuvsgul to the north is one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes. Many other lakes, forests, and mountains frame the north while the well-known Gobi Desert, rich with minerals and fossils, stretches along the southern border. The western part of the country is highlighted by the Altay Mountains. The beautiful and vast steppes that include the gazelle population are to the east.
We hope that you find the information regarding serving and living in Mongolia as a Peace Corps Volunteer to be helpful. Please return for updates as we continue our focus on the return of Peace Corps Volunteers.
We look forward to meeting you soon!