Joint external evaluation of the IHR (‎2005)‎ core capacities of Mongolia

Overview

The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) team would like to express its appreciation to Mongolia for volunteering for a second JEE and for being among the first countries in the world to complete a JEE using the third edition of the JEE tool.
This revised third edition of the tool incorporates relevant lessons from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies.

The JEE team sincerely appreciates Mongolia’s efforts to meet the requirements of the JEE process and the warm hospitality extended to the JEE team. All countries that make the effort to undergo the JEE process should be commended, not least for their transparency in service of the shared goal of strengthening global health security. 

 
Findings from the joint external evaluation

During the JEE mission, which took place in Ulaanbaatar from 17–24 November 2023, Mongolia’s capacities in 19 technical areas were evaluated through a peer-to-peer consultative process. This process brought together a multisectoral group of national subject matter experts and the multinational, multidisciplinary expert JEE team for discussion, interaction, and selected site visits. After a week of collaborative discussions, this process led to consensus on scores and priority actions across the 19 technical areas, aimed at improving the implementation of the IHR (2005) and thereby enhancing health security and the resilience of the Mongolian health system.

While those areas are addressed in the respective sections of this report, the evaluation also generated three broader, overarching recommendations that, if implemented, will consolidate Mongolia’s progress and remove bottlenecks that may impede the implementation of the agreed priority actions. These recommendations, outlined below, address cross-cutting challenges affecting Mongolia’s capacities across many of the technical areas explored in greater depth during the JEE process.