Zorig Foundation
| Founded | October 1998 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Good Governance, Youth and Education, Community Building |
| Location |
|
|
Area served
|
Mongolia |
|
Key people
|
Sanjaasürengiin Oyuun () |
| Mission | To spread democratic values throughout society |
| Website | www.zorigfoundation.org www.facebook.com/zorigfoundation |
| Affiliated with Zorig Foundation USA and Zorig Foundation Japan | |
Zorig Foundation (Mongolian: Зориг Сан) is a Mongolian non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) established in October 1998 after the assassination of Mongolian pro-democracy politician Zorig Sanjaasuren. The Zorig Foundation seeks to spread democratic values in Mongolian society; strengthen human rights, political freedoms, and social justice; as well as improve the system of transparency and accountability of the government to the public. In order to meet the above objectives, the Zorig Foundation concentrates its programs in three areas: Youth and Education, Good Governance, and Community Building.
Zorig Sanjaasuren (Mongolian: Санжаасүрэнгийн Зориг, 20 April 1962 – 2 October 1998) was a prominent Mongolian politician and leader of the country's 1990 democratic revolution. He is called the "Golden Magpie of Democracy" (Mongolian: Ардчиллын алтан хараацай, Ardchillyn altan kharaatsai). He was murdered in 1998 and yet still his murder remains unsolved. After his death, his sister Oyun entered politics and founded the Civil Will Party along with the Zorig Foundation.
The foundation aims to spread democratic values in the society, strengthening human rights, freedom and social justice, promoting pluralism, transparency, and accountability of state and government to the public. The foundation identifies three broad areas of focus in order to complete the principal objectives aforementioned. The areas are Good Governance, Youth and Education, and Community Development. A number of project initiatives are undertaken by Zorig Foundation to promote the three components around Mongolia.
The good governance programs aim to improve the system of transparency and accountability of the government to the public. Since 1998, Zorig Foundation has implemented numerous anti-corruption, monitoring, and accountability projects. Currently, they have a project on the oral histories of the democratic revolution of 1990 to record firsthand accounts from key players of the democratic revolution.
In a concerted effort to promote lawful action and discourage corruption, the Zorig Foundation has at multiple times embarked on monitoring projects to curb lawlessness in government.
Monitoring was done on customs office operations in Altanbulag, Zamiin-Uud and Ulaanbaatar /2006/ Conducted monitoring of Government scholarships and loans for university students /2007/ Conducted monitoring on the spending of donations on disaster relief /2008/
Zorig Foundation's projects in Youth and Education revolve around their provision of numerous scholarships and programs varying from full fee-paying scholarships, to university students, to education programs for young professionals and school age children. The Foundation implements numerous Scholarship Programs aimed at helping academically talented students from financially disadvantaged families obtain higher education degrees. Another example is the School Pairing Program; under this joint Ulaanbaatar/Denver Sister Cities Committee program, high schools began a series of exchanges involving both students and teachers in four American and Mongolian communities, with the primary goal of promoting cross-cultural awareness and understanding between Mongolians and Americans. Zorig Foundation also runs development programs for young professionals. The two most notable of these programs is the Young Leadership Program (YLP) and the Environmental Fellowship Program (EFP).
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