[Ulaanbaatar city, March 24, 2023] – Millennium Challenge Account - Mongolia (MCA-Mongolia)  successfully organized a Kick-Off Meeting for the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) Implementation of Wastewater Recycling Activity (WRA) which aims to officially commence WRA RAP implementation, to sign Implementing Entity Agreement (IEA) between MCA-Mongolia and the Land Management Department of Capital City and handing over the WRA RAP to the Land Management Department of Capital City.

Enkhgerel Enkhtuvshin, CEO of MCA-Mongolia highlighted in her opening speech “Compared to the previous project, the land acquisition work of the Wastewater Recycling Project is highly complex and more difficult since the area is more urbanized in terms of geographical location, the project affects large enterprises rather than households, and the density of all types of engineering infrastructure is high.”. She also expressed her deep gratitude and wished the best of luck to the Land Management Department of Capital City and the working group of the project.

Khishigt Tamir, Director of WRA presented the overview of the Wastewater Recycling Activity, and Myagmarsuren B, Senior Officer of the Land Management Department of Capital City shared about the “Best practices, experiences, and lessons learned, from Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) Implementation of Downstream Wells Activity”.

The meeting is followed by Enkhmandakh Purevdorj(Resettlement Specialist of MCA-Mongolia)’s presentation on International Principles of Land Acquisition and Resettlement Activity and Amendment to the Implementation Entity Agreement between MCA-Mongolia and the Land Management Department of Capital City.

WRP RAP Kick meeting is finished by the signing ceremony of the Implementation Entity Agreement and handing over of the WRA RAP to the Land Management Department of Capital City.

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This $462 million project is a partnership between the American and Mongolian people made possible by $350m in MCC grant funding and the $111.76m contribution from the Government of Mongolia which demonstrates their commitment to working together to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction in Ulaanbaatar. The Mongolia Water Compact is funding major infrastructure projects, including the construction of new wellfields and two large plants - an Advanced Water Purification Plant and Wastewater Recycling Plant which will be the first of their kind in Mongolia. In addition, the Compact will invest in policy measures to create a financially and environmentally sustainable future for the water sector of Ulaanbaatar. By 2026, the water system in Ulaanbaatar will have been expanded to deliver 80% more drinking water, allowing for the city’s future expansion.