Mongolia became the first country in Asia to adopt the Law on the Legal Status of Human Rights Defenders.
Every year on November 29, it is recognized as the "Women Human Rights Defenders' Day" by the First International Conference on Women Human Rights Defenders. Women who work and live all over the world fight to stop violations of human rights on this day. Women also have a tradition of speaking out and engaging in a variety of influence and advertising campaigns.
The National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International of Mongolia, the Mongolian Women's Foundation, Oyu Tolgoi Watch (OTW) NGO, and the Mongolia Center for Investigative Reporters work together with human rights groups to uphold and defend freedom and human rights in Mongolia. Since 2018, civil society organizations and the media have participated in the "ZORIGTON Human Rights Defender" portrait competition, which aims to raise public awareness of the job of defenders and the obstacles they encounter.
In anticipation of "Women Human Rights Defenders Day," the number of journalists participating in the competition and submitting their works to publicize and promote women's human rights defenders has increased since last year.
On November 29, 2023, within the framework of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the portrait competition "ZORIGTON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER -2023" was organized in the field of human rights protection. The activities of leading and contributing human rights defenders and human rights activists will be shown in specific examples, using the methods, also, techniques of "mobile journalism" (MOJO) within the context of "everyone needs to become a human rights defender and protect them.
Mr. Tsogtbaatar Damdin, the Head of the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs of the State Great Hural, shared with the participants the reasons for approving the Law on the Legal Status of Human Rights.
Mrs. Dondov Sangisharav, commissioner of the NHRCM, assessed the legal framework for safeguarding the rights of human rights defenders. She stated, "A non-full-time Human Rights Defender's Committee has been established under the NHRCM, tasked with evaluating whether the rights of human rights defenders have been violated. Moreover, the Law on the Legal Status of Human Rights Defenders mandates that public and private organizations shall respect and protect the rights of human rights defenders, requiring them to incorporate this commitment into their internal operations. The Commission is actively working on developing a methodology to enforce this provision of the law. The legislation also establishes a mechanism for human rights defender complaints and a corresponding database. Currently, we are soliciting input from relevant organizations to formulate regulations and study international best practices. Based on these efforts, the framework for protecting the rights of human rights defenders is well-established; however, there is a need for heightened attention to implementation.