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Increasing risk literacy in Mongolia

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Mongolian family sitting around dinner table

Empowered by World Risk Poll data, Lloyd's Register Foundation grant holder The Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk (IPUR) has been supporting public service transformation and data-driven innovation in Mongolia.

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Mongolia exceeded the world average level of worry by 10%

The World Risk Poll and its findings on Mongolia

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll is a unique data set analysing people’s perceptions and experiences of safety and risk. Results have been collected from over 150,000 people in 142 countries worldwide, including places where little or no official data exists.

In 2019, findings from the World Risk Poll identified Mongolia as the country which faced the largest gap in the world between current risk experience and worry about the future. According to the Worry and Experience Risk Index, Mongolia exceeded the world average level of worry by 10%, yet scored 10% less than the global average in experience of harm.

By identifying the differences between people’s thoughts about and experiences of risk, regulators, businesses, governments and researchers can work with communities to develop relevant and relatable policies that inform the public, helping save lives and making them feel safer.

The discovery of this ‘Risk Perception Gap’ inspired Lloyd’s Register Foundation partner The Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk (IPUR)’s  Lead Scientist Dr Reuben Ng to take action. IPUR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mongolia’s National Academy of Governance (NAOG) to design a Data Innovation Programme.  

Dr Surenchimeg Dulamsuren, Rector of NAOG, “On behalf of the National Academy of Governance, I am pleased to work with the Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk (IPUR) and would like to see this programme as the beginning of our long-lasting relationship. In my view, the Data Innovation Lab programme offers essential tools for Mongolian policymakers in strengthening the data-driven and evidence-based policy-making capabilities. Building these capabilities across public service is not only the NAOG's mandate but serves as one of the key priorities of the newly established National Public Service Reform Committee chaired by the Prime Minister of Mongolia to accelerate the government's journey in digital transformation. It is an honour for us to work on the government's priority agenda with such an esteemed university.”

The Data Innovation program, planned for 250 Mongolian civil servants, was over-subscribed. Dr Reuben Ng who leads the initiative, “We are thrilled to partner the Mongolian government as they accelerate public sector transformation. We designed an online programme on public sector innovation that was attended by nearly 1,300 civil servants and received over 300 project ideas for piloting in our data innovation lab. Our next step is to scale this this important partnership.”

Following the successful run of the programme, IPUR has signed a second Memorandum of Understanding during the Mongolian Prime Minister’s visit to Singapore with the vision of transforming the Mongolian public service in the areas of digitalisation, data governance and risk communications.  The pioneering IPUR-Mongolia collaboration has received widespread coverage on Mongolian television, press, Singapore newspapers and Asian news.

For more information on the partnership between IPUR and the Mongolian Government, please visit the IPUR website. If you can help turn us the World Risk Poll’s finding into action – please get in touch with us via the contact form below or apply to our World Risk Poll calls for funding.

Photo credits: Mehendra_art/shutterstock.com