Abstract
The Government of Mongolia has consistently worked to expand social protection coverage and has improved its budget allocation and expenditure on social protection in recent years. The 2016 launch of the Mongolia Sustainable Development Vision 2030, followed by the 2050 Long-Term Development Policy of Mongolia in 2020, reinforced Mongolia’s commitment to improving their social protection framework. Among the main objectives of the 2050 Long-Term Development Policy of Mongolia is to “Develop life-guaranteeing social protection services and strengthen the social insurance system to improve the quality of life.” Specifically, this aims at increasing the share of the population with social insurance coverage, while adopting a multi-layer scheme and fully covering vulnerable groups with adequate social welfare programmes and services.However, the external environment, and challenges the system faces, are in constant flux. Increased frequency and severity of climate-related shocks as a result of climate change, have had a significant impact on Mongolia. Nomadic herder households, who account for approximately one third of the population, are particularly vulnerable to these climate shocks given their reliance on livestock for their livelihoods. Despite measures and ongoing discussions concerning disaster prevention and management to reduce the risk of livestock death as a result of droughts and dzuds, there are no explicit provisions within the social protection system to protect the welfare of vulnerable households from the increasing problem of climate-driven shocks.