With over 4,000 participants, the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM11), held July 15-16 2016, was the largest diplomatic gathering to come to Mongolia to date. Some 1,200 young men and women assisted these events as youth volunteers, garnering much recognition for their great work.
With over 4,000 participants, the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM11), held July 15-16 2016, was the largest diplomatic gathering to come to Mongolia to date. In addition to the main international summit, there were nine preceding meetings.
Some 1,200 young men and women assisted these events as youth volunteers, garnering much recognition for their great work. The President of Mongolia commended them for being the first-ever and the biggest youth volunteer group in Mongolia. Each and every volunteer was given a certificate of appreciation.
Among this group of volunteers, there were three national UN Volunteers who contributed to volunteer management, training and promotion of youth volunteerism at the ASEM Volunteer Management Office of Mongolia. UN Volunteer Communications Coordinator Purevjav Tumendemberel is deployed with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
UN Volunteer Tugsjargal Anand, recruited by UNDP, co-trained the volunteers and provided documentation support to the volunteer management team. UN Volunteer Enkthuya Sukhbaatar was responsible for training design and delivery as well for volunteer management guidance.
Throughout their assignments they promoted youth volunteerism. Purevjav was a key person to organize the ASEM Volunteer Talks based on the theme for the first time in Mongolia. Tugsjargal worked closely with the volunteers who assisted everyday management work for the ASEM Volunteers Station, guiding them on proper documentation and office knowledge management.
In addition to these roles, she worked together in a training team with Enkhtuya, who is deployed by UNICEF. This training team engaged with ASEM 11 volunteers and encouraged youth to take part in a learning process through discussions, visual presentations and questions that shared the true meaning of volunteering and the value of giving back to one’s community.
With her many years of international volunteer management experience, Enkhtuya envisioned establishing a youth volunteer corps in Mongolia. She designed a volunteering training curriculum to equip ASEM 11 volunteers with the necessary skills for supporting high-level international delegations from various backgrounds as well as media professionals. She made it a point to consistently coach and mentor the volunteers during her assignment.
Following the two full months of dedicated efforts in preparation of the ASEM11, the national UN Volunteers were thrilled to receive praise for ASEM 11’s success and be informed time and again of how valued the volunteers’ contributions were at the event.