ADB Approves $3 million Grant to Mongolia’s Fight Against Abuse at School

The Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Mongolia project will help create safer learning environments for about 19,500 students, including children with disabilities.

Children in Mongolia could benefit from safer places to learn and live, and survivors of violence could gain better access to support, through a newly approved $3 million grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project brings together school safety improvements, recovery services and policy reforms to help prevent violence against women and children and strengthen the response when abuse occurs.

The funding includes $1 million from the Asian Development Fund and $2 million from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific, financed by the Government of Japan through ADB. Mongolia's government will contribute another $1 million, bringing total financing to $4 million for work involving schools, communities, frontline professionals and policymakers.

Making Schools Safer for 19,500 Students

The Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Mongolia project will help create safer learning environments for about 19,500 students, including children with disabilities. Four school dormitories will receive upgrades covering safety, security and disaster resilience, improving the conditions in which children stay during their education.

Prevention programmes across 12 schools will combine updated learning materials with staff training, community activities and digital safety initiatives addressing violence in school and online. The work recognises that children's safety depends on both their physical surroundings and their everyday interactions, including experiences of cyberbullying and online harassment that can follow them beyond the classroom.

ADB Country Director for Mongolia John Juhyun Jeong said the project would make learning safer and more enjoyable, strengthen services for survivors and test approaches that government programmes could expand. Bringing schools, communities and service providers into the same effort is intended to help build healthier, safer communities.

Helping Survivors Reach Support and Rebuild Their Lives

More than half of women aged 15–64 in Mongolia have experienced intimate partner violence, according to the figures cited in the announcement. Progress in local laws and policies has not removed the social pressures that discourage many survivors from reporting abuse or seeking help, with women in rural areas facing particular barriers to accessing support.

Recovery, rehabilitation and empowerment programmes will strengthen assistance for survivors and young people at risk, supported by training for teachers, social workers, psychologists and other frontline professionals. These measures will build the capacity of people who work directly with children and survivors, helping strengthen the support systems available to those experiencing violence.

Updating Policies to Address Violence Online and Offline

Policy and institutional reforms will support stronger prevention and responses to violence against women, including emerging forms of online abuse. The inclusion of digital safety reflects growing concerns about cyberbullying and online harassment affecting children and young people, placing these threats alongside violence occurring in homes, schools and communities.

The project builds on more than 20 years of support from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific for poverty reduction, improved livelihoods and environmental safeguards in Mongolia. Its combination of practical school improvements, survivor services and policy changes provides an opportunity to test approaches that could reach more people through future government programmes.