UN General Assembly
2005

gender, child and maternal health and combating various diseases by 2015. Capitalizing on its 1990s system of public health and education and a traditional culture of gender equality, Mongolia is well on track to achieve, by 2015, universal primary education and literacy, eliminate gender disparity at all levels of education, and reduce its child mortality rate by two thirds and maternal mortality rate by three fourths. However, the most important goal of halving poverty by 2015 looks highly elusive, if not unachievable, at the moment. Aware of its responsibility for its own development, Mongolia has, by and large, managed its public finances responsibly and maintained macroeconomic stability. It has done its utmost to adopt and implement sound national policies and development strategies and to introduce good governance and the rule of law. Yet, like many other small, vulnerable and commodity-dependent economies, Mongolia’s development is severely handicapped by many factors well beyond its control. Skyrocketing oil prices, for instance, are taking a serious toll on economic growth, engulfing whatever gains we made earlier on, and are