Youth unemployment rate in Mongolia is a pressing concern, consistently surpassing the national average more than double. Over the past decade, the average unemployment rate has stood at 15.7 per cent, a figure that is more than twice the national average. Despite a recent decline, it still stands high at 11.6 per cent in 2023.[1] Job disruptions as well as uncertainties about their future have affected youth not only negatively concerning income, aspirations, and mental health, but they also left them vulnerable to precarious working conditions. Many young people are not aware of their rights to and at work (e.g. hours of work, wage etc.). When young people enter into employment, they often face low-quality jobs and informal employment, face challenges at the workplace, often unpaid and exploited by their employers.
Last year in collaboration with the ILO's EU-funded projects (SDG - Aligned Budgeting to Transform Employment in Mongolia project and Trade for Decent work project) DW4YN, and the Practical Training Centre of the School of Law at the National University of Mongolia, translated, adapted, and localized the "Work Wise Youth: A Guide to Youth Rights at Work" facilitator's guide and toolkit to the national context, incorporating provisions of the revised Labour Law.
In 2025, the EU-funded Trade for Decent Work project Phase II collaborated with DW4YN to conduct in-person trainings in Ulaanbaatar and five provinces-Tuv, Dundgovi, Darkhan-Uul, Orkhon, and Bulgan-reaching over 200 participants. These sessions deepened participants' understanding of decent work principles, youth rights at work, and the revised Labour Law, while providing a platform for dialogue among key stakeholders.
At the conclusion of each training, group discussions and collaborative workshops enabled participants to identify challenges to promoting decent work for youth and jointly develop preliminary action plans for improvement. The active involvement of social partners made the trainings particularly effective in strengthening mutual understanding and laying the groundwork for future cooperation at the provincial level.
[1] https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/Decent%20work%20report_ENG.pdf
