AKIPRESS.COM - Ambassador of Japan to Mongolia Hiroyuki Kobayashi and the UNICEF Representative Alex Heikens signed an Exchange of Notes on the ‘COVID-19 pandemic and Public Health Emergency Capacity Building Project’ to be implemented in Mongolia through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) under a grant from the Government of Japan.

Present at the ceremony were State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs N. Ankhbayar, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health Ts. Erdembileg and relevant officials of the ministries and UNICEF Mongolia Office, Montsame reports.

$21.5 million grant project will be implemented in two phases, with the Government of Japan providing vaccine for 1.3 million Mongolians through the UNICEF and resolving the supply of equipment to form a ‘cold chain’ of vaccines.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs N.Ankhbayar expressed gratitude to the Government of Japan – strategic partner and third neighbor of Mongolia, for its extensive and practical supports provided within the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including granting soft loans, strengthening the health system, providing the required equipment and training health personnel, at a time when the world countries are constantly struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic. “Within the project being co-implemented by the Government of Japan and the UNICEF, special attention will be paid to bring the vaccine to Mongolia as soon as possible and immunize the population,” said N. Ankhbayar.

Mentioning that besides the project, the Government of Japan is one of the main donors to the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility that allocates the vaccines for 20 percent of Mongolian population, N. Ankhbayar emphasized that the Government of Japan makes a significant contribution to the inclusive distribution of COVID-19 vaccine to Mongolia.