Zavkhan, an agricultural/pastoralist region in the western part of Mongolia, faces serious problems with access to water for both, people and livestock. One of the main problems is shortage of hydrogeological know how. Siting and drilling is often implemented without proper hydrogeological investigation and is not well documented, the maintenance and operation of wells not adequate. The situation is further exacerbated by difficult geological and hydrogeological conditions including permafrost and depth of groundwater level which reaches up to 200 m. The project had two objectives: Improving access to drinking water for the nomadic pastoralists by constructing drilled wells and distribution systems; and transfer of hydrogeological know how for the planning and implementation of drilling for water and constructing sustainable water supply systems under the local conditions.

Consultancy services included support with project planning, budgeting and formulation, technical aspects of tender documentation, as well as with the evaluation of proposals. The consultant also provided implementation support and technical backstopping and assists the Czech Development Agency with monitoring of project progress and results.

With the transition to market economy in the nineties, the Government of Mongolia started to address environmental burdens inherited from the Soviet period and sometimes exacerbated by the transition to market economy. The major ones include storages of fuels and chemicals with uncontrolled leakages of oil substances, often dilapidated and potentially polluted military zones, or the emergence of small scale, unregulated mining with the possible consequences of contamination by mercury, cyanide and other heavy metals.

Consultancy services included support with project planning, budgeting and formulation, technical aspects of tender documentation, as well as with the evaluation of proposals. The consultant also provided implementation support and technical backstopping and assisted the Czech Development Agency with monitoring of project progress and results.

The evaluation covered two projects: Socioeconomic Stabilization of Geographically and Socially Excluded Communities, Mongolia (2008 – 2010) and Preparation and Launch of Study Programme Social Work, Ulánbátar (2006 – 2010). Both projects were funded under the Czech development cooperation and implemented by Caritas CZ. The project Socioeconomic Stabilisation of Geographically and Socially Excluded Communities aimed at contributing to socio-economic stabilization of rural, isolated communities of Bulgan aimak and at decreasing the incidence of social pathological behavior resulting from inadequate contact of small children with their families by providing mobile education to drop outs, pre-school and handicapped children and training to social workers. The Study Programme Social Work aimed at improving the quality of education of social workers and of the social services.
The principal purpose of the evaluation was to obtain objective information to be used by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA CZ) in cooperation with the Czech Development Agency (CZDA) for decision-making on the perspective and future focus of Czech development cooperation in the social and related sectors in Mongolia. Particular attention was paid to sustainability and replicability of results.